Joy in Going to the House of the Lord

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” - Psalm 122:1 (ESV) [Read Psalm 121]

A ‘Psalm of Ascents’ or a pilgrim psalm, this psalm, attributed to David as author, celebrates going up to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. It has become a doxology for all peoples everywhere who worship God and who enjoy going to the church house dedicated to the worship and gathering of His people.

Within the psalm which calls the people to worship is also a poignant reminder: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers!” (Psalm 122:6-7).

A few years ago Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, went to Jerusalem, and standing on the hill overlooking Mt. Zion and the temple mount, she made a plea to Christians everywhere to pray daily for a whole month for the peace of Jerusalem, quoting Psalm 122:6. We know the distress and troubles that sacred city has known almost since its founding. Because of its importance to both the Jewish and the Christian believers, it is held in great regard throughout the world, and people are eager to hear of news of the city and its inhabitants. “Peace” (shalom in Hebrew) means more than absence of strife. It also means health, well-being, wholeness. “Salem”, meaning “place of peace,” was the original name for the city when Abraham met the priest Melchizedec there and the priest blessed Abraham (see Genesis 14:18). Jerusalem is a place many pilgrims from many lands and throughout the ages, even to our present day, want to travel to and see. It was my privilege in 1978 to visit the Holy Land with my husband, the Rev. Grover D. Jones. A special sense of sacredness and deep spiritual thoughts come to any pilgrims who can visit this city which has seen centuries of history unfold, both religious and secular. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” foresees the day when the new Jerusalem is established and the Lord reigns, a time when Jerusalem comes into its fullness and “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10).

We gain experience in bowing before and worshiping the Lord God as we gather in our congregations and worship God together in concert and individually as believers. Strength and faith come from genuine worship. Since childhood, I have been “glad,” as the psalmist so aptly expressed, when it was time to go to the house of the Lord to worship. For those who claim they can worship as well alone as within a congregation, I do not doubt—if only we will. But there is strength in numbers gathered to adore and praise the Lord. The poet Henry van Dyke (1852-1933) expressed our desire to worship in the house of the Lord in corporate adoration as he penned the words of the hymn, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” Set to the lofty “Hymn to Joy” tune by Ludwig van Beethoven (1170-1827), our hearts are lifted as we rejoice and sing:

     “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,/God of glory, Lord of love;

     Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,/Op-‘ning to the sun above.

     Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,/Drive the dark of doubt away;

     Giver of immortal gladness,/Fill us with the light of day!”

    “All Thy works with joy surround Thee,/Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays;

    Stars and angels sing around Thee,/ Center of unbroken praise.

    Field and forest, vale and mountain,/ Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,

    Singing bird and flowing fountain/Call us to rejoice in Thee!” Amen!

And all the people said, “Amen!” -Ethelene Dyer Jones 05.01.2016

Considering Love

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” –John 3:16 (KJV)

John 3:16 is said to be the most memorized verse of Scripture in the entire Bible. We learn it as children. It remains with us for the entirety of our life. We study it, appreciate its message, accept its truth by faith, and believe it with all sincerity.

Love? How could God “so love” the world that He would give His only begotten Son to restore the broken fellowship that sin wrought?

Countless scholars have written about it in an effort to explain. Millions of preachers of the Word have expounded upon it in attempts to clarify and elucidate the message. Unnumbered teachers have thought of ways to make clear and understandable the impact of the verse’s message and the extent of God’s love it expresses. For me, a degree of understanding—enough that I could accept it on faith—came when I was told to put my name where “whosoever” is in John 3:16, and read it thus: “that if Ethelene will believe in Him she will not perish but have everlasting life.” That simple exercise opened the magnificent truth of the verse to me so that I accepted the truth of God’s love and believed.

The Greek word used for love in this verse is “agape.” In “agape” love, it does not begin in the human heart but in the heart of God. Coming from God, and undeserved, for it cannot be earned, it extends to all persons who will accept His love by faith. Agape love is evidence of and foretaste of the goal of God’s purposes for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Agape love brings restoration and redemption, and eternal life.

I read the story of the conversion of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1832-1893), noted English clergyman. On January 6, 1850 a severe snowstorm hit the city of Colchester, England. Spurgeon was a teenage boy under deep conviction. Both his grandfather and father were preachers, but somehow Spurgeon had not been able to trust in the Lord for his own salvation. On that particular Sunday, the snow was too deep for him to go to the church he normally attended. He made his way to a small chapel where a lay person was substituting for the minister who could not get through the snowstorm to meet his preaching obligation. The layperson took his text from Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” The layperson in his halting way said “Anyone can look to Jesus. Even a child can look. God loved us so much that we only have to look to Him for salvation. Whosoever will, may look.” Then spying Spurgeon, looking miserable on the back row of the little chapel, the man said, “Young man, all you have to do to be saved is just look to Jesus!” That was the moment of revelation for Charles Haddon Spurgeon. That day his heart was opened to the love of Jesus. In reading his biography we know how many years he diligently gave himself to loving Jesus Christ and being a marvelous preacher proclaiming Christ’s love to others. In one of his sermons on John 3:16 Spurgeon said: “How sad that anyone should perish for lack of knowledge of the love of God. Jesus is near the seeker when he is tossed upon oceans of doubt. The sinner has but to stoop down and drink and live.”

The words of Frederick M. Lehman are a poetic expression of God’s magnificent love: “The love of God is greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell.” Thank you, God, for Your immeasurable love, reaching to even me! – Ethelene Dyer Jones 02.01.2015.