“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden”

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. – Carl Jung (Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology)

Scripture Text: (PS 24:7, 8, 9, 10)
R. (8) Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD of hosts; he is the king of glory.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!

The psalmist’s imagery is simple: gate, an opening in a wall or a fence, for going in or out. Portal, a door. Lintel, the crosspiece above the door that carries the weight above the doorway. It is to all of these that the psalmist cries, “Open! Let the King of Glory come in!” Lift up the lintel. Make the doorway wider and taller. Reach up, higher, bigger. Make way for the Lord!

Opening the gate to your heart can be scary, especially if it’s been closed a long time. So many things can be hidden in there: guilty secrets and shameful acts, wounds that still hurt, fears and memories that embarrass, obscure motivations stuffed so far back that you can scarcely name them. Everyone has them, these obstacles that clutter up the place where the Lord wants to dwell. But you have it in your power to open them up to him and let him clear them out!

Sit somewhere quiet today, and welcome the Lord. If you need to, ask him to excuse the mess. “There’s a lot of stuff lying here between you and me, Lord.” Think about what in your life might shut him out. You have only to sit with him and let him do the work. He is “the Lord, mighty in battle,” and he will fight for you (Psalm 24:8).