The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beeching
Day 16 – Saturday after Lent 2 – Inhabit The Praise
To Read:
From the Scriptures:
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”
(2 Chronicles 7:1-3)
From Vicky Beeching:
Inhabit The Praise
Welcome, You are welcome
See Your people drawing near
Overwhelm us with Your presence
Lord reveal Your glory here
We are singing
And bringing You love songs
With our hands held high
O inhabit the praise of Your people
Inhabit this place as we seek You
Visit us Lord You’re the One we’re longing for
Jesus You’re the one we’re longing for
Gazing at Your beauty
Lord Your face will make us new
Thirsty for Your whispers
Chasing after more of You
We are singing
And bringing You love songs
With our hands held high
Chorus
Let His praises rise
Let His praises rise (repeats)
Chorus
To Listen: Inhabit The Praise by Vicky Beeching:
To Reflect:
(Note: There are four video clips today so you may want to set aside a longer time than usual with this reflection)
At the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, as the ‘Shekhinah’[1] rushes in to inhabit the Holy of Holies, it may seem to indicate that the ever-present God comes and goes into places of worship depending on the attitude and humility of the worshippers. Do we, as Vicky sings, need to welcome God into our presence or is God ever-present?
It shouldn’t be a question really should it? Psalm 139 and many other parts of the Scripture, remind us and reassure us, again and again, that there is nowhere were God is not present. Yet Scripture also cautions us to not take God’s presence for granted. God has been known to play hide and seek with God’s people (cf. Deuteronomy 31v17). However, that does not mean that God is absent but rather we are not as present as we should be.
Our words of worship do not always reflect the deeds of our lives. Our Beloved may be standing right next to us but if we do not consciously turn towards the One Who Loves us Best and walk after God’s commands even the most well-crafted worship song will be ‘a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal’ (1 Corinthians 13v1). Something which contemporary worship like Matt Redman saw and as an antidote wrote the beautiful ‘Heart of Worship’. This then, sadly and paradoxically was sung so frequently that it lost its meaning….
But it is not only the contemporary worship scene that faces this challenge of heaping up empty phrases (Matthew 6v7). This week I attended a glorious Choral Evensong at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in which the Bury Psalter, written and illuminated by the Benedictine monks who used to live and pray in the ruins that surround our cathedral, was given into the safekeeping of the Cathedral and Chapter. The Vicars Choral led much of the service in Latin Plainsong using the very words from the Psalter and I felt as if heaven was within touching distance. Yet, knowing me to be me, I recognise that a diet of pure Latin Chant would not be healthy eating. I would too easily be caught up in the beauty of the words and the harmony of music and soon forget to worship…
The old adage is true,
Sleeping in a garage doesn’t mean you become a car;
Sitting in a church doesn’t mean you become a Christian.’
And even we who already follow the faith can be fooled to think that just because we have pitched up in church on a Sunday everything will be wonderful.
In the vicarage, in the early days of Lent, we sit down together to watch Zeffirelli’s ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon’.[2] A very rose-tinted version of the life of St Francis and St Clare. Francis has, as does every one of us in our journey home, several moments of conversion. One of them is when he attends the regular service with his family in the town church in Assisi. It is dire and boring and drear and empty. Until Francis says, ‘No’ and finds a fuller way of meeting the Beloved.
Perhaps the Heart of Worship is all about realising that God always inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22v3 KJV) and we must needs empty them of our dross – even if it is holy dross – occasionally say ‘no’, and flee to the freedom of the ruins of San Damiano[3].
To Pray:
The Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depths be praise:
In all his words most wonderful;
Most sure in all his ways!
(Cardinal Newman – The Dream of Gerontius)
To Do:
On Sundays are you a last-minute arriver or early to church bird – there with plenty of time to get busy doing stuff?
Do you catch up on important news from other worshippers to take into worship or do you try and close your eyes and breathe out a little?
In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter as God hears all our words and our silences.
Occasionally it is good to reflect on how we prepare for worship.
Many church vestries have this sign in them.
Would it help your worship if you tried to follow this advice…?
Before the service, speak to God;
During the service, allow God to speak to you;
After the service, speak to one another…
Going Further:
After Francis said ‘No’ to worship in the middle of the town he said ‘Yes’ to worship in the ruins of San Damiano. Here is a little more from the movie…
oooOOOooo
If you would like to find out more about Vicky and her work here is a link to her Wikipedia entry. For a fuller picture her autobiography ‘Undivided’ is highly recommended
Please Note: These reflections are also published on my blog: suffolkvicarhomes.com on Bluesky as @suffolkvicar.bsky.social, and on my public Facebook page Suffolk Vicar – Rev Andrew Dotchin.
If you would like them as a daily email please send a request to revdotchin@gmail.com
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Acknowledgements:
These Reflections, ‘The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beaching’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2026 and may be reproduced without charge on condition that their source is acknowledged.
All of the music on the video clips are from YouTube and are © Vicky Beeching.
If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings. A full discography and other information about Vicky can be found on her website vickybeeching.com.
Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Prayers are from A Diary of Prayer compiled by Elizabeth Goudge and are copyright © 1966 The Estate of Elizabeth Goudge.
[1] For a description of the Shekhinah read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhinah
[2] For an overview of the movie visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Sun,_Sister_Moon
[3] For a history of San Damiano read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Damiano,_Assisi
Suffolk Vicar 