The Cry of My Heart
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Psalm 84:1-2
Good Monday Morning from the Heartland.
What does your soul yearn for− what does your heart cry out for?
I would imagine there are many possibilities.
As I sit here this morning thinking about it, this might be the question above all questions, the answer to which will tell us everything about ourselves. If my soul yearns for earthly things, say money or status or power, maybe for drugs or drink, possibly for love and romance… what would that say about my spiritual condition?
Yes indeed, there are so many possible answers…
Why is it that my soul cries out for God when I find myself in trouble, but when all seems well, things other than God have my attention? Oh yes, that says something about my spiritual condition!
I want to say that my heart and soul cry out for God, but if that were true, what would my daily life look like; would it look the same as it does now? Hmmm…
The things of this life are all around us, the pleasures of this life call out. The problems of this life are all around us as well; they aren’t easy to miss: The things of this life are ubiquitous in fact, and if my attention is to be on the things that are above, maybe I’m going to need to decide consciously to put it there, instead of on the things of this life. Yes, maybe I’m going to need to put my attention on God purposefully, deliberately, as a choice I make. After all, don’t our hearts and souls yearn for the things were pay attention to?
As I sit in my chair looking at the screen
I read the words that Don has shared
My mind turns to the Kingdom that Jesus rules
The heroes of old and those not so old
the angelic beings whose lives are not yet told
Imagine the stories that even millennia can’t fit
but the central theme will be Jesus in it.
It is hard to imagine what we will do forever
but part of it will be, to worship the Father.
We can do that here the truth be told
but in the Kingdom we can the Father behold
Paul wrote to the Corinthians faith, hope and love
but in the Kingdom there will only be love.
The eyes of faith can be hard to see
it feels like a dream instead of reality
Just follow the Psalmist as written above
my flesh and heart cry out for the living God.
(Apologies to all real poets out there).
You did great Steve, thank you very much!
I’ve begun reading A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. The second chapter mirrors this post. Oh, that my heart and soul would totally cry out for the Living God!
Amen.