November 12

Psalm 132 Does God get tired? This Psalm implies it, but is that what it means? It would appear that this Psalm was written by Solomon near the time of the dedication of the temple. The core of the psalm can be found in 8-9 & 13-14 concerning the resting place of God upon the ark of the covenant: 8Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. 9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy. . . 13For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 14“This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” How is it possible that the Eternal God needs a place to rest? It isn’t. The concept of resting comes from the wilderness wandering experience. In Numbers 10:35-36 find the explanation of how the Children of Israel knew when to break camp and to make camp. When the pillar of cloud/fire (the visible manifestation of God’s glory) rose off of the ark/tabernacle, the people would know that it was time to break camp. When the pillar came to a standstill, the people knew that it was time to make camp. The people knew that they could now rest. Soon Moses began the practice of poetically pronouncing what was happening: 35 So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: “Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You.” 36 And when it rested, he said: “Return, O LORD, To the many thousands of Israel.” With the building of the Temple, there was no longer a constant wandering of the ark, but rather there was a permanent home. God’s people no longer wandered around, but could build homes and rest from their journey. But there was more symbolism than that! The ark is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Hebrew word for ark translates as “ark” 195 times, “chest” six times, and “coffin” once. Consider that! The word could also be translated as “coffin!” The Ten Commandments were placed in the ark, the coffin. On top of the ark was placed the golden mercy seat. Once a year on the day of atonement, the blood of the sacrificial goat was sprinkled on the mercy seat. When the blood was sprinkled on the seat, His people received mercy. When Jesus went to the cross, our sin was placed upon Him. God’s wrath was poured out upon Him against our sin. His blood was shed on our behalf. When we trust in Him, His blood brings us mercy from God. It is in the presence of the living ark, the Lord Jesus Christ that we experience the presence of God. And He gives us rest. This is the way into true rest. This is the way into victory. This is the message of the Bible. Our great God became flesh to give us rest. Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him. Now that is glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john