“God, be exalted above the heavens;
let Your glory be over the whole earth.” Psalm 57:5
This has been a year of funerals. I can’t remember losing so many folks I loved dearly in a short time period. Favorite old hymns of the departed were sung at the last service I last attended. While I hadn’t heard or sung any of the songs in over a decade, the words flowed freely from memory. The mind is a unique organ of the body. Like a mini computer it has the capacity to store words and visuals that stay imprinted forever. I barely needed to glance down at the hymnal. I’d belted the words enough over a lifetime, they floated with ease. Yet, this time they gripped my heart. Singing words teetering on a lie left me in search of my state of affairs.
John W. Peterson penned the words of heaven coming down and glory filling the soul. The lyrics paint a portrait of the day of salvation which provides hope, riches, and blessings to be carried into eternity. Did I remember my day of salvation? Oh yes! I will never forget that day. Glory did fill my soul. I could barely contain myself. I splashed the new Living Water on anyone who stood still long enough to hear my testimony.
But life has a way of throwing a heavy punch now and then. And sometimes, several punches come back to back. Getting up to recover leaves one a bit woozy. And woozy was my condition as I sang about heaven’s glory filling my soul. I left the funeral examining my soul. Glory had filled it over and over throughout the years. I’ve sung that song and meant every word before. But this day, glory was tucked in a small corner of my soul, a place crowded over with worries and hurts. Instead of releasing life’s aches and pains, I’d held on, swallowed and stuffed. The glory – almost snuffed out by the yuck of life.
So I sang and I sang and I sang. I sang these words to remind myself of the day that changed my life forever. That day and its implications have carried me through both the storms and the joys of life. The glory of the Lord has filled me and will carry me until I lay in the rose covered box in the front of the church.
Heaven did come down. Today, I’ve made a choice to let glory alone fill my soul. What about you?