The God Of Your StorySýnishorn

Passionate desire. In our culture, we might consider this word combination representative of something erotic or sexual in nature. Or perhaps the words would describe a person who has a singular focus on a particular goal. It’s not inherently inappropriate to consider passionate desire in either of these ways. We all likely know what it’s like to pursue an ambition. Many of us are aware of the joy and abandon found in passionate intimacy with our spouse. However, we usually find ourselves considerably more reserved when we think of intimacy with God.

Passionate desire is a truly fitting description of our reading from Psalm 84 today: “I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God” (Psalm 84:2).

Human beings are certainly full of passion, but when was the last time you felt the kind of passionate desire for God’s presence that’s described in Psalm 84? 

We can give our passions to many things (or people) while withholding them from God. Mostly, we’re just not paying attention. We’re not always present to where our passions are leading us. But those passions are borne first out of desire. 

In today’s reading, the psalmist is essentially saying that the presence of God, even in the humblest position, is better than anything else. We’d have to agree—even if only in theory. How do we find what the psalmist is describing? The answer is the psalm itself: worship.

I wish there were a more non-religious sounding word with less baggage. Because worship has been packaged a lot of ways. Simply put, worship is anything that we give our heart to in hope of receiving life in return. The psalmist’s passionate desire for God’s presence was borne out of experience. He had tasted an intimate union with God, and that union was achieved through worship.

Worship isn’t something that happens only in church. It’s not only a magic tonic for battling depression or moving through grief. Worship describes where we focus our passionate desire in hopes of finding life. This means that anything that releases our heart in this way can be worship. Which means that life itself can become worship.

Consider everything you do today to be an act of worship. Intentionally become more aware of God’s presence. He is always with us. We’re just not always paying attention, which allows our desire to lead us to distraction. The old hymn got it right. If we will focus our passionate desire on becoming more aware of God’s presence through worship, “the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”