Citizen or Captive?
“When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you. Now the Lord God will live among us there. Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms. Interlude Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death.”
How many times do you feel distant from God? Maybe you have been obstinate, or even rebellious. Or perhaps you just haven’t felt as connected to your Heavenly Father as times past – not over as a particular sin as much as just life and circumstance getting in the way. There can be a tendency to think we need to “make things right” with the Lord before we can worship Him. This is a subtle lie of our enemy to keep us from devotion.
In Psalm 68:18, David writes, “you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you.” This is an encouraging thought: the Lord led a crowd of captives, the Israelites, through the wilderness and received gifts from rebellious people. This speaks of the grace of God, His willingness to be with and receive worship from captives. We can come to Him. We can offer gifts of praise and honor, even though we have been rebellious. We only need to turn to Him and repent, and that repentance can happen instantly if we are resolved to surrender.
In the 19th verse, David speaks of the faithfulness of God, “For each day he carries us in his arms.” Not only does the Lord lead us and receive us, but He carries us each day. How often do you feel alone and burdened by trials and difficulties? The truth for every citizen of heaven is that our Father is carrying us; He is with us through the storms and through the pain. With eyes of faith, this fact is accepted and the life-giving connection with the Father is experienced.