Sabbath Question Number 3: "How Will I Rejoice in the Sabbath?"

For two weeks now, I've been more intentionally celebrating the Sabbath. First, I asked, "What will I stop?" And then, "How will I rest?" Today, I actively anticipate the third question and what will happen as I keep the Sabbath. 

The third question (of four) is: "How will I rejoice in the Sabbath?" (But why use the word "rejoice" when getting ready for the Seventh Day?) It comes from the end of the first chapter of the Bible. "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." The entire creation lay there, and God contemplated the creation, the vast reaches of space, individual stars, the sun, the moon, our world with all its fullness, and the first man and first woman. He was satisfied with what he created. 

I, too, want to be satisfied with what the Lord created. The Sabbath gives me the opportunity to look beyond myself, beyond my small world, and the boundaries that I've intentionally, and unintentionally, erected. The world is so much bigger, more complex, more wonderful, boundless. Sabbath lets me take it all in more than usual. 

Psalm 19 serves as a guide. First, the Psalmist uses sight to lead us to contemplate the mystery of God's personhood. I look to the heavens. Science helps me see into deep space. The heavens proclaim the glory of God. Pictures come back. Unbelievable distances in space, mighty galaxies, stars exploding, and black holes forming. God made them all. Our sun, our moon, our planetary neighbors, the more we learn about them, the more the wonderment. 

Closer in, above me, the firmament with daily weather patterns. I mourn the drought that presently afflicts the Middle East. My spirit rises thinking of amazing life forms. Undiscovered species in the Congo and the Amazon, or in the ocean depths. Our Creator God! How joyful he must have been as dancing bird species appeared in South East Asia. Oh, the pleasure of whales breaching! The humorous actions of a camel. Abundant life, beyond imagination, on the surface of the ocean, and below. How minute the tiny particles that compose all substances.

Second, my rejoicing takes a turn. How wonderful that the Creator made himself known to us! Of our five senses, hearing may be the one that lingers the longest. Words spoken in childhood can easily be recalled decades later, especially if the message was given in a moment of anger. His word has come to us throughout the ages. His word is a law, a statute, a precept, a command, a fear, an ordinance. Sabbath will find me rejoicing in his words. At home, quietly, expectantly, and then with others through joyful music, radiant with communal harmony.

There's a third way to rejoice in the Sabbath. Having looked outward at the created world, and then at the Word of God, I now look inward. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. I will arise the following day, rested and ready to return to my small world. I will have been humbled for I usually miss so much of what is going on in God's bigger world. I will rejoice with the words, May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.