Perhaps because of our American tendency to be individualistic, and especially our Texan tendency to go ruggedly on our own, we forget that we need each other. Our need for one another is and undeniable truth in our spiritual lives.

A leader of worship in ancient Israel, a priest by the name Asaph, once went through a personal theological crisis. You can read about what happened in Psalm 73. Asaph’s story went like this.

1.  Asaph knew that God is good and that he blesses righteous people (v. 1).
2. Yet he questioned God. “My feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray” (v. 2)
3. His problem was this: Asaph saw people who were evil but still prospered (v. 3).
4. Asaph dwelt for a long time on the problem of the existence of evil (vv. 4-12)
5. His crisis became so severe that he wondered if he should leave God (v. 13).
6. He even wondered whether he should step away from his ministry (vv. 14-16).
7. But at the critical moment, he entered the sanctuary to worship God with his people. And that is when his eyes were finally opened (v. 17).
8. Asaph worshiped by praising God for his truth with his own voice (vv. 18-28).

Many people, including Christians, struggle with the presence of evil. They wonder how a good God who is all-powerful could allow bad things to happen. We ask the same questions today. We see war, murder, abuse, fraud, and other acts of evil, and we wonder why God lets it go on. We complain to him about it but wonder if he is listening.

But amazingly, the answers typically come while we worship God with his people. Asaph said he continued to wonder about God’s justice and love and power, “until I entered God’s sanctuary.” It was at that point that he was given insight into heaven’s purposes on earth. He continued, “Then I understood their destiny.”

In other words, Asaph learned that he needed to gather with God’s people if he wanted to see things from God’s perspective. When we are with God’s people, his Spirit works to open our minds and hearts to truth.

We can and should read the Word of God on our own, pray to him alone, and sing to him alone. We can even write psalms on our own like Asaph, or write books on our own like Pastor Mark and Pastor Malcolm. But sometimes we simply cannot see things properly on our own. We, the people of God, need each other.

The author of Hebrews wrote, “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25).

Sometimes, when I struggle to see things clearly, I will pray on my own. But then I am compelled to speak with Karen or call another pastor or spiritually mature believer. It is then that the clouds begin to disperse. After all, Jesus promised, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them” (Matt. 18:20). God is present to his gathered congregation.

God is present when we gather to worship at Lakeside on a Sunday morning. There are times when I do not see things well until we are singing praises to God together. As Carey Dyer or Morgan Farris or the Ensemble or the Choir lead us to praise the Lord, God will show himself to me in his goodness and my eyes will fill with tears of joy.

I need you, my brothers and sisters, and you need me, and we all need each other. As the great spiritual poet, John Donne, famously wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” We are not self-sufficient islands. We are part of that continent called the church. We need God, and we need one another.

So, this Sunday, come together with the people of God, come together and praise him. Gather with us as we celebrate the goodness of God. We look forward to seeing you this Lord’s Day!

In Christ,

Pastor Malcolm

Your Teaching Pastor