Today’s Scripture Reading (March 13, 2016): Psalm 24
There are cities on this planet that are closed. There are many cities that I will never visit. Some because I don’t have the time, others because I have no interest in going there, but still others because I would simply not be allowed into the city. The cities, there are a few of them, which are simply closed to my presence. One such city is Mecca. Every report that I have heard about the city is that it is a beautiful place. But the problem is that I am not Muslim, and only Muslims are allowed into the city. So the closest that I will ever get to the city would be in viewing the various pictures that have been taken of the place. Mecca is a closed city.
It seemed to be the reverse belief that Israel possessed throughout much of its history. Part of the horror of the Babylonian Exile is that it took place somewhere where God was not – outside of Israel. The same idea seemed to be true of the nation during the time of Jesus. The God who had created the world had somehow settled for being just a local God. As far as the people understood, God was really only concerned with Israel or, at least, those who had accepted the Jewish faith.
But David seems to hold out a different challenge. The earth is the Lord’s. Not just a section of it, but all of it. There is no place that he cannot go and no corner where he cannot find us. The earth, all of it, belongs to God. But according to David, it is not just the land that belongs to God, it was everything that exists in it. Everything, every corner, every church, every idol – everything that we possess or that could be possessed belongs to God. There is nothing that we could own that he doesn’t already own.
But then David takes it just a little farther. It is not just the earth and the things of the earth that are his possession. It is the people as well. Everyone. And that means that there is not one of us who is beyond his reach.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 16
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