“David said it all: I saw God before me for all time. Nothing can shake me; he’s right by my side. I’m glad from the inside out, ecstatic; I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope. I know you’ll never dump me in Hades; I’ll never even smell the stench of death. You’ve got my feet on the life-path, with your face shining sun-joy all around.” Acts 2:25-28 MSG
Although I have never been much of a camper, I understand from those who do that where you pitch your tent is crucial for a good camping experience. In fact, as I looked into this topic a little deeper, I found that it is very important where you pitch your tent. There are certain guidelines to follow depending on your location.
You pitch your tent differently if you are in a forest, a desert, in snow or on the mountain top. One website put it this way: “Setting up a tent is all about location, location, location—where you pitch your tent will have a significant impact on the comfort and safety of your campsite.”
If this is true for a week or weekend in the wilderness, how much more important is it that we pitch our life’s tent in the proper place? Where we pitch that tent will have a far more significant impact on us. It will have everything to do with the comfort and safety of our life.
Although it is possible for all of us to pitch our tents in despair, discouragement or negative thinking, the above verses remind us that it does not have to be that way. The above verses provide us with a tutorial to follow when choosing where we should park our own tents. We can all choose to follow David’s example. He intentionally pitched his tent in the right place. He chose to place it in the land of hope. It should be pointed out that this involved more than naively viewing life through a set of rose-colored glasses. It required deliberate action on his part.
David surveyed the land. He was not blind to the dangers and obstacles. He saw the one secure place for his tent and determined to pitch it there. Note that it was a lasting safe place—not only for every situation he faced, but for eternity.
He saw God “before him for all time.” He knew that God “had beset” him “before and behind.” Therefore, there was nothing that could shake him. Whether he was in a dry desert location, a dark confusing place where he couldn’t see the forest for the trees, facing the cold of some rejection or rejoicing on the mountaintop, it did not matter. He intentionally pitched his tent in the land of hope. Choosing to “pitch my tent in the land of hope!”
