Psalm 118.19-24
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Devotional Thought:
As I was reading the Psalm for this week, the image of the ‘gate of the Lord’ grabbed my attention. In this Psalm we have a similar situation to the one my family experienced the other day at the Brisbane Bullets basketball game. We were late to the game and from outside the arena, we could hear the cheering had already started. We just wanted to run in and find our seats, but we couldn’t. We had to wait at the gate, allow the stewards to check our bags, and register our tickets. Only after this, could we be let into the game.
‘Open the gates’, the Psalmist cried out, ‘let us enter in’, ‘we want to be in the presence of God!’ Just like my family at the gates to the basketball game, the Psalmists says that the only way to get into the destination is through the gates and the only way to get through the gates is to have a ticket. The ‘gates of righteousness’ require a righteous ticket. What does it mean to be righteous? Who can be righteous? How can one be righteous? If this is the ticket to the presence of the Lord, then who can possess such a ticket?
In John’s gospel Jesus says, ‘I am the gate. If anyone enters, by me he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture’ (John 10.9). Jesus is our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5). Jesus is the way (John 14). Jesus is the gate which opens the way to the presence of God! May you come into His presence today with thanksgiving in your heart, for the righteousness of Christ has become our salvation.
Prayer
We give thanks today for the righteousness of Christ, which opens the way into your presence, O God. May we live our lives to the full today, as we live in your presence through the power of the Holy Spirit. And may all that we do point others to Christ, our hope and salvation. Amen.
Rev. Joseph Wood, PhD
Dean of Students and Lecturer in Theology and Church History