A forewarning: this is going to be a long one. I am confident that it will be worth it, though.
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
Psalm 27:13
One of the main themes found in the book of Psalms is learning to seek and be confident in the Lord through times of trial. While I understood this, despite the number of times I have read Psalm 27, I have never stopped to ponder what David might have meant when he referred to “the land of the living.” Stumped, I turned to my two favorite sources for biblical questions: my dad and commentaries.
Here’s what I found.
Matthew Henry commentary says:
What was the belief which supported the psalmist? That he should see the goodness of the Lord. There is nothing like the believing hope of eternal life, the foresights of that glory, and the foretastes of those pleasures, to keep us from fainting under all calamities.
Barnes’s on the Bible says:
In this time of perplexity and trial he had confidence in God, and believed that He would uphold him, and would permit him to see the evidences of His goodness and mercy while yet on the earth…To see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living-that is that I should “live” and yet see and enjoy the tokens of the divine favor here upon the earth.
So, accounting for what these commentaries noted and what my dad said, I gather that in this Psalm, it is David’s hope to see and experience heaven on earth; this is his motivation to persevere. However, I still didn’t understand why it is called the land of the living when earth is the land of the dead.
That is, until, I remembered that His kingdom is here. The Bible says “Your kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven.” It is our job to spread His Kingdom so that it is on earth as it is in Heaven, that we might see the goodness of God here on earth.
A lot of places have a spiritual climate. Some places are very dark and you can sense an evil presence. Some places are light and alive, causing you to feel very close to God. Some places are dry; this is how Albania is. Over the past week, I have been reminded of Psalm 42:1 that says, “As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.” In a dry spiritual climate, you have to constantly be seeking the Lord or you’ll dry out too. The percentage of Christians is very low here in Albania, and though, right now, America is primarily a Christian nation, I can’t help but feel this way sometimes back home too.
But, while the land is dry now, I can’t help but believe that God is about to flood it.
So what does that look like? How does God flood a place? Why would He?
I think it’s because, sometimes, the Lord does His best work in seemingly impossible situations. Just think about it. Lazarus. David and Goliath. The wall of Jericho. Jesus. You.
Now, please don’t misconstrue what I’m saying-God doesn’t make bad things happen, but I think sometimes it is in the chaos, as we stand in front of an insurmountable wall, that the biggest things happen for our faith because we are forced to rely on Him.
But it’s not just going to happen.
It takes us.
It takes you.
The church does not exist to remain stagnant.
Why do you think so many churches are dying out in America and Europe? These places used to be the hub of Christianity, but the hub is moving to the “global south” (a.k.a. South America and Africa).
And it is because we sit.
It is because we refuse to move.
It is because we are stagnant and anything that is stagnant is dead.
But we are aiming for the land of the living, are we not?
So, yes, it starts with the church.
But it starts with one.
It starts with one person believing that it is worth it.
That Jesus is worth it.
Worth rejection.
Worth ridicule.
Worth persecution.
It takes one person believing that God is the loftiest idea in literature; the vastest idea we could begin to fathom.
It takes one person believing that over all else, they possess the greatest piece of knowledge that anyone could ever possess.
And I truly believe that the one to believe this, is one of us.
So, this one goes out to my generation. This one goes out to the generation below me and the generations to come.
We are the generation that has “royally screwed up.” We are the generation of “delinquents,” “trouble-makers,” and “lost boys.” We are the generation that no one has hope in. We are the “lost cause” and it would be better to reminisce on the “good ole days” than have to focus on the garbage can that is society today.
But we were made for more than this. If we are made in God’s image, then, no, we are not hopeless. We are not helpless. We are not less. They say we are lesser than the generations before us and the work that they have done. But in 1 Peter 2:9, Jesus says no, we are adequate-we are more than adequate-to alter this world for the better. We are a generation of world changers, of bright minds, of compassionate people who want to love and care and make the world a better place.
There is a huge disconnect between the older generations and my generation. The older generation won’t accept the newer generation’s ideas, and the younger generation views the older as unaccepting and unloving for it. And as much as I hate to say it, this is how it is in way too many Christian communities.
But if the Church doesn’t believe in this generation, who will? If we believe that the Church is alive, then we must come to an understanding that when something is alive, it grows and it changes. Again, nothing alive ever remains stagnant, so just as the generations before have changed the church, so will this one.
So, it comes down to this:
If you are a member of the older generations of the church, be open to change. Don’t ridicule the younger generations, but instead, recognize the potential in them and come alongside them. We understand that you possess a quality that can only come with age: wisdom. Pour your wisdom out on us. Disciple us, that we might become strong leaders and a people pursuing holy things.
If you are a teen, 20-something, or 30-something, and there is a fire burning inside of you to see this country fall on their face in awe of the Lord, recognize it and kindle it. Love so radically that people ask what is wrong with you, that you might have the opportunity to respond “Jesus.” Let Jesus be wrong with you!!!
Ultimately, we must ask ourselves this: What will we do to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living?
