I Will Not Leave You
“I will not leave you,” says the Lord God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, to Jacob. Jacob the trickster who is on the run. Having
effectively stolen the birthright of his older brother Esau, their mother has warned
Jacob that Esau is out for revenge and urges him to flee. He is a fugitive; He
is all alone. He takes a stone for a pillow to catch some sleep before
continuing his flight. He has no idea what he has gotten himself into. He knows
nothing of the promise to Abraham and Isaac. He knows not where he is going or
what he is to do. He only knows that he is alone and on the run. Or, so he
thinks.
Lying there he suddenly feels the brush of angel’s wings on
his face. Looking up he sees stairs of some kind leading up to the heavens,
with angels ascending and descending. It must be mesmerizing. Astonishing
really. Before he can even begin to understand, there, standing beside him is YHWH,
Adonai, the Lord God of Abraham his grandfather, and Isaac his father talking
about a promise he is to carry on behalf of his family, but more importantly on
behalf of the entire human family. “I will give this land upon which you
land to you, and to your offspring; your offspring shall be like the dust of
the earth; all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your
offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go… I will
not leave you…” [i]
Suddenly, as he wakes up, for the first time in his life,
Jacob knows he is not alone, and has never been alone. He is overwhelmed with the
palpable presence of the Lord. He erects a pillar with the stone that was his
pillow. He names the place, Bethel – Beth-el, the home of God. Forgetting,
perhaps, that God did not say he was in the place. The Lord had said, “I am
with you and will keep you wherever you are! I will not leave you.” Jacob
seems not to fully grasp that he is a tabernacle of the Lord. Jacob is Beth-el,
a home for God.
Like Jacob, we often make the same mistake. We tend to think
that God is in some place. And why not? How could God be with me wherever I am?
We begin our worship each week, “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open,
all desire known, and from you no secrets are hid…”[ii]
We sometimes think it is we who can open or close our hearts, when it is
Almighty God who does the opening, because as it is for Jacob, the Lord is with
us and keeps us wherever we go. God is with us – Emmanuel, God with us. Jacob
thinks he is alone, but God is telling him, no, you are part of an “us.” You are
essential to the community of my people on Earth. To make it even more clear,
God eventually, after an all-night wrestling match with Jacob, renames him
Israel – he who strives with God – and that God’s presence is in the community,
the family, the clan that Jacob is to become with descendants like the dust to
the earth.
God opens our hearts – we who are among the descendants that
are like the dust of the earth! We who are gathered in this place to be a
blessing to all the families of the Earth. We who become tabernacles of the Lord
as we eat his flesh and drink his blood. We who feed on him in our hearts by
faith, and thanksgiving. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
There can be no more powerful expression of all of this than
Psalm 139. [iii]
“O, Lord, you have searched me out, and You know!” You know all the movements
of my life: when I sit, when I stand, even when I lie down in my “resting
places.” And there is no escaping the presence of the Lord, whether we were
to shoot out into furthest regions of the universe, or be hidden deep beneath
the surface of the Earth. “Even there your hand will lead me and your right
hand hold me fast.” Even in the darkest of hours, whenever we feel as alone,
or on the run like Jacob, the Psalmist reminds us, “Darkness is not dark to
you; the night is as bright as the day; darkness and light to you are both
alike.” Then even though this is the Lord who opens hearts and from whom no
secrets are hid, the Psalmist urges us to invite the Lord to, “Search me
out, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my restless thoughts. Look well
whether there be any wickedness in me and lead me in the way that is
everlasting.” We are to be those people who want, who desire, that the Lord
search out our hearts, to weed out any and all wickedness, so we might without
fear be lead in the way that is everlasting – everlasting life and light; so
that we might truly be a blessing to all the peoples of the Earth.
Jesus appears to reflect on Psalm 139 as he tells the
parable of the wheat that has been compromised with weeds sown by some nefarious
source of wickedness. [iv]
Yet, Jesus cautions not to be distracted by the weeds. Not to waste time and possibly
damage the good wheat, the good news, by pulling the weeds ourselves. Attend
with your hearts to the way that is everlasting. Move forward with the Lord who
knows! Who knows us, and who knows the way. All else is a distraction from the
promise of becoming a blessing for all the peoples of the Earth.
It has been suggested that if we would take the time each
day for 30 days to read Psalm 139, our lives will be changed. And the life of
all the peoples of the Earth will be blessed. If nothing else, the psalm reminds us that our
God will never leave us. We are not alone. That our God will open our hearts,
weed out the wickedness, and help us to become ambassadors of God’s promise to
all peoples of the Earth. Read this once a day for 30 days and see. And know. The
Lord is with us and keeps us wherever we are. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Amen.
1 Lord, you have searched me out
and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my
rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my
resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my
ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my
lips, *
but you, O Lord, know it
altogether.
4 You press upon me behind and
before *
and lay your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain
to it.
6 Where can I go then from your
Spirit? *
where can I flee from your
presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are
there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are
there also.
8 If I take the wings of the
morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of
the sea,
9 Even there your hand will lead me
*
and your right hand hold me fast.
10 If I say, "Surely the
darkness will cover me, *
and the light around me turn to
night,"
11 Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day;
*
darkness and light to you are both
alike.
22 Search me out, O God, and know
my heart; *
try me and know my restless
thoughts.
23 Look well whether there be any
wickedness in me *
and lead me in the way that is
everlasting.
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