Psalm 84: 1-2: How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Psalm 89: 46, 49: How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?… Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?

How satisfying to know that the poets and hymn writers of old experienced both the joy of knowing God’s presence and the sense of abandonment in God’s absence.

Postings on social media, virtual devotions and worship services, and our own feelings and emotions  tend to one or the other end on this continuum but God is at both ends and everywhere in the middle even when, and maybe especially when, we do not know or experience this.

Thanks to the Psalmists who remind us of this.