Psalm 48

1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,
2 beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor.
7 By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. Selah
9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.
10 As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments!
12 Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.
- Psalms 48

As I sit in reflection on the last 9 days and read this chapter, I can't help but think of God's love for his creation. We were on vacation the last 9 days and were blessed to spend a good amount of time in the Stanislaus Forest.

It's humbling being surrounded by thousand year old Sequoias. You feel small. You feel insignificant. But that isn't true. What God says is that you are if so much significance that He will protect and never leave you. Though He loves the Sequoias, the rivers, the trails, the lakes, His love for you cannot be matched.

All of God's creation was meant to bring Him glory, and give us delight.

So when we read about his protection for Zion or Jerusalem and see how He was always saving them despite their continual lack of submission to Him, we see that it's not His love for places and spaces, but for faces.

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us a City on Hill. Similarly, He promises to never leave us, to love us, and to protect us. But the idea of a city has changed. It's not about a physical location. We, as God's people, represent a Kingdom that is the most attractive Kingdom, a city that truth and peace reside in, a place where good news is proclaimed and believed.

Our job is to be a people that is focused on building God's kingdom here until Jesus returns to build it finally and perfectly.

Today, consider our church a city. Do people want to be around your city? Do they like to reside there? Is it a place that provides love, community, peace, comfort, and prosperity? Is it a city of Good News?

Then pray about how you can help foster those things in your heart and our church.

Love you guys!

Charlie