Longing

These things I remember 

as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go to the house of God

under the protection of the Mighty One

with shouts of joy and praise

among the festive throng.

Psalm 42.4

When I read this verse I couldn't help thinking of the current lockdown and of how this longing is so true for so many believers as they long to go back to a physical church and worship God with their brothers and sisters rather than separately online! The Psalmist had this same longing, which ultimately will be fulfilled for all of us in heaven when we will have the most amazing festival of joy and praise with all believers around the throne- what an incredible thing to look forward to!

Christopher Ash comments:

[The Psalmist] pours out his soul, which is a strange expression; it is as if his inner being pours out of him with his tears. What he remembers is “the house of God”—the temple in Jerusalem—and the people of God gathering for one of the great Old Testament covenant festivals, like Passover (“the festive throng”). He used to “go” there; indeed, the word used to describe his going may mean that he was a leader, leading the people in that joyful praising multitude. He remembers “the swirl of the festival hymns” 

 What he misses is not some solitary mystical experience of God but the corporate throng of enthusiastic temple worship, of which he may have been a leader. When Jesus of Nazareth would have sung this, he would be longing not only for the immediate presence of his Father but for his place as the joyful leader of the assembled people of God. When we sing this, we express and deepen an intense longing for the immediate presence of God the Father, and for the joy of being in the new heavens and new earth, led by Jesus our worship-leader as we sing songs of exultant praise and joy. This longing is partially sated in the joyful corporate worship of the church here on earth.