Ensign: The Dedication With Gladness

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 6 September 2013

Wednesday morning, 5:34 am, I couldn't sleep. And when I can't sleep and it's some time before I have to wake up the kids for school, I get done what I normally do after I take a shower in the morning – I crack open my Bible and a daily devotional that I use, take some notes down that I pray to see SOMETHING in and after that I read a chapter out of the Bible itself. I've done this – read the Bible through chapter by chapter from beginning to end – since the beginning of 2006. And not to brag, but this was my third reading of the twelfth chapter of Nehemiah.

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgiving, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.

Now that I look at Nehemiah 12:27 again after typing it – I avoid cutting and pasting for these Ensigns when I can, for I often need a fresh perspective too – it occurs to me that it's easy to be dedicated, to honor a cause, when we want to be and all is well. But TO KEEP, which in King James Version-speak means to regard highly (see Adam and Eve put in the garden to dress and to keep it in Genesis, and remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy in Exodus) as opposed to “hold on to”, to keep the dedication of anyone or anything can be quite humbling.

Especially our word … I'm sure I'm the only one who deals with this, but about a week ago I berated my daughter Sarah because she didn't do something she said she was going to do for her mom. Like most of life's minutiae, I don't remember what specially, but I do remember her reaction, something on the order of “well, you break your word to Mommy all the time”. How. Do. You. Explain there's a difference between breaking your word intentionally and forgetting to do something accidentally, and not have it come out like ashes in your mouth?

Don't grow up. It's a trap.

Was everybody in the multitude of Jews that came from Shushan and other places in the Persian Empire excited and thrilled that the walls of Jerusalem got rebuilt in a month and a half – for more details about that, please read the book of Nehemiah – after decades of lollygagging? I expect so; at least, with more enthusiasm that you or I can often conceive today. For this is something, though provided by the providence of God, that the Jews labored on and contributed to themselves, giving them a vital link with their past and an idea of where they were going.

So how does that story work if you're not an ethnic Jew? Why should it matter to you? To keep the dedication with gladness is a repeated challenge for all of us; speaking for myself, I'm not always glad to be in that place with the steeple! But that's when it matters the most that I am there, that while I may not be physically building something, I am not forsaking … I will say the vital human need for fellowship, kinship (in a spiritual, not necessarily blood, sense), and relationship. I guess that means your ship is coming in!

All aboard!

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager too! If you find that I’m not or you want me to get lost, just let me know, thank you!

We praise You, Lord, for this beautiful day You have given us! Please pray with me for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and for physical and spiritual communities around our world.

Lord, we need Your strength to fight the natural disasters and human ills to ultimately treat the cause and not just the symptoms; until we who have power change, this world You have made us stewards of won’t either.

Thank You, Lord, for all those in leadership and service here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have been given as well as the promise of new life through Your Son. And may we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.