Don't you think it's kind of outrageous thing, this idea of making an approach to God? The very idea that we can gather together in this wee building on a Sunday Morning, and dare to suggest that we are doing more than thinking about or discussing God; we are doing more than remembering god's actions; we are doing more than encouraging one another in our faith or trying to “Sell” the idea of faith! The very idea that we can gather together in a place like this, and believe that we are encountering God himself. Not just talking, not just theory, not just ideas or auto-suggestion, but a real encounter!
David wrote this psalm out of a real encounter with God. There was a box – they called it the “ark of the covenant” – which was the most precious, most important symbol of God's presence with Israel. 1 Sam 4-6 tells how a priest called Phineas foolishly took the Ark into battle against the Philistines as if it was a magic charm. They were defeated; Phineas' wife was pregnant and when the news came she gave birth to a baby boy whom they called Ichabod – the Glory (Heb Chabod) has departed. The Philistines stuck the Ark in the temple of their god, Dagon. The next morning, the statue of Dagon was on the floor in front of the Ark. They put the statue back up and next morning the statue of Dagon was on the floor again, only this time its head and hands were chopped off. So they handed it back to the town of Kiriath-jearim in Israel and eventually King David decided to bring it back to Jerusalem (the Hill of the Lord). They put it on a brand new cart, and off they went. But just like in Fife, there were potholes in the road, and as they went over a particularly bad one, one of the guys, called Uzzah, put his hand out to steady the Ark. God struck him down for that, and David decided not to take the ark any further. The Ark isn't a lucky charm and it isn't the symbol of a god who can't look after himself. Three months later he decided to have another try. This time they found out the right way to transport the Ark – not on a cart but with long poles attached to loops on the side of the Ark, carried by men. That was what God had said way back in the time of Moses when the Ark was first made, and that is what they did this time... And as they did, they celebrated. David danced with joy as the ark made its slow progress into Jerusalem. (2 Sam 6) And that journey is what this Psalm is all about....
Psalm 24 answers two vital “who” questions: Who can come to God? Who is God anyway?
So who can come to God?
Who can really approach god and stand tall and unashamed in his presence? May in the crowd would think the answer might be King David, The priests, Israel, He who lives in Jerusalem, He who is circumcised, he who brings tithes and offerings; he who keeps the Sabbath and celebrates the passover each year.”
No. The real answer is anyone who has clean hands and a pure heart. This answer is an outrage to those who considered themselves already sorted “insiders” to faith and God. He won't be tied down to one nation. “The earth is the Lord's!” If those Philistines who had taken the ark away had done so with clean hands and a pure heart they would have been able to approach God.
But you need clean hands and a pure heart. You can't presume on having God with you just because you have the Ark as Phineas and had done. Who shall enter? “He who has clean hands and a pure heart”... And that means the answer is – as the Arbroath folk call the West window of their Abbey a “round O”. Nothing. Nobody. He has purer eyes than to behold sin.
But there is grace, mercy and hope! Men and women can come to God if they “seek the face of the God of Jacob” who turns the twister into the prince. Jacob was the “Arthur Daley “ of the Old Testament. He had a skill for “creative accounting” and would have fitted in well selling Payment Protection Insurance for one of the big banks. The God of Jacob is the God who sent Jesus to deal with our twistedness and sin. There is hope for us, in spite of our failings and sins.
Who is this God?
He is the Lord strong in battle. Yes, there had been defeats. When the people had forgotten to stay close to the Lord, the Philistines had beaten them and the “Glory had departed” along with the ark. But especially under King David, there had been mighty victories too. The Lord had fought for them. But he is more than that. He is always more than what he does for us, more than the victories he wins for us.
He is the Lord hosts,the Lord of heaven's armies., and indeed the Lord of all created things, the whole crowd of everything and everyone who has ever lived on this earth. “The earth is the Lords and everything in it!” HE is more than the God who wins battles. He is the Lord of hosts: the lord of the heavenly host, the Lord of everything.
HE is bigger than simply a localised little god. He can't be limited to a golden box or contained in a temple. He's not just the local god of Jerusalem or Judea or Israel. Philistia is his. Egypt is his. The earth is His. He’s not some little empty symbol that needs to be propped up al the time. He is LORD of Hosts.
And so, as we come to him, we come opening our doors to him and we come prepared to be transformed in the encounter,
So what?
In a world where Richard Dawkins claims “more and more people are realising there is no god” here we are, not only believing there is, but expecting an encounter with Him... or we should be! Our world needs to be brought face-to-face with the reality of this God. The God who is surrounded in splendour and glory. Glory is the weight of his presence. A cynical world isn't interested in a game of religious make-believe or in joining in with any attempt to sustain a wizard of Oz type illusion and “prop God up” like Uzzah did.
Christ Duffett, Baptist Union of GB President, is a full-time evangelist. He tells of once asking a young woman “What would you really like to say to God?”. She answered, “if there is a God, what is it like?” that question, “What is god like?” is hugely significant. People are not going to be bothered with a god who is not worth bothering about; who is weak and empty and pointless, who never does anything. Nor are they going to want to be bothered with at God who is bad. People do not want a god who is not better than they are!
We make our approach to the Lord of Hosts. We welcome him into our midst. The earth is the Lord's. But isn't that what you are here for? To encounter God? And if that's not what you are expecting, if that is not what you are here for, if all you are here for is to learn about God, then maybe, turning Richard Dawkins's words on their head, yo need to realise that there is a god. … And that the very idea of there being a god, demands that he be encountered. If he is hiding in the wings, he is not the god of the Bible.
We have been working through our Mission Statement – “learning to show the Father's love” . We've looked at Discipleship – the learning process – and at Demonstration – how we show God to our world. Now we are going Deeper with God, our need to walk with our Heavenly Father. All the learning and discipleship, all the showing and demonstration, is empty talk and not really possible – without a living encounter with God himself.
So “How” might we encounter Him. What are the “means of Grace?” How can we pick up and use the tools he has given to enable us to meet with him, and go deeper with him. We start here – recognising who can come to God and who God is – and expectantly seeking his face.
© Gilmour Lilly November 2012
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