Let your lungs expand with praise

Ever felt that God had forgotten about you? You know, things aren't going good, your check book isn't worth the paper it's printed on, your stack of bills are enough to keep your house heated if you set them ablaze.

Seriously. Forgotten you. Things were swell, then they weren't, and no matter your prayer life, no matter your spiritual disciplines, no matter your scripture reading, no matter the intense reading of That's Life (I threw that in there, but you get the picture), you can't find God. You feel a hole, and even chocolate and ice cream can't fill it.

Some call it a time of spiritual dryness, and surely it is. But for some it's more than that. Some find that time, which many if not most of us go through, to be similar to the time the Israelites spent away from Jerusalem, from their land. Dispersed. Deported.

It's like having a home, a place where your kids were born and raised, a place where you know each nook and cranny with intimate knowledge,(there's the place Carrie slipped and split her knee, there's the place Shanna broke the vase, there's the ...) and you're forcefully removed from it for a period of time with only a promise, that thing we find so hard to make into reality, of ever going back.

The Israelites felt that way. But God was a speaking God to the prophets then, and to Ezekiel, he spoke: "But now I will return Jacob back from exile, I'll be compassionate with all the people of Israel, and I'll be zealous for my holy name. Eventually the memory will fade, the memory of their shame over their betrayals of me when they lived securely in their own land, safe and unafraid. Once I've brought them back from foreign parts, gathered them in from enemy territories, I'll use them to demonstrate my holiness with all the nations watching. Then they'll realize for sure that I am their God, for even though I sent them off into exile, I will gather them back to their own land, leaving not one soul behind. After I've poured my Spirit on Israel, filled them with my life, I'll no longer turn away. I'll look them full in the face. Decree of God, the Master."

I'll look them full in the face is God's way of saying I will never turn away again. I will see them, watch over them, be with them.

If you ever wonder just what the joy was when Israel became a nation in the late 1940s, it was that many of them felt God was loking them full in the face again. When Mary and I were in Israel earlier this year, I heard the expression, "Maybe next year in Jerusalem," at the Holocaust Museum for the first time. It resonated with me.

Maybe I'll see my kin next year. Maybe I'll feel whole again next year. Maybe I'll feel home again next year. Maybe ....

We live a pretty moderate worship life, you know, we Americans. Orthodox Jews, strict Muslems, they live a much more serious worship life. We come and we go to church as if it is something we love ... if there is nothing better to do at that time. Maybe God wouldn't seem so far away at times if we were as diligent about staying close to him, huh?

I think to Psalm 34, which is my sermon text Sunday, about a youngish David thinking about his relationship with his God.

David, chased by the King (Saul), living in caves, having been thrown out of his comfort zone at the palace, with reasons to feel God was far from him, wrote these words:

"1 I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise.

2 I live and breathe God;
if things aren't going well, hear this and be happy:

3 Join me in spreading the news;
together let's get the word out.

4 God met me more than halfway,
he freed me from my anxious fears.

5 Look at him; give him your warmest smile.
Never hide your feelings from him.

6 When I was desperate, I called out,
and God got me out of a tight spot.

7 God's angel sets up a circle
of protection around us while we pray.

8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him."

God far from you? Feeling down or destressed? David says, open your mouth and taste how good God is. Bless him. Praise him. Call out to him. Never hide your feelings. Let your lungs expand with his praise.

Maybe next year in Jerusalem; but this year in Covington, La., for certain. Let my lungs expand with his praise, whether circumstances are good or not. In fact, David says, if things are going poorly, if circumstances are stacked in the negative column against you, the thing to do is let your lungs expand with his praise. Praising Him, David says, is the key to YOUR joy.

Maybe next year in Jerusalem. Maybe.