The House of The Lord

I remember the little country church that I attended growing up. We had about thirty people average in attendance on a Sunday morning. There were about five of youth and a few other children and that was church to me. We would sing those beautiful songs that we just heard in our choir special. I have sung them so much that I have them memorized. Even if I haven’t heard one of them in a while, I can recall the words so easily. When I became a youth, I was aloud to sing in the choir and I loved it. I loved do the activities and the studies with the rest of the youth. The size of the church did not matter to me, I didn’t know any different. Those people were my family. They taught me about God and raised me to be the Christian that I am today. I knew that I could find safety and peace with them in that small sanctuary and fellowship hall. Until, I left the church, and fell away from the faith. Then when I was older I found Jesus again and realized that even though I left, He never left me. As long as I was in a group of other believers I could feel His presence strong among us as that same sense of security and home that I felt with my old country church.

Pray and Read Psalm 132

Psalm 132 NRSV

A Song of Ascents. O Lord, remember in David’s favor all the hardships he endured; how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, “I will not enter my house or get into my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool.” Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy. For your servant David’s sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one. The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne.” For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation: “This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread. Its priests I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy. There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one. His enemies I will clothe with disgrace, but on him, his crown will gleam.”

This first five verses reference the covenant between David and God, this covenant can be found in Chronicles 17. David wanted nothing more than the Ark of the Covenant to be brought into a temple made specially for it and for this temple to be in a special place in Jerusalem. King David, after succeeding the throne had a hard time even bringing the Ark into Jerusalem. Much like his own life, as he had a hard time becoming king. Although God promised him that he was chosen to be the King of God’s people, David still had to do battles to win the throne. He was young and only had a small number of friends that stuck with him until the end. Once he became king, he built his house and government meeting places in Jerusalem. There was a place for worship of God but not a personal place for the Ark, which many including David felt held the presence of God. So after the dedication of the Kingdom, David confided in the Prophet Nathan his concern for God not having a house of His own. So Nathan prayed about this as he should and was his custom. The words from God that was spoken through Nathan reminded David, that God never has had a house, maybe a tent, but He never needed a house. God is and always would be with His people, wherever they go. But this was not the covenant made between God and David for God always been with His people and already promised that He would be. This would be defined at the end of the chapter both in 1 Chronicles 17 and here in Psalm 132, so we will get to it later.

I the middle of this passage describes some of the places David and the Israelites have seen God at work. In David’s story we read that first, his hometown is Bethlehem which is another name for Ephrathah. So Bethlehem is a blessed city being the birthplace of the king. It is not coincidence that it is also the birthplace of the Messiah. Before David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, it was placed in the care of a farmer from Jaar. That farmer, during the time that the Ark was with him, was greatly blessed.

Since we are talking about Jerusalem, I want to bring us back to the main focus of this whole sermon series and what we have been studying over the past couple of months. We have been on a journey from the farthest places of exile when we begin in Psalm 121 until now when we have reached the temple of Jerusalem that the stronghold of Israel. This is the pilgrimage of the exiles as they head home as well as the ceremonial procession up each of the 14 steps down into the Holy of Holies. Next week will be the end of the Psalms of Ascent which is Psalm 133 and Psalm 134. We are on our own journey to the Promised Land. We too await our arrival into God’s eternal resting place. But remember, Jesus Christ declared the Kingdom of God as a place He is preparing for us and a place that is always with His people. God is always with His people, not in a singular place, but with those who are His.

The Covenant that was made between them, had David promising that the Name of God would be established before His people and the people would always have the opportunity to worship God. God made a big promise. There would be a descendent of David who would reign forever over the Lord’s Kingdom. This future King would be a descendent of David, but a Son of God. This descendent would establish a home of God for all eternity. In other words, we know now that this is bigger than the temple that was commissioned and established by David’s son Solomon. This is the Kingdom of God that would reign forever. I don’t think David fully understood the magnitude of this covenant just yet, but he would later.

We read in Isaiah and in the Gospels that Jesus was the Divine Human One, and a descendant of David, born in Bethlehem. We hear how He came to feed the poor, clothe the seekers with salvation, and the faithful with righteousness. We know that when Jesus ascended to heaven he made the covenant with his disciples that He would send His Spirit to be with those who love Him and our end of the covenant is to share His Love, Grace, and Truth all over the world.

If He is with us, we are the home of His Presence. We carry the Gospel with us and share His way and truth and life. As we do this we are establishing His kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. Soon, our Messiah will come and build Himself a permanent dwelling place, a new heaven and earth and all of us will live with Him for eternity.

So, if God’s presence is with us, then where have we seen God at work? All around us are miracles, blessings and anointings. If you have His Holy Spirit with us, you know His goodness. You know that God is faithful. Where have you experienced God in your life? When have you felt His presence great within you? What gives you the desire to worship Him?

In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen