“Bound for the Promised Land”

I love corporate worship. I realize this more and more as the years go by it seems. In the corporate gathering of the saints as we worship God, I see things more clearly than just about any other time. It is as if the reality of heaven breaks through my clouded vision and those realities I profess at other times are all the more clear. The sin which tempts me so during the week is then exposed as so clearly ugly and despicable. The truth of God’s character shines more brilliantly convicting me, assuring me of grace, strengthening and ennobling me. The reality of heaven is more concrete, sweeter as the truth of my mortality is felt more keenly. And the blessedness of experiencing this worship with my brothers and sisters is felt deeply.

One example of this occurred this past Sunday as we sang “On Jordan’s Stormy Bank I Stand.” I have sung this hymn many times and really appreciate it. However, this time I was struck and overwhelmed by the audacity of the truth we were professing in the chorus,

“I am bound for the promised land.”

What a crazy, amazing, audacious, wonderful claim this is for sinful people like us! It is a declaration not merely a wish. Based on the certainty of the gospel, in faith we make this claim because God has seen fit to redeem us in Christ. So, despite the suffering, frustration, and betrayal we experience, despite our continual failures we can hold fast knowing that for all those who are in Christ, we are indeed bound for the Promised Land!