PSALM 90:1
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
TO PONDER
I think I have mentioned this before in one of these devotions, but it is funny how it has been highlighted to me again recently when a passage of scripture like this comes up.
On our recent time away during the Easter School holidays, our family took a road trip to Mt. Gambier in South Australia to visit my mum. We used our normal route which keeps us mostly on major highways and close to larger cities to make sure we could get access to fuel for the car.
My wife Elise and I commented at various points along the way how strange it felt to be so comfortable and 'at home' in so many places over such a long distance. As we approached Yass, we felt nostalgic and 'at home' because of our time living and working as interns at Warrambui which is located between Yass and Canberra on the Barton Highway. We noted as we headed into Albury for our overnight break from the drive how we both knew our way around Albury easily even though neither of us has ever lived their because of the time we spent visiting and staying with friends and colleagues from 'the old youth camp days'. As we approached Ballarat the next day I navigated the city easily as my memories of my first 12 months living as a university student in Ballarat reasserted themselves. Finally as we travelled though Hamilton - where I went to High school, Portland - where I grew up, and finally my Mum's new house - where we always used to go on holidays as kids, that familiar feeling of home also kicked in.
It's not unlike the sentiment being expressed by the psalmist in today's reading. The people of Israel had lived in various places. While their 'home' was the land promised to their forefathers, they had lived as slaves in Egypt, desert wanderers, and probably at the time of this psalm being written were exiles in the Babylonian or Assyrian Empires. But no matter their physical location, or the living conditions they may have been facing; freedom, exile, or slavery, they were always dwelling under the shelter of God's promise that He would be their God and they would be His people and that through them, he would make himself known to the nations.
Wherever your house or 'home' might be, no matter which town or city you know your way around (without google maps), no matter how many times you have moved house or changed address. If you are a child of God you always dwell in God's presence - that is your true home and dwelling place.
PRAYER: Lord God, thank you for the gift of your word which reminds us that there is no place we can go to hide from your presence. That you are our stronghold, our defence, our firm foundation; and that with you is peace, love, forgiveness and belonging. Please help me to foster those things in my own home that those who live with me, work with me, hang out with me, might also experience the peace, love, forgiveness and belonging that comes from being in your presence. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle