Coming Before God in the Holy Place

When King David wrote Psalm 63 in the desert of Judah, where he fled to escape an insurrection led by his son Absalom, he recalled his encounters with God under more favorable circumstances, those times when “I came before you in the holy place, to behold your strength and your glory.”

It occurs to me that when we come forward to venerate the cross on Good Friday, we are coming before God in the holy place — the place where the depth of Christ’s strength and glory is revealed through Jesus’ willingness to surrender his life so that others might know God’s love and forgiveness.

King David later says in Psalm 63, “Your faithful love is better than life.” Jesus affirmed this conviction through his death, and God’s faithful love was revealed three days later through Jesus’ resurrection.

On Good Friday, our souls too are invited to cling fast to God in times of trial and in the face of death. Because of Jesus’ willingness to suffer for the sake of love, we join him and King David in knowing that God is our strength and that in the shadow of God’s wings we will rejoice.