Well, now, wait a minute!

Who may climb the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? — Psalm 24:3

“God is my friend,” declares a darling four-year-old Sunday school student. We shouldn’t just smile at this. We should also nod. A profound theologian is on hand, and we are wise to listen.

That four-year-old has listened well to his or her teacher. The hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” tells us how it is, after all.

The writer of Psalm 24 takes us in a direction, however. The psalmist says in effect, “Well, now, wait a minute! Who ARE you to think you can be so chummy-chummy with the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY? Who says you can climb the mountain of the LORD and be best buds with the grand Creator of the ever-expanding universe?”

Both the child theologian and Joseph M. Scriven (author of the poem that became the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus) are correct. The LORD is love. His mercies never fail.

The psalmist helps us, too. Maybe we have been a bit too chummy-chummy with the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.

Yes, the LORD deepest desire is for us to know and love Him as He loves us, hello friendship; but some of us may spend too much time saddling up to what shouldn’t necessarily be such an easy ascent all the time, which is the proximity of the most powerful force ever.

As different as the child theologian, Scriven and the psalmist may be on some levels, they would all agree on this: YOU can stand in His holy place. All three invite you to do so.

PRAYER: Help us not wait a minute. Instead, help us ascend to the holy mountain where we can experience You, our LORD, the grand Creator of the ever-expanding universe. Amen.

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PHOTO: Darling four-year-old Anna, Sunday, March 21, 2021.