Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 132, the psalm that we read. We read for our text verses 13 through to 15. For the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread. Psalm 132 verses 13 to 15, and here specifically Zion's provision blessed, the last verse of our text, I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with prayer. This psalm is a beautiful psalm, a messianic psalm, it all speaks of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Some feel it was written by David in bringing up the ark from Kerjath-Jerim and to Jerusalem. Others feel that it was written by King Solomon when he brought the Ark to its final resting place. We think of verse 8, Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy Spring. And he begins the psalm, if it is Solomon, Lord remember David and all his afflictions. So he's looking back to David who really desired a resting place for the ark. And that whole first part of the psalm he is saying surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. And you remember when David said to Nathan that he desired to build a house of God. He said, I dwell in a house of cedar, for the ark dwelleth under curtains. And Nathan at first, he said to him, Go and do all that is in thine heart. Then the Lord appeared to Nathan in the night, and Nathan had to come and tell him that he should not build the temple of the Lord because he had shed much blood, but his son Solomon, or son, that should proceed out of his bowels, that he should build the house of the Lord. David of course prepared abundantly for that house before he died, but it was Solomon then that at last was to bring up the ark into the temple. So we think of how much Christ is set forth in this psalm. We think of verse 6, we have heard of it at Ephrata where our Lord was born. And we think of the verses through 7 through to 11, who go into his tabernacles, who worship at his footstool, who's the Lord's, the provision in the Lord Jesus Christ, David's greater son. And so we have this psalmist, one that was quoted by Peter at the Day of Pentecost, Speaking of David, the Lord has sworn in truth unto David, you will not turn from it, for the fruit of my body, the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. And so he's pointing to our Lord. In King David, our Lord is represented in the Old Testament as a beautiful type of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is set forth in the New Testament. And the children of Israel went into the Promised Land. When Joshua brought them in, they were not able to conquer the Jebusites, they weren't able to scale the Mount Zion where the Jebusites were, and so that had to wait for some 400 years. Now originally, of course, Mount Zion, that was Mount Moriah. That was where the same place that Abraham offered up his son or was to offer up Isaac and had that view of seeing Christ in his day. It was that same place that later on David, when he numbered the people, went up to the threshing floor and there the angel of the Lord was seen and God showed him where the temple was actually to be built at that point. But the whole of Zion represented the capital of Israel. David took it. David was the one that conquered it. Joshua and those that followed didn't, but David did. And so in that way it's a beautiful time of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We read in Luke chapter 1 verses 31 to 33. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. And so we have David as the King of Israel, David upon Mount Zion and then we have the Lord Jesus Christ coming and is set forth also as the King and to be on the throne of his father David. So this is the This is the picture that we have here in Psalm 132. We then would go from the literal Zion, the literal Mount Zion, and to think of what Zion represents here. In our text it is said, the Lord hath chosen Zion, yet desired it for his habitation. Yes, it was that mountain, it was the place where eventually the temple was built, where David's kingdom was. But he's pointing to gospel days, pointing from the tide to the anti-tide. So we want to look at what this is speaking to us today and to very clearly see from scriptures that this is what is being pointed to because when we come to verse 15 I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her full with bread. We want to know who she is, who is the her that's been spoken of, what is the provision that is being spoken of, that is being abundantly blessed. And so I want to look at three points this evening. Firstly, what is Zion spiritually and what the Lord says of it. And then secondly, Zion's provision, the provision that's spoken of here. And then thirdly, Zion's provision that is abundantly blessed. But firstly, what is Zion spiritually? What is the significance here? the name of the New Testament church, that is the spiritual church, and may we remember this, in the New Testament, and really we might say Old Testament as well, the church has never been a building. Paul, he speaks of the church that was in the wilderness. And we have Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. And so we have a picture, the Church of God. The Church of God is a worldwide church. It is the church of the people of God from the beginning of the world to the end of the world. All those that were given by the Father to the Son to redeem. The Church of God is also described here as a local church, the Church of God which is at Corinth. That didn't mean, of course, that the only place on earth like Zion in Israel was the Church that was at Corinth. No, that was not the case. And so there's no individual case, there's no individual place where we may say the one church is, like it was set forth with David making his kingdom over Israel. We're not looking at a literal place, not even a chapel, not even a place that is a building, but we're looking at those, and in that first Corinthians, it gives us a picture of the church as people They then that are sanctified or separated unto Christ, those who are called to be saints, that is, a holy people, and with that in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have a picture, a separated people, a holy people, a people that are praying people calling upon the name of the Lord. What a picture of a true church. And Paul here addresses the Corinthian church in that way. So the New Testament, instead of Zion, it's the church of God. But then we have joined to that so that we have no doubt what is the type that's here and what is set forth as Zion, we have references to Zion in the New Testament as well. So we read in Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22 to 24, This is a beautiful chapter where you get a contrast, because in that chapter he says you're not come unto the mount that might be touched with smoke and burned with fire. It's a picture of where the law was given in Mount Sinai. You're not come there, but where you are come, that ye are come unto Mount Sinai. And so there's a sign, or sign in this case, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirit of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. The main point here is it's referring unto Simon. In Peter's epistles, first epistle, chapter 2, verse 6, Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone of that precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Again it is pointing unto Zion, the city of David, the city of the living King. Revelation 14 verses 1 and 2 And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood upon the Mount Sinai. This is not in heaven, this is on earth. And with Him, and a hundred, forty, and four thousand, having His Father's Name written in their foreheads, and I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their arms. The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church of God is viewed from heaven, the angels behold it, they see it, they know what it is, the Church of God, God's Church, the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What is said of it. If we take that, if we think of the church, of believers, those that call upon the name of the Lord, a holy people, and we read then verses 13 and 14 of our text. For the Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation, this is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it. What a beautiful picture. The Lord hath chosen Zion. What does Paul say when he writes to the Ephesians? He says that there are chosen people, chosen in Him, chosen in Christ, before the foundation of the world. Those with Him, they are called and chosen and faithful. And so it answers to this, that the Church of God, known as Zion, The Lord had chosen it, as much as the Lord chose the mountain of Zion and where the temple should be built and where David's throne was, as much then the Lord has chosen His people, His Zion. He hath designed it for His habitation. What a blessed thing, the Lord dwelling among His people. When Solomon dedicated the temple, Then he uttered this long prayer, and in fact the long prayer quotes some of this very psalm, Psalm 132. And after he had prayed, the Lord came down with a cloud, the same as he did on the tabernacle in the wilderness, and that filled the temple. The Lord's presence was there. And of course they brought up the Ark, the Ark of God, was the symbol of God's presence. It beautifully sets him forth, it was all of gold, it was carried upon the shoulders of the Levites, the same as our Lord, who's set forth by the ministers of the Gospel. It was covered always with the veil of the temple when it was moving from one place to another, the tabernacle, the veil was taken down and put over the So all that was seen was the badger skins and over top of the badger skins was a veil of blue. Well the blue sets for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was many in Christ's time and they saw the grace of God. They could not speak out against the gracious words that proceeded out of His lips. And yet when they viewed Him, They said, but this is Joseph's son, this is the carpenter's son. And they were offended at him. But there were those like the disciples in the boat. They see the man, Christ Jesus, the true humanity of our Lord. And they see him asleep in the vessel. They awake and massly perish. he rises and he stills the winds and the waves with his word. And they say, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him? And so they get a little glimpse as if they lifted up the veil and seen the gold underneath, the golden mercy seat, the cherubim looking to that mercy seat, the arqueous, the symbol, of God's presence and that was brought into the holiest of all in Solomon's temple as it was in the holiest of all in the tabernacle in the wilderness. A place that was only entered once a year by the high priest in that not without blood and it is saying thus signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. Not yet, but when our Lord died When our Lord died, the temple veil was red in twain from top to the bottom, signifying that way into the holiness. Holiest of all was now made manifest through Christ's own precious blood. And so we have further here, not only that the Lord had chosen Zion, but he desired it for his habitation. He will live in his people, he will be with his people. His desire, his intercessory prayer in John 17, Father I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory. and here below and not just in the context of church discipline. The Lord says, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. The promise of the Messiah as in the name of Shiloh in Genesis 49 was unto him, shall the gathering of the people be. And if you see in a literal sense with our Lord on the earth, how the people all flocked and gathered to him and were drawn to him. And of course our Lord says none can come unto me that is in a spiritual and a saving way except the Father that sent me draw him and I'll raise him up at the last day. A beautiful thought isn't it? the gathering together of God's people, he clearly says, that's where I want to be, that's where my habitation should be. What, with sinners? Yes, with sinners. With those even like in the wilderness, they were rebellious, they wanted to take a captain and go back to Egypt. They were not a good people, but they were a people that God dwelt with, and a people that he chastened, that he kept, that he didn't forsake them, and he was with them. May we be encouraged and strengthened in that, that the gathering together of the people of God, those that are chosen by him, those that are called, those that are separated, those that call upon his name, those who are holy people, the Lord has desired that for his habitation, he will live there, not just come and go, and he will live with them. And then he says in verse 14, for this is my rest forever, forever, forever with his people, so shall we ever be with the Lord. There will I dwell, for I have decided. What wonderful things the Lord speaks about his people. Dwelling with them should be really the effect of a call by grace that we desire to be where He is and to know that He desires to be where we are, that there is a bringing nigh, Paul speaks of that in Ephesians, being brought nigh by the blood of Christ. He that sometime were far off, that is what the grace of God does, that is what salvation does. It brings for sinners nigh and it gathers them. into the visible church of God, the gathering of the people of God together and the Lord with them. And so when we look at these verses, may we have these clear views of what Zion is spiritually and what the Lord says it is. Of course we have other pictures in the Word of God as that it is His Body which is the Church, the fullness of Him that filleth all things. It is the visible presence of the Lord with His dear people. They took knowledge of the apostles that they had been with Jesus and that the Lord is with them. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end. of the world. So we have a picture then of the gathered church, the church of the redeemed, the church of God's dear people, those that he has chosen, his Zion. And then we read of a provision for her. A provision. And I want to look at that in our second point. What is the provision? that is spoken of here. Zion's Provision. The first, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We read in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30, the second last verse of that beautiful chapter, But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. All of these things drawn together in one verse here. In other words, we, the Church of God, do not have wisdom, we do not have any righteousness of our own, We are not separated unto the Lord, we are unclean, and we need to be redeemed. We are in bondage, we are in captivity. And Paul says, you are not your own, you are bought with a price, wherefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are His. And our Lord Jesus Christ is this provision. He hath withheld not His Son, His only Son from us. That's what was said of Abraham, when Abraham did not withhold Isaac, but Isaac was taken off the altar and the ram put in his place. Abraham, our Lord said, saw my day and rejoiced at it. He saw the substitutionary offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Abraham, when his son said, my father, the fire, the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? His answer was, Abraham's answer was, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Not God will provide a lamb, but himself will be that lamb. He is both the offerer and the offering. He is the great high priest. And so the gift, the provision for the Church of God, lost and ruined in the fall, naked, having nothing at all. You think of the picture of Ruth from Moabitess, a widow of Marlon. She has nothing. She gleams, she begs, she has nothing of herself. But Poaz is a near kinsman. He has one that has a right to redeem. He has great wealth. and she is brought to be united to Him, to be with Him, and all the wealth that He has is her wealth. It's a beautiful time of the Church and the provision in the Lord Jesus Christ, a near kinsman to us. He is the bread of life. He gives us life. He gives us light. He gives grace. He gives truth. The Lord spoke to thee. woman at the well of Samaria. Jesus answered, said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. Living water, as you think of Paul saying, as the children of Israel, they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. They were given in the wilderness, the bread from heaven, the manna. Our Lord says in John 6 that Moses gave you not that manna from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true manna from heaven. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And so the Lord Jesus Christ himself is that provision. How is he provided? He is the eternal Son of God. whoever was with the Father, and that he was sent forth into this world, made under the law and made of a woman, to redeem them that are under the law. He is put in the very place that his church is in to redeem her. It is a great wonder, great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. Solomon, when he dedicated the temple He says, but will God in very deed dwell upon the earth? The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have built it. And yet the Lord did come, Emmanuel, God with us. It is this provision that could not be provided in any other way, but through the eternal Son of God. the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, the seed of David. So this is in the first place, and really everything else flows forth and comes to us through Jesus' precious blood, through what he wrought out at Calvary, through his substitutionary death, his righteous life imputing the righteousness to all that believe. And in the Lord Jesus Christ, enduring the wrath of God in the face of His church, His people, He stood in their place and He gave to them, He gives to them eternal life because He has settled the debt. A purchased people, a redeemed people, a people that belong to the Lord, They were chosen in Him, and He dwells with them. They are His by gift, they are His by purchase, and His by what He designs to be amongst them. The Lord Jesus Christ is the provision. May we always remember this and think what a wonderful thing it is. However small the church may get, God, the Eternal God, has provided for her. The Lord Jesus Christ is only begotten Son, He could not give greater, He could not give more, He has given Him to the Church of God, to Zion. But then He has also given the Word of God. We read in Psalm 68 verse 11, The Lord gave the Word, great was the company of those that published it. John begins his gospel, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for instruction in righteousness. The man of God might be through thee furnished unto all good works. We have to remember this wonderful provision to the Church of God. We have it open before us here. We have Bibles in the pew. We have them in our home. We have the miracle and blessing of having it in our own tongue that as the psalmist said, thy word have I hid in mine heart. We don't hide in our heart a strange tongue, a strange language, a word we don't understand. It is in our own tongue, and many nations still don't have that, a great blessing where we have that blessing. And so we must look upon that Word. The Lord gave that Word. Our Lord says, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word shall not pass away. And this is the gift to the Church of God. God has given us His Holy Word. Without it, we would not know the plan of salvation. We could not know the Lord Jesus Christ. We could not know the things of God that are revealed to us through the Word of God. But then thirdly, we have the ministers of the Word. This is why we read together the portion in Ephesians chapter 4. And we read there that what he said he gave in verses 11 and 12, he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And this is very clearly stated that he gave some. And so when we read in our texts about a provision for the church of God, He hasn't left the church, the body, the body of believers, the redeemed church, without any here below to guide her, to instruct her, to teach her, to instruct her. He has given them. I will give you pastors after mine own heart. and we are to look above them. Our Lord said to his servants, he that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. The provision that is given to the church is given through those ministers. We think of the word that we just read. The Lord gave the word, great was the company of them that published it. Our commission is preach the word, instant, in season and out of season. Our only authority is the word. I sometimes think it is a beautiful time when Moses was being sent to bring the children of Israel out of bondage. and he made all sorts of excuses, and one excuse was that he couldn't speak well. So the Lord said, that I know that thy brother Aaron, he can speak well. So Aaron was to be his voice to the people. Moses would hear the message from God, Moses would then speak to Aaron, and Aaron would then speak to the people. That was the arrangement that we are told right at the start when Moses was sent back. You do not read, as far as I can ever know, any time when, through that wilderness, you actually heard that being enacted out. And I believe the reason is this, the people were to receive it as the Word of God. You, as you're receiving the Word through me this evening, you look past me and you see Christ. You see the Word of God. It is a good thing when we lose sight of the instrument. I believe there was an account once where there were two people went to hear a minister and they were asked afterwards, how did you get on? Well, one of them, they said, well, yes, he was very good, he was very eloquent, and he opened up the Word well, and he did preach well. And the other one was asked, how did you get on? Well, he said, well, Christ was lovely and beautiful, and I really held the Word very precious to my soul. And she said, well, what about the minister? Oh, he said, I didn't notice him. All I heard was the Word. And that's what we need. to lose sight of man. On the Mount of Transfiguration there was the apostles and they saw Moses, they saw Elias, they saw Jesus, but then instead of seeing the law represented, instead of seeing the prophets represented, they saw Jesus only. And it would be good in this time too, we didn't see David, we saw Jesus only. If you know Robert Hawker, Robert Hawker, wherever he comes to a psalm like this, he says you do great disservice if you try to find a major on David in this psalm. It is Christ from beginning to end. We don't want to lose sight of him. And of course that is the aim of the Holy Spirit to set forth the law of Jesus Christ. And that is our aim too, upon the pole of the everlasting gospel. But then there are other provisions as well. and that is the provision of the ordinances, baptism, believers' baptism, water baptism and the Lord's Supper. They are used in the Church of God, given by God, to set forth Christ's death and burial and rising again in baptism and identifying the believer, the Church of God, with what the Lord Jesus Christ did at Calvary. And the Lord's Supper, yes do, in remembrance of me, you do show forth the Lord's death till he come. And it was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ immediately before he was taken in the garden. Instituted at the time of the Passover, really the last real Passover. Our Lord is the Passover Lamb. He is the one that were sacrificed and through whom the children of Israel were set free. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. And so this provision is for the good of the Church of God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 16, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? And so, it is that way that God's people, they meet together, and they meet with the Lord, and they meet at that sacrifice. You know, at the Lord's Supper, you might get a young person, an old person. You might get one that had been a few months in the way, You might get one who'd been 60, 70 years in the way. And they've all got different experiences. Some have been brought deeply. Some have been brought more shallowly. Some have been like the Philippine jailer. Some like Lydia. But all of them have this one thing in common. All were redeemed by the same dear Jesus. Through the same precious blood, at the same time, at the same place, all were redeemed in exactly the same way and that should really unite each in humbleness, in love and union one to another in the Lord Jesus Christ and His sufferings and His death. Truly Zion, the Church of God, does have provision. It is provided by God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the ministers of the Word and the ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper. But our text speaks of Zion's provision being abundantly blessed. We should be encouraged in the provision that itself is a great encouragement to the Church of God. But we told that it will be blessed, that God will bless it. I will abundantly bless her provision, or surely bless it. I will satisfy her poor with bread. You know, we can set forth all the doctrines however right of the Christian faith. We can adhere to the ordinances, we can read the Word of God and know it by heart. But except the Lord bless it, it will not profit us. We think of the Apostle Paul coming to the Thessalonians and he tells them that they received the Word not in word only, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And he became followers of the Lord and of us. They were those that waited for the Lord to come from heaven. The Word had been blessed to them.

You think of even on one occasion of preaching, you read that some believe the Word spoken and some believe not. You read in another place, as many as were ordained unto eternal life believed. Why did some believe and some not? It was the same word. It was a truthful word. It was a provision for God's house. But God sovereignly blessed it to some and not to others.

If we are to know our interest in the Saviour's precious blood, if we are to know personally that these provisions have been blessed, we need them blessed to us. We need to walk in them ourselves.

Those two on the way to Emmaus, how discouraged, how despondent they were first. Why? Because though they had seen the Lord crucified and slain, they could not see that it was to redeem Israel. They said, we trusted it should have been He that should have redeemed Israel. And they couldn't see that He'd done it through the shedding of His blood.

But when the Lord came, and He drew near to them, and He opened up in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. He would have spoken about this psalm. He would have brought them to all the sacrifices, all the times, all the shadows, Christ in all the Scriptures. And you know their heart burned within them as they talked with Him by the way. The Word had a real effect as Christ was lifted up.

You have a similar illustration in the eunuch when Philip was sent to him. There you see the provision. The eunuch was reading the Word of God. He was reading Isaiah, Isaiah 53 in our Bibles. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before a shearer's dome, so opened he not his mouth. He says, and Philip asked him, and Philip again, it's a provision, it's a gift, the Holy Spirit said, go to this chariot, go down to this desert, join thyself to this chariot, understand this what thou readest, how can I accept some man guide me? And Philip began to the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus.

That word was blessed to him. He now could see who it was. and he believed and he desired to be baptised. If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and he is baptised on that profession.

There is a real expectancy here and a real need to pray that the Lord would bless this provision. that the Lord Jesus Christ himself might be precious, that sinners might be drawn to him. Our Lord said, except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. That is the blessing that is needed.

And you think here in our text, it speaks of who? receives that blessing. I will satisfy her poor with bread. God's people are a poor people. They don't have righteousness of their own. They are in bondage. They are subject to infirmities. They do not have any wisdom of their own. They do not have any holiness of their own. They are dependents upon the grace of God, and it is the Lord himself that will bless those four ones. One of the greatest blessings is to feel our need. Our Lord spoke of those two that went up in the temple to pray, the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee didn't have a need of anything, he could just speak of what he'd done, spoke of his supposed good works. Whereas the publican, he beat upon his breast, God be merciful to me a sinner. That man went down to his house justified or free from condemnation and guilt rather than the other.

The Lord humbles, He brings down and He lifts up, and He makes the people of God so they are a prepared ground for the Word to drop into that ground and bring forth fruit, some thirty, some forty, some sixty, some hundredfold. And that is His doing, His blessing, the blessing of the Lord. It maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it.

is one beautiful token of receiving the blessing of the Lord. In our text, I will satisfy her poor with prayer. When a soul has truly been blessed, they are satisfied. I am blessed, I am blessed. They do not need any more. They will have times, those blessings only last sometimes a little while, short the moments rich in blessing which before the cross I spend, the hymn writer says, or sweet the moments rich in blessing. And yet those times, they satisfy the soul.

We know what it is to be hungry and then to have a meal. And someone offers you a bit more and you say, no, I've had enough, I'm satisfied, I'm full, I do not need any more. And the Lord says this of His people, I will satisfy the poor with bread. This provision shall be for them and with them. And it is the Lord that blesses. It's not in the power of the minister to bless. It's not in our power to bless ourselves. It's the Lord that has said that he will do it.

And when we think of what he has said about Zion, how that he has chosen her, he has decided so that he lives with her. You think of what he says in Ephesians, how that he will make that church to be like a, his bride to be with him. He says, husbands, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it and cleanse it. with washing of the water by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

This is the church receiving from the Lord. We might think, well, these blessings are for us. These for us. But the Lord says, I am blessing you to glorify myself I am blessing you to form you to be in my image, and to be blessed so I see my reflection in you, and so that you will be partners with me in my throne. In Psalm 84 we read that he shall get grace and glory. No good thing with him withhold from them that walk uprightly. This is Zion's provision. and Zion's provision abundantly blessed.

Dear friends, may we be encouraged in this, may we pray that the provision might be blessed, may we acknowledge it when it is given to us, and may we see it as from His gracious and merciful hand, and see how precious the Church of God, His Zion is to our Lord Jesus Christ. May this word truly then be Blessed to us, for the Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread.

I want to ask before we close some questions here, what do we know of the blessings here? What have we known of the sweetness of those streams that flow from Calvary? Or are these words that are spoken of the church? You say, well, I hear these things, but I've never tasted these. I've never known these. I've never enjoyed these. May this be as set before you, as what the Lord sets before us here, as what there is for the people of God. You know, many of those that first believed, they need to be instructed in this. In John 8, the Lord had those that came and believed on Him. He didn't say, I don't believe you really believe, you're a bit shallow believers. He said, no, He said, if you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. You think of the Ephesians. They believed that they had to be told how they were chosen in Christ. They needed to be told that it was the same power that was wrought in them as was wrought in Christ when Christ was raised from the dead. Do we really believe that? That is the truth. Each soul that is brought from death to life, spiritual life, is a miracle of grace. The Lord has brought them into spiritual life. And so these things are to be known and tasted and felt. The power of God, the effect of God. We read of the wonderful conversion of Paul, but may we know it in some measure, I'm not now what I once was. And what I am, I am by the grace of God. And may we also feel that we are like this character, that we are poor and we come, we must need to come again and again to where the Lord has promised to come, because we need His blessing. We don't say, well I had three meals yesterday, I don't need a meal today, do we? We know in our bodies, naturally, we need a constant supply of food. And we need that food blessed. If any of you have had something and it has upset your tummy, it hasn't been blessed, that doesn't do you good. Your body wants to get rid of it. We need the food even naturally that we have to be blessed, to be a prophet to us. And so the spiritual way, may we come desiring that, come into the house of God with a real aim and prayer, Lord bless this word to us this evening, Blessed to us, feed my soul, grant me a view of Christ, grant me that which moves my heart, grant me these tokens that I am amongst the living in Zion, in the place where our desire is to dwell, that we come and our desire is, by the Greek, so as we would see Jesus. May we have seen him, may we get a little glimpse of him and take something to the warmth of the gospel of the grace of God. I am with you this evening. Amen.