Wednesday, August 6, 2025 by TaeHun Yoon
[Preparation for Sacred Reading]
As I sat quietly in my chair, I opened my time of sacred reading with a prayer by Teresa of Ávila (16th-century Spain), titled “For True Life”:
“Govern all by Thy wisdom, O Lord,
so that my soul may always serve Thee as Thou dost will,
and not as I may choose.
Do not punish me, I beseech Thee,
by granting that love which would always live in me.
Let me die to myself, that I may serve Thee;
let me live to Thee,
who in Thyself art the true life. Amen.”
Then, I softly sang a beloved spiritual, “Every Time I Feel the Spirit”:
Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart, I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart, I will pray.
Upon the mountain, my Lord spoke,
out His mouth came fire and smoke.
All around me looked so shine,
I asked my Lord if all was mine.
[LECTIO – Reading]
I gathered several translations and study resources:
- Common English Bible (CEB)
- The Message
- Thompson Chain-Reference Bible (Korean)
- Hokma Bible Commentary (Korean)
- The Biblical Illustrator (Baker Publishing)
I read Psalm 95:1–11 aloud several times from the CEB, letting the words echo in my heart. Three passages especially stood out:
- “Let’s march into His presence with singing,
lifting the rafters with our hymns of praise!” - “So come, let us worship; bow before Him,
on our knees before God, who made us!” - “Don’t harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested Me,
though they had seen My work—for forty years.”
Psalm 95, one of the chiastic and theocratic psalms (Psalms 95–100), begins with joyful, communal praise led by a worship leader who celebrates God’s creation and redemptive work. But then, the tone shifts. The leader sings alone, reminding the people of their ancestors’ rebellion in the wilderness. Half-praise, half-warning—this psalm holds tension between joy and judgment.
[MEDITATIO – Meditation]
In my imagination, I entered the sanctuary of worship. Yet instead of only joyful praise, I sensed contention and spiritual testing.
I was reminded of Leo Tolstoy’s confession—how he abandoned God during his college years at age eighteen.
In the midst of war, suffering, and division—like the ongoing conflict in Gaza or the war in Ukraine—I find myself asking:
Have we truly held onto God in our Christian faith?
Or have we, like Israel in the wilderness, forsaken the living God?
[ORATIO – Prayer]
Lord, I realize now:
I must come to worship with more than a voice—I must bring my whole heart.
Not just reciting what’s printed in a bulletin,
but confessing my sins, my apathy, my lack of reverence.
Every Sunday, I must remember how I may have kindled Your anger—not intentionally, but through neglect, through disobedience, through pride.
Why has the head of a major Christian radio station in Korea played such an active role in politics for the past forty years?
Why have some Christian leaders’ lives been driven more by power than by the Spirit?
And what about me?
Do I live each day to praise You and honor You with integrity?
When I stand to worship on Sunday,
am I truly bringing myself—repentant, humbled—before Your holy presence?
[CONTEMPLATIO – Contemplation]
In silence, I entered the Holy of Holies—
not a temple made by hands, but the sanctuary of my heart.
I rested there…
waiting.
Then I saw a vision—
George Beverly Shea singing “I’d Rather Have Jesus” in his unforgettable baritone voice.
WanHee and I had once attended a preachers’ training conference in Toronto, decades ago, where we heard him in person.
Singing is more than art;
it is the outward expression of inward joy.
It is daily worship—
the spiritual discipline of praising Jesus,
of “putting off the old self” and “putting on the new.”
As Jesus Himself once surrendered in Gethsemane,
“Not my will, but Thine, O Lord, be done.”
[INCARNATIO – Incarnation]
Then, softly, a song arose in my soul:
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Under His eternal arms, I offered this prayer:
Almighty God,
You have filled me with the joy of our Lord’s resurrection.
Grant me also the joy of serving You daily,
And bring me, at last,
into the fullness of eternal life.
Through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.
(From The Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978)
Daily Sauntering 