There was something about the great city that primed the pump for great thoughts. Something about the structures that stimulated the imagination. Something about the activities that reached into the depths of remembrance. God’s people . . . coming to God’s place . . . to consider the wonder of God’s person . . . all for the glory of God’s praise.

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within her citadels God has made Himself known as a fortress. . . . We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.   (Psalm 48:1-3, 9 ESV)

Verse 9 is what grabbed me this morning as I hovered over Psalm 48 . . . “we have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.”

The temple was the place of sacrifice . . . it housed the holy of holies . . . it was the place where God’s glory rested . . . it was the reminder of God in the midst. And with the activity of sacrifice . . . and the ability to cast an eye toward the holy dwelling place . . . came remembrance . . . came meditation . . . came reflection . . . came consideration anew of the steadfast love of God.

Sure they could have stayed at home and worshiped . . . to a degree. They could remember God’s wondrous work in the isolation of their own four walls. But there is something about going where God’s people are gathered . . . something about going to where God’s presence is promised . . . something about participating where God’s program is practiced . . . that lifts the soul and stirs the mind to know anew the depths of God’s unfailing love.

And it’s this remembrance . . . this reflection . . . this re-acquaintance . . . that renews and restores and revives the soul.

God has always intended for His people to assembly unto His name . . . to come together for the purpose of sacrifice . . . to make the effort to gather regularly at the holy place where His presence dwells. In the time of David and for the people of Israel it was the physical temple on the holy hill in the city of the great King. For today’s covenant people, it is not one location but any location where the people of God are gathered . . . forming in themselves “a holy temple in the Lord . . . a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22).

It is the place where we come together . . . where we engage in the sacrificial activities of praise and worship (Heb. 13:15) . . . where we quiet ourselves and receive humbly the word which is able to save our souls (James 1:21) . . . where we seek to build up one another in our most holy faith. It’s in that place . . . doing those things . . . knowing that He is in the midst . . . that thoughts of His steadfast love are rekindled . . . and the fragrance of unfailing grace is replenished again within our souls.

May God’s people not neglect meeting together (Heb. 10:24-25) . . . and, as such, miss the opportunity to be stimulated afresh to think great thoughts of a great God and His great and unfailing love.

By His grace . . . for His glory.