Entrusted with the Gospel

Send your light and your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place. Then I will come to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy.

                  Psalm 43:3, 4a (CSB)

The Scriptures are uniquely empowered to bring you joy. Now…I am fully aware that this premise is downright laughable to those outside of the faith, but Psalm 43 should establish the truth of this claim once and for all to those who call Jesus Lord.

Work backwards with me. Take note at the end, how the Psalmist refers to God: He is…“my greatest joy”. And the way this writer receives this joy from God is by being in His presence. So naturally, he is aiming to be with the Lord at his “holy mountain”, that is, His “dwelling place.” 

In God’s presence – that’s where the joy is found – even “fullness of joy”, as the shepherd-king David also testifies in Psalm 16:11. Ok, so far so good. But how does the writer get there? How do you get into the place of God’s presence…where there is fullness of joy? This is the key question.

But How Do I Get Into God’s Presence?

 If you think about being in the presence of a friend, you know exactly how to get in their presence. Get a lunch together…take a walk, etc. But God? God is Spirit (John 4:24), and getting into His presence…requires something else. What is it?

The Psalmist is saying that if you want to be in God’s presence, you need something to lead you there. And that something…is the secret sauce of these two verses – what is it that will lead this man into the presence of God? 

You see the answer in what he prays for at the beginning – “Send your light and your truth; let them lead me.” He knows that God’s light and truth will lead him into God’s presence where he will find joy.

Enter the Scriptures…God’s word…the ultimate source of light (Psalm 119:105) and truth. The Bible leads me into God’s presence where I find my greatest joy.

It’s why Jesus called Mary’s choice to sit at His feet the…“one thing necessary” (Luke 10:42). In that case, she was literally in His presence…receiving His word…and in the process, no doubt… finding joy.

Yes, But How?

But…HOW do I approach the Scriptures in a way that will bring me joy? I’m going to write a few articles in weeks to come about this very topic. This is the first. The second will come next week. Hint: if you are so inclined…pass it on!