“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
The world and those who dwell therein.
Who may go up the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?”

Your majesty fills me with reverence, Lord, and when I think of it I sense my smallness and feel the burden of my unworthiness. Who am I to appear before you, to claim your attention, to engage your love? Let me keep my distance and know my place. Far from me your holy mountain, your sacred intimacy. Enough for me to contemplate from far the summit in the clouds, as your people in the desert contemplated Mount Sinai without daring to approach it.

But as I think of your people in the Old Testament, I think also of your people in the New. The memory of Sinai brings to my mind the reality of Bethlehem. The people who feared to approach their God find that their God has come to them. No more fire and lightning. No more clouds round the summit. A cave in the fields and a crib and a baby. And a mother’s smile as she cradles him in her arms. God has come to his people.

You have come to me. The supreme gift of personal intimacy. You walk by my side, you hold my hand, you let me recline my head on your breast. The miracle of closeness, the thrill of friendship, the consecration of unity. I cannot let my unworthiness, my shyness, my laziness come between you and me. I want to learn the delicate and privileged art of living close to you.

That is why I need faith, courage, magnanimity. I need the admonition of your psalm:

“Lift up your heads, you gates,
Lift yourselves up, you everlasting doors,
That the King of Glory may come in.”

I want to open wide the doors of my heart so that you may come in with the fullness of your presence. No more false humility, no hidden fears, no polite delays. The Prince of Glory is standing at the gate. The King is asking for friendship. God himself is knocking at my door. For me it is a call to generosity, to confidence, to surrender. To open the gates of my soul and receive the divine guest.

Teach me, Lord, how to deal with you. How to combine intimacy with reverence, friendship with worship and closeness with awe. Teach me how to lift my head and to open my heart, as I bend my knee and lower my sight. Teach me never to lose sight of your majesty, and never to underestimate your companionship. Teach me your Incarnation. God and man. Lord and friend. Prince and comrade.

Welcome to the King of glory!