Dear Ones:
True Christianity is a very personal thing, and very real. When Jesus tells us that the mystery hidden from all the ages, but now revealed in and to the church is our union with Him by the Spirit, …this is personal. It is not like going to Jerusalem where Jesus “was.” It is being and living where He “is” by the Spirit. Though there was not the realization of this union with Christ until the birth of the church, the day of Pentecost, there was however in the Old Testament the revelation of the personal presence, that very reality of the proximity of His presence.
Psalm 46:1: “God IS our refuge and strength, a very PRESENT HELP in time of trouble…God IS in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” What we need to grasp here is the accessibility that we have to God, and this because of His immutable presence, and willingness to reveal Himself to our hearts and minds, and in our circumstances. To this end, He tells us: “Be still and KNOW that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.” (v.10) We need to STOP, be still, and look at the eternal reality of His Person and Presence. He is certainly NOT a God afar off.
How close is God? Someone has said, “…nearer than the very air that we breathe.” And it is so. Before there is a word on our lips, He knows it altogether. Before we ask anything in prayer, He knows the need. He searches the thoughts and intents of the heart. Is this not Divine proximity that is personal?
In one of the great passages where we see the Lord exhorting Israel to trust in Him, we read: “…In quietness and confidence shall be your strength…And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you…blessed are all they that wait for Him…thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.'” (Is. 30:15,18,21). Is this not a Divine call to trust Him to be more to us than just a God who is there? It is a wonderful invitation to BELIEVE Him, prove Him, know Him.
It was during the quietness of the night that God gave to Daniel the answer that he needed to tell the king the interpretation of his dreams. And so, it is also in the night, when all is quiet and still, that He gives “songs in the night.” Why do songs come to our hearts and minds? Because in their stanzas and choruses, there are revealed the great truths of God upon which we can rely, and know Him. And the Spirit of truth, whether using very simple songs, or the great deep hymns of the faith, delights to reveal the things of Christ to us, confirming to our hearts that He IS with us, even more close than the air that we breath….and thus, worthy of all our trust.
Love, Dad