Psalm 132. This is the longest
of the psalms of degrees or ascent, these 15 psalms here at the end
of the book of Psalms. Lord, remember David and all
his afflictions. How he swear unto the Lord and
vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, surely I'll 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. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata,
and we found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into
his tabernacles, we will worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord,
into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests
be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for
joy, for thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face
of thine anointed. The Lord has sworn in truth unto
David, he'll not turn from it. Of the fruit of thy body will
I sit upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my
covenant, my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall
also sit upon the throne forevermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion,
He hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever. Here
will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her
provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. I will also clothe her priests
with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There
will I make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp
for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with
shame, but upon himself shall his crown flourish. Let's pray. Lord, we would be so grateful
if you would teach us to pray, remember David and all
his afflictions, remember Christ and all his afflictions that
we might be found in him. We pray for your spirit, for
your blessing upon this time together. We pray that your gospel
would be preached in the power of your spirit and that we'd
be enabled to worship at that footstool. Lord, we confess our
sins, we confess our great need of the forgiveness of sins, and
that's in your hand. We confess our great need of
your grace and your mercy and your presence. Lord, manifest
yourself to us for Christ's sake. We pray for those that are going
through trials and difficulties. We pray for your blessing upon
them. We pray that your healing hand would be upon those who
are sick according to your will. We pray that you'd give us grace
to love you more and love one another more. Bless us for Christ's
sake. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now hold
your finger in Psalm 132 and turn to 2 Samuel 7. And you can see this is what's
being spoken of. 2 Samuel chapter 7. And it came to pass when the
king sat in his house and the Lord had given him rest round
about all his enemies. That the king said unto Nathan
the prophet see now I dwell in a house of cedar. The ark of
God dwelleth with curtains. And Nathan said to the king,
go do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee. And
it came to pass that that night that the word of the Lord came
unto Nathan saying, go and tell my servant David, thus saith
the Lord, shalt thou build me in house for me to dwell in? Whereas I've not dwelt in any
house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out
of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in
a tabernacle, and in all the places wherein I've walked with
all the children of Israel, spake I a word with any of the tribes
of Israel whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying,
Why build ye not me a house of cedar?" Can a house contain the Lord?
Can a temple, a physical temple, contain the Lord? Of course not.
Now, therefore, so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep coat, from
following the sheep, to be ruler over my people over Israel. And
I was with thee, whethersoever thou wentest, and have cut off
all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made a great
name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will
plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and
move no more. Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict
them any more as before time. And as since the time that I
commanded judges to be over my people of Israel, and have caused
thee to rest from all thine enemies, also the Lord telleth thee that
he will make thee in house. And when thy days be fulfilled,
that thou should sleep with thy fathers, I'll set up thy seat
after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my
name. And I will establish the throne
of his kingdom forever. Now that's obviously talking
about Solomon, but it's more particularly talking about Christ
establishing the house of God. And that's what Psalm 132 is
about. It's about Christ establishing
the house of God. Verse one, Psalm 132. Lord, remember David and all his afflictions. Now, what does that mean? Well,
David had a lot of afflictions, but this is the plea of every
believer. Lord, remember Christ and all
of his afflictions, what he did on Calvary's tree, and then remember
me." Isn't that the same prayer that the thief prayed? Lord,
remember me. That's the prayer of our heart.
Lord, remember thy son and what he accomplished on Calvary's
tree. What he did for your glory and for my salvation. Remember
him, then remember me. This is what David is speaking
of. How he, verse two, how he swear unto the Lord and vowed
unto the mighty God of Jacob. I love that name of God, the
mighty one, the mighty God of Jacob. Jacob, I identify with
that man as much as anybody in the scripture. And yet God calls
himself the God of Jacob. That weak, sinful, conflicted
man, God calls himself the God of Jacob. Now he swore unto the
Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. And we just read
about this. Surely I'll 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." Now, the
Lord told him, you're not going to build me a house. I took you
from fallen sheep and you build me a house? The heavens can't
contain me and you build me a house? But what this is referring to
more than anything else is the Lord Jesus Christ building a
house for an habitation of God, which is the church. The great mystery of the gospel,
Christ in you, the hope of glory, the church, every individual
member, the whole body is the dwelling place of God. If you are a believer, you are
the habitation of God. You are the dwelling place of
God. Now such, that just, I don't
even know what to say about that. To think that God, the infinite
God, has taken a bunch of sinners and saved them by his grace and
conformed them to the image of his son. And that's what they
are through what Christ did, what David did in all of his
afflictions. And he's made that his dwelling place, the place
of his habitation. Now, is there anything more humbling
than that? To think that the Lord would
make you his dwelling place. And that's what Christ did on
Calvary's tree. made God a dwelling place. He still walks among the golden
candlesticks. I want to read you a passage
of scripture from 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. But if I tarry long
that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in
the house of God, which is the church of the living God. the pillar and the ground of
the truth. This is God's house. We're not
talking about this building. We're talking about the church
of the living God, where two or three are gathered together
in my name. That's talking about something
public. Two or three gathered together in my name. There I
am. In the midst of them. What a
glorious thing to think that the Lord is here. He's in the
wherever his people meet together in his name. There he promises
his special presence. Verse six. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata. And we found it in the fields
of the woods. We've heard of this habitation
of the Lord in Ephrat. Does anybody know what Ephrat
is? Do you remember? It's another name for Bethlehem.
You can read about it in chapter five, verse two, thou Bethlehem
Ephrata. And that's talking about him
coming, the prophecy of him coming, who shall rule Israel, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the dwelling
place of God because he is God. Colossians two nine says in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And this
place of habitation was accomplished by Jesus Christ, the Lord. We've
heard of it in Ephrata, Bethlehem. And then I think it's interesting,
he says, we found it in the field of the wood. Now there's no Old
Testament historical event where they found something in the field
of the wood. What this is letting us know that this house, this
habitation, is not built by humanity. It's not a building we have built. We just found it in a place we
would have never expected it to be seen in the field of the
wood. This is the church of the living
God. Verse seven, we will go into
his tabernacles. We will worship at his footstools. Now the tabernacle is being spoken
of. Somebody says, well, that's the tabernacle of the Old Testament. Yes, it is. But it represented
this. The word was made flesh and tabernacled
among us. Jesus Christ is the tabernacle
of God. And that is the only way we want
to come into his presence. We will go into his tabernacles
and we will worship at his footstool. Now, the only place worship is
done. Is it his footstool bowing at
his feet, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is this
habitation that God has built for the church. Now, I want you
to think about this. You're in Christ. What joy there
is there, you're in Christ, God's habitation, that's where all
the church is and he's in you. How mysterious, how glorious,
how true. You in Christ, he in you. You know, that's what baptism
in the Lord's table represents. Baptism is you in Christ. When we take the Lord's table,
it's him in you. The two great mysteries of the
gospel, you in Christ and him in you. Verse eight. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest,
thou and the ark of thy strength. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
power of God. Arise, let thy priests be clothed
with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy. Now, this
is a quotation from Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6, verses 41 and
42. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest. Now, think of the language, arise.
What's that a reference to? The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And when he arose from the dead, he entered into his rest. There's
nothing more for him to do. And there's nothing more for
you and I to do. His rest. Why did God rest after creation? Was it because he's tired? No,
he didn't get tired. He didn't get weary. He finished
the great work of creation. He was very good. And when Christ
arose from the dead, he entered into his rest. And that's the
rest you and I rest in. The rest in what he accomplished. We cease from our own works and
rest in his. It's his rest. And it's our rest
too, isn't it? Verse 9, let thy priests be clothed
with righteousness. Let thy saints shout for joy.
Now, every believer is a king and priest. This is not talking
about one group as opposed to another group. He's made us kings
and priests unto God. And I'm clothed, this is true
of every believer, I'm clothed with righteousness. the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. When God looks at me, he doesn't
say, well, I know what he is, but my righteousness, my son
is, no, I'm seen in the Lord Jesus Christ by God himself as
the very righteousness of God. The gospel is so mysterious,
it's so glorious. Your priests are clothed in righteousness
and let thy saints, thy holy ones, that represents every believer,
shout for joy. You see, the kingdom of God is
not meat and drink. It's righteousness. What comes
out of righteousness? Peace. If his righteousness is
my righteousness. Peace. And joy. in the Holy Ghost. What joy there
is in the gospel, the joy and the peace of believing. Now, verse 10, let thy priests
be clothed with righteousness. Let thy saints shout for joy
for thy servant David's sake. And speaking of Christ, the son
of David, for thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face
of thine anointed. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. Oh, may the Lord give us the
grace to lay hold upon this thing for Christ's sake. What God does
for David's sake. What does God does for Christ's
sake. Verse 11, for the Lord has sworn
in truth unto David. He'll not turn from it. Of the
fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. Can you see the language of that?
He says, I'm the son of David physically, but I'm the one who's
going to sit on the throne. Out of the fruit of thy body
will I set upon the throne. This was the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. Verse 12, if thy children will keep my covenant and my
testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also
sit upon thy throne forevermore. Now, all of his children will
keep his covenant and all of his children will keep his testimony
because they're preserved by the grace of God. That's why
we will keep his testimony. And guess who's going to be on
the throne with him? Every one of his children. As Paul said
in Ephesians chapter two, we're seated together. Together with
who? With him. In the heavenlies,
in Christ Jesus. Look at verse 13. For the LORD
hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation." Now,
who is Zion? Well, we know from the New Testament,
Zion is the church. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. In the previous verses, he said,
you've not come to Mount Sinai and all the fear that comes with
that. But he says in verse 22, he says,
you're coming to Mount Zion. Same Zion David's speaking of,
or whoever wrote Psalm 132 is speaking of. 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 man made perfect, and to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaks better things than that of April. And that's Zion.
That's the church. Now, I love the way he says,
for the Lord hath chosen Zion. Election. Why is Zion, Zion? Because the
Lord chose Zion to be Zion. I know who loves election, the
elect. The elect are those who need
God to elect them or they won't be saved. They understand that. You know the reason people don't
love election is because they don't need it. But if you need
it, you love it. You need God to do something
for you that you could never do for yourself. And he begins
with God's electing grace. For the Lord hath chosen Zion,
he hath desired it for his habitation. The Lord desires. He desires
Zion, his people, those for whom Christ died, those who were in
him. He desires them to be his habitation. That is one of the great mysteries
of the church, the habitation of God. As a matter of fact,
turn to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one, verse
22. And have put all things under
his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is his body. The fullness of him. that filleth
all in all. Look in chapter two, Ephesians, verse 19, now therefore you are
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are
builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Back to Psalm 132. This, this habitation of God,
Zion, this is my rest forever. I'm never going to leave this
place. This is my rest. He rests in what he has accomplished. And creation once again reminds
us of that. When he rested the seventh day,
it's because he saw what he did and it was very good and there
was nothing left to do. He is resting in his accomplishment
for Zion. And he says, I'm staying there
forever. He says, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. This is my rest forever for eternity. This is my rest forever here
while I dwell for I have desired it. Now look what verse 15 says.
I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. Now you think of the provision the Lord has made for us. Jehovah, Jireh, I will provide
everything He requires of you. Everything He provides. You and I don't have to come
up with a thing. We couldn't come up with a thing. What if
something was up to us to provide? We'd be in trouble, wouldn't
we? But He provides everything. He provides righteousness. He
provides a new heart. That faith you have, he gave
it to you. That state of repentance you have, he gave it to you.
When you mourn over your sin, he gave it to you. When you have
some awareness of your need of Jesus Christ and your need of
his grace, guess who put that in your heart? If you know who
he is, you know why you know who he is? He made himself known
to you. Everything is his provision. He, I am the Lord that provides,
Jehovah, Jireh. And I love the way he says he'll
abundantly satisfy her poor. I love the first beatitude. Blessed
are the poor, those who have nothing. Those who have nothing
to recommend them to God. The poor. I'm going to satisfy
her poor. You know, I'm so satisfied to
be saved by Jesus Christ alone. Satisfied. I'm not looking for
anything else. I'm plum satisfied. And God says,
I'll satisfy her poor with bread. Verse 16, I will also clothe
her priests with salvation. I'm clothed with everything that
salvation is. I'm clothed, encompassed with
it. And her saints shall shout for
joy. There will I make the horn of
David to bud. Now, horn means power. Christ is the power of God. In this place of God's habitation,
I'll make the horn of David to bud, to give life. Remember Aaron's rod that budded?
This is the life. My life is the life of Jesus
Christ. That's where he'll make the horn
to bud and bring forth fruit. The church, the power of God,
the life of God is in the horn, the power of David, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I love thinking about this. The powerful life of Jesus Christ
is my life before God. That is how I can come into his
presence with boldness. That's how I can know I'll be
accepted because the powerful life of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the budding life That cross that brought forth life is my life
before God. The Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. His life, that budding life that
came from his cross is my life before God. There while I make
the horn of David to bud, I've ordained a lamp for mine anointed. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
is always our light. I mean, this is not a one-time,
this is continual. You know, I think it's two Psalms
down, we're going to read about those priests at night. Do you
know in the temple, there was work going on at night because
the candles had to stay lit all the time. The altar had to have
fire burning on it nonstop. That table of incense was continually
going up. Think about that. Our need of
Christ all the time. It had to be continually going
up. That bread. was always there, always making
bread. There was work going on in that
temple all the time. Those lights, the candlelight,
the priest had to make sure it never went out. It was continual. And her lamp, Christ is our lamp,
our light as to why God would accept us. That's the only light
we have. He's the light of the world.
Verse 18, his enemies, the enemies of Jesus Christ. God says, I
clothe the shame. Now, if I'm not a believer, I'm
his enemy. That's a scary thought, isn't
it? That's a, if God's my enemy, I'm in trouble. His enemies, those who do not
love Jesus Christ will I clothe with shame, but upon himself
shall his crown flourish. Bud, live. That's the crown of
righteousness Paul spoke of in 2 Timothy 4 when he says a crown
of righteousness, a living crown, is gonna be given to me and not
to me only, but also to all of them that love his appearing. And that describes every believer.
We love his appearing. It's a glorious psalm, isn't
it?