There are many people who can tell you where they were and what they were doing on the morning of September 11 2001. His was one of the darkest days in American history as two planes crashed into thru World Trade Center towers and thousands of lives were lost. In the days that followed many churches were overflowing with people seeking peace and security for God and his people. As the fear subsided so did the number of people in the churches. These momentary times in history and in peoples lives that produce such a fear, that people have only one place to turn and that is to God is all the religion many people know. It has been said that two of the most religious places on earth are battlefields and mental hospitals. Some of the most passionate prayers can be heard on a battlefield, and otherworldly visions and supernatural voices in mental wards. While none of us would deliberately put ourselves on harms way must to invoke passionate prayer, or would we consult with a mental patient to determine godly things, many of us do go to church. Church provides us with a safe and predictable place to pray and discern God’s will. It provides us with a religion that feels safe. While safe is good, there is a real risk that we will become stagnant and complacent in our walk with God. How do we encourage passionate prayer and keep that feeling of stability? How do we grow more mature in our faith without fear? How do we keep moving forward, even though we do not know what lies ahead? The answer is simple we remember.
Psalm 132
Remember, O LORD, in David's favor,
all the hardships he endured,
2 how he swore to the LORD
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool!”
8 Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body[a]
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.”
13 For 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.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.”
This is one of the oldest of the Psalms, it is a psalm that reminds the reader of David’s obedience to God concerning the ark. It is a recount of David finding and returning the ark to its rightful place in the Temple. Ten ark was lost many years before to the Philistines, who took it as a trophy when they defeated Israel in battle. They did not keep it for long as God stick them with various plagues. The ark was returned to Israel where it rested in a village named Kiribati-jearim until David found it and returned it. The Psalm is not meant as a history lesson, but it is a reminder of how God blesses those who are obedient. For the Jewish pilgrims who would sing this song it was a reminder to them that this path they are taking up to Jerusalem to worship God was the same path taken by the David and thru ark and so ma y others who came in obedience to God for the many festivals. When we become stagnant and complacent, we are not being obedient we are being safe. Like those Jewish pilgrims we need to remember the history that has proceeded us, this history gives us thru information we need to be confident in always moving forward in our obedience to God. It helps to remain strong and keeps us from becoming vulnerable to false teachings and complacency. Eugene Peterson once said, “Memory is a data bank we use to evaluate our position and make decisions.” If we are to grow in our walk with God and be obedient to his will, we cannot rely on what we feel at the moment, or what we experienced yesterday or last week. We must know and understand the thousands of years of history the Bible gives us. We need to be aware of and act upon more than our recent experiences and look to the rich history of God’s blessings and interventions among his people.
The history on the Bible gives us examples of what does work and what obedience looks like, it also gives us examples of what disobedience looks like and the consequences of disobedience and the blessings of obedience. It shows us the faithfulness of God as he guides, protects and intercedes on behalf of his people. It is written of Abraham that he believed, and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness. When he was told to leave his home and go to the promise land he left, and the Lord promised that of his descendants he would make a great nation. Abraham had enough faith in that promise he was willing to sacrifice his own son. He was also a liar, who often times put faith in his lies rather than God. He was s man that was impatient in waiting for God to fulfill his promise and took matters into his own hands. David it Si said was a man after God’s own heart. He trusted God when he defeated Goliath and rested on God’s promise that he would be king on day as he fled Saul’s wrath. David was also a liar, adulterer and a murderer. In the history of both these men and many others we are given examples of God’s blessings when we are obedient and the consequence when we are disobedient. In this rich history we can be encouraged In our own obedience to God.
The history found in the Bible teaches that righteousness does not equal perfection. That there are blessings on our obedience and consequences in our disobedience. History teaches us what to avoid and what embrace, it gives us centuries of information and examples. When we know this history it gives us the knowledge we need to avoid repeating old sins and to trust God not just in the moment but throughout our lives no matter the circumstances. It gives us visions of heaven and a desire to have a passionate pray life. Eugene Peterson once again said it well, “A Christian who has David in his bones, Jeremiah in his bloodstream, Paul in his fingertips and Christ in his heart will know how much and how little value to put on his own momentary feelings and experiences.” They will be a Christian who understands that their faith and trust in God is built on a foundation formed over thousands of years.
In remembering our past we can propel forward with confidence. The secondhand of this “slam gives us the reality of God’s response to those who are obedient.
“I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread” For the Jewish pilgrim on their way to worship in Jerusalem this was a reminder of how God has provided for his people. Perhaps their memories look back the history of God providing water from a rock in the desert, quilt from thru sky or man a from the ground. It is a history for them that shows God providence. This same history provides confidence for the Christian, as we to are remind that God provides for his people. We are remind that Jesus is the well and when we drink from this water we will never thirst, he is the bread of life and we will never hunger. We reminded that even though the birds of the air neither reap nor sow they have food and shelter, and how much more valuable are we to God. That we who have earned the right through our faith in Christ to be called God’s children will never be left wanting, and our needs will be met, when we seek his kingdom and his righteousness first.
“Her priest I will cloth with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy.” The priest of the Temple would oversee the sacrifices that were made for the atonement of sin. They would openly read from the Torah reminding the people of Israel of the many times in their history God had saved them. Songs of praise are also rich in the history of Israel, Moses and Miriam sang on the shores of the Red Sea, it was the trumpets that signaled the fall of the walls of Jericho, and lest we never forget the many psalms of David praising and glorifying God. For the Christian, we have a high priest in Christ who interceded for us with the Father. Christ who became the final and perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. A high priest who knows what it means to be hungry, tired and tempted, a priest who has felt the pain of loss. The response front the Christian should be the same as ancient Israel, and we should be singing the praises of God with overwhelm g join and admiration for all that he has done.
“There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.” God would bless David for his obedience and be the lamp that gives light to him as he reigns over Israel. From this lineage would comes a Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah declared to Israel, “Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” We see the fulfillment of this in history on the person of Christ. Who has become thru light of the world, “In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
“His enemies I will clothe with shame but on him his crown will shine” David’s crown would shine as with God’s strength and protection he would defeat the enemies of Israel. The Christian can give us he same assurances and confidence as we walk with God. The enemies of man, sin and death have been defeated on the cross. Though deaths and sin had reigned over man since Adam, another man Christ Jesus had come and defeated sin and death. For as by one man’s disobedience the many have been made sinners, so the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
The rich and wondrous history we have is the wind that fills the sails of our obedience. We can be obedient in all we do without fear, standing confident in God’s truth no matter our present circumstances. Yet our obedience does not come from a heart of fear but from s heart filled with hope. Not hope in man, or ourselves, but hope in the assurance of God. By remembering the past and seeing God’s providence and sovereignty throughout history, we have a greater hope, in the wondrous expectations of things yet to come. A push forward know f the reality of God’s history given to us in his word. We are obedient because of what has already been accomplished knowing that if we continue to focus on the will and desires of God there will be abundant blessings. We will then have the will for passionate prayer, as we can see the wonders of heaven, through eye’s of God’s people. Moving forward and pressing on in faith.
