Monday, February 13, 2006

Mountain

You are God my stronghold. Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain to the place where you dwell. I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? I rejoiced with those who said to me “Let us go to the house of the Lord”. I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word…. Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Within your temple, O God we meditate on your unfailing love. O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Psalm 43: 2-3, Psalm 120: 1, Psalm 121: 1, Psalm 122: 1, Psalm 123: 1, Hebrews 12: 22-24, Psalm 48: 1, Psalm 48: 9, Psalm 65: 2-4, Psalm 125: 1, Psalm 68: 19-20. Revelation 21: 2-4.