This name reveals that in the new Jerusalem, the Lord is there.

Confession time once more. For the past couple of weeks I have been in a passing funk. I have been agitated, but not all the time. I have been frustrated, but not all the time. I have felt tired and weary, but again, not all the time.

I have told myself that my agitation and frustration have been because I haven’t been able to do a whole lot during the summer when my elbow was healing. I have told myself that my weariness is not being active and not sleeping through the night in weeks.

But, I also know that these are all excuses and not necessarily reasons. I had lost my joy. I have a mantra a fellow blogger once challenged me to repeat, it is “the joy of the Lord is my strength, I have the joy of the Lord.” All true words and a reminder to me me to know I do have joy and it is my strength from the hand of God.

This morning as I walked, I realized that our driveway is my prayer closet. It is the place where I can come into the presence of God and love Him. This morning as I walked, I started to pray, but then I heard the following.

Are you agitated? Yes, I am there. Are you angry? A bit. I am there. Tired and weary? Yes. I am there. This conversation continued until I realized what I was being reminded of. In every circumstance, in every emotion, in every feeling I have, God is there. He is there to soothe, to comfort, to restore, to hide in, to rest in, to breathe in. He is there. He does not wander, He does not leave. My God is there. Jehovah-Shammah. He is the lifter of my head, my bright morning star, my comforter, my shield. God is there. He is never going to leave me or forsake me. In the midst of everyday life, He is there. What a comfort to know this. We can rely on Him. He will never abandon us. God is there.

Psalm 139:1-18

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
² You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³ You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
⁴ You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.
⁵ You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too great for me to understand!

⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave, you are there.
⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
¹²     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
    They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸ I can’t even count them;
    they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
    you are still with me! (NLT)