Imago Scriptura 74 - Psalm 1-3 - Sanctuary
This was my sanctuary for worship this morning. It is Sunday morning and we are heading from North Dakota back down to South Dakota for several days of camping. My morning started at 4:30am heading to an overlook at the entrance to Teddy Roosevelt National Park for the sunrise. It was a stunning morning as the sun was rising in the east while there were thunderclouds churning in the west. As I was driving up, there was lightning flashing and deep purple-grey clouds. The clouds were moving in toward where I was. As I pulled into the overlook I was also greeted with a massive buffalo just munching on the grass in the middle of the parking area. It could not have been a better way to start this day. After taking a bunch of shots of the early sunrise, I read from Psalm 1-3 today and was drawn especially to the center of Psalm 3 -
But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
The big sky of this country reminds me of the awe-some-ness of God - Its hard to feel big and important when the horizon stretches for miles in every direction and the sky is overwhelming in its power and beauty. We spoke with the kids as we hit the road later in the morning about how these moments remind us that, no matter what is happening in the world, there is beauty to behold, wonder to experience, and awe to feel. The Lord is always in his temple and always able to be beheld. The fingerprints of God were all around this morning.
There were two songs that I kept playing over and over this morning - “Wonder”, by Gungor and “Calling out your Name” by Rich Mullins. Lyrics follow. I cannot say it any better than they…
Once I had wings and I flew In a sky that was coloured in pink and pattered in blue There I could see it all clear On that magical sphere all the lost looking for something else to appear
Wonder can you see it Keep believing There is wonder in it
Wonder feel the wonder and remember there is wonder in it all
Calling Out Your Name - Rich Mullins
Well the moon moved past Nebraska And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills And angels danced on Jacob's stairs Yeah, they danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled By the whisper of a prayer The whisper of a prayer
And a single hawk bursts into flight And in the east the whole horizon is in flames I feel thunder in the sky I see the sky about to rain And I hear the prairies calling out Your name
I can feel the earth tremble Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves And the fury in the pheasant's wings And there's fury in a pheasant's wings
And it tells me the Lord is in His temple And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move And a love that can make the heavens ring And I've seen love make heaven ring
Where the sacred rivers meet Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains I feel thunder in the sky I see the sky about to rain And I hear the prairies calling out Your name
From the place where morning gathers You can look sometimes forever 'til you see What time may never know What time may never know
How the Lord takes by its corners this old world And shakes us forward and shakes us free To run wild with the hope To run wild with the hope
The hope that this thirst will not last long That it will soon drown in a song not sung in vain And I feel thunder in the sky I see the sky about to rain And I hear the prairies calling out Your name
And I know this thirst will not last long That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain I feel thunder in the sky I see the sky about to rain And with the prairies I am calling out Your name