Psalms. A friend of mine recently visited the Holy Land and spoke of a day they ascended up ancient Mt. Zion reading the Psalms of Assent. Since we are reading five of them today, I did a quick search and found this page to be a helpful explanation.
My mom loves mountains and lived on one when she was young. She loved the poetry of Psalm 121: "I lift up my eyes to the mountains; where does my help come from?" She always thought of mountains as places of refuge and peace. It was a shock to her when she learned that this Psalm is a warning to NOT look to the mountains, but to the Lord. When the Psalm was written, pagan worshipers had built altars to other gods on the tops of every mountain possible. People looked to the mountains because they looked to those false gods.
What false gods am I tempted to run to?
Sam, Your question as to false gods, brings up a concern with me as to why I feel closest to my Lord when I gaze upon the moon and the stars He hung. Since that makes me feel so much closer to Him, is there a danger that I am - in essence - perhaps worshiping the moon or stars instead of God? I have pondered and 'worried' on that often.
ReplyDeleteThe real question, LJ, is about the focus of your worship and where you turn in times of trouble. Romans tells us that God gave us the beauty of creation to draw our attention to the invisible God. That sounds like what you are doing.
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