Dear Liberty Church,
Though COVID-19 continues to change our world, down to our very lives, I would like to remind each of you of the unchanging, eternal Sabbath; tomorrow is still the day that God has set aside for us to focus our hearts and our attention upon Him. We are all the household of God, but this week, we should think of worshipping on the Sabbath as individual households instead.
To help us in this endeavor, I would ask that you spend extended time in prayer and in reading of Scripture on the Lord’s Day. Consider Psalm 102. Read it aloud. This Psalm is rich with language that is pertient to our particular time. Just like today, the psalmist longed for the restoration of a former way of life, a former glory, in his case, the restoration of Zion. He cried out that his day was a “day of distress” (v.2). Surely this sounds familiar to us!
The psalmist went through everything we have gone through these past few weeks, and more! His words resonated with me, as I read verses 6-7 at 3:00am last night, unable to sleep: “I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.” We can relate to his pain, but the psalmist’s suffering continues beyond insomnia, culminating in the visceral declaration of v.11: “My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.” That is a cry of desperation, but though it is true that all “flesh is like the flowers of the field,” and that our life is merely a passing shadow, the psalmist does not end on a note of despair, and neither should we. Look at v.12, immediately following the lament: “But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever.” What a promise! Despite change, despite uncertainty, despite our present calamity, the Lord sits on the throne, and we are His servants, even more, we are His children!
Perhaps what will come out of COVID-19 is the same that the psalmist hoped for in his day: “Nations will fear the name of the Lord and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory” (v.15). Pray that this world-changing disease also changes the hearts of those who do not know Christ. “Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord” (v.18). Pray that revival would sweep through our land, and our church, even as the result of a virus. “When peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord” (v.22). May the Church worship our God in earnest, especially when we are united once again. “They will perish, but You will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but You are the same, and Your years have no end. The children of Your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before You.” (v.26-28). We are the Lord’s, and that never changes!
May our thoughts, attitudes, prayers, even our lives, be changed to reflect these wonderful truths!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nathan