PATHWAYS (Writing a Worship Service)
(#5) "Spiritual
Geography"
Worship Service #5
Service #5 is built around the Scriptural teaching about the "place(s)" where God is present with his people, particularly the images of his 'throne' in the tabernacle or temple. It also touches on other "places" not typically associated with God's presence.
This points us to a large set of Biblical images--what could be called a "Spiritual Geography" which can be very useful to keep in mind when using Biblical passages that refer to such places.
I will organize the places around four main images:
GOD'S DWELLING is the first and most important of these. All other things are understood with respect to where God's throne is.
1.God's Dwelling: Top
the Mountain of God (Sinai, Zion) -where God's THRONE is;
the City of God (Zion) -where God dwells among his people.
Because God is there, pouring out his blessing on his people, it is a Garden with river of life. God's temple/house and his City on God's Mountain is the goal of his people, the inheritance they seek. God's city (or God himself!)is a refuge, a place of safety against the enemy, and all the dangers outside.
(Psalm 27:5)
**Again, note! This is the most important, the starting place. All other 'places' are defined with reference to this place; God's throne is the CENTERPOINT/FOCAL POINT of the universe.
It is also better understood and appreciated over against them. For instance, to celebrate the blessings of God's house is often to understand what it looks like to be without them. We know better what it means to be in God's presence in contrast with the loss... of being separated from it.
2. The "City of Man" Top
is an imitation of God's own city, but built by man, who plans it and constructs it for his own glory
(
Gen.11:4, Ex 1:10-11))
There are several historical cities in which this pattern is seen, especially Babylon (Hebrew "Babel") and Egypt. Since it is an imitation/mimic of God's city it may be well-watered and prosperous (cf the description of Egypt, and the area of Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen.13:10 )
It is also the land of exile or imprisonment, separated from God's presence.
3. The Sea Top
often portrayed as a powerful enemy, in rebellion against God.
Various enemies in Scripture appear out of the sea or are related to the "sea monster"/great serpent ('Leviathan')
or are described as the sea/a great flood.
But God is exalted over the flood ( Ps 29:3,10), able to rebuke the wind and wave (Ps 104:7-9, cf.Mark 4:39) He did so at creation, in the Flood, and in his victory at the Red Sea. There he rescues his people from the threat of death itself. Similarly, it is by his power over the Jordan that he brings his people into the "Promised Land" (Joshua 4:23).
Related to this image of the "depths of the sea" is that of the "pit", or the "depths of the earth". Often these describe the grave itself. (
Jonah 2 combines the language of the sea and
the pit (cf. Ps 18:4-6).
But God is able to lift people up even from here (vv.16-19).
The 'pit' is often a place of judgment--of chains, slavery, imprisonment--far away from God. (In Psalm 103 the pit is based on the story of the Exodus. It works equally well to describe the plight of slavery in Egypt and the danger of death in the depths of the Red Sea.)
4. The Desert Top
a place of danger, hunger, temptation, judgment and death.
The desert is the opposite of the Garden. It is where rebels are condemned to wander, hungering and thirsting,
(Ps 107:4-5 )
and even to die (cf. Num.14).
It is the place of darkness, of the "shadow of death". (The language of Psalm 23
is very similar to the Jeremiah's
description of the desert through which the Israelites wandered.
Yet God shows his grace in the desert: even there he is present with his people and his glory may be revealed, and the rivers of life from his mountain flow down into the desert. Thus God's people have a foretaste of that feast: they eat 'bread of heaven' in the desert.
An awareness of this imagery can be very helpful in planning our worship. It may be explicitly stated in the leader's remarks or in the materials we use. Or it may shape the way we read and use the Psalms and other Scriptures that are such an important piece of the Church's worship.
Check out Service #5 "God Meets with Us" (See also the Compass article, "God's House".)