A place for the Lord.
I. TO SECURE THIS SHOULD BE THE OBJECT OF OUR INTENSE DESIRE AND ENDEAVOR.
1. Because the Lord so desires it. See his name here, "the mighty God of Jacob." What a poor mean wretch Jacob too often was! And yet how God compassionated, pitied, uplifted, and saved him! What does not such a redeeming God deserve and demand!
2. For the sake of our fellow-men. It is the world's great and crying need—that the Lord God should dwell among them. It is heaven where "the tabernacle of the Lord is with men."
3. For our own sake. For God's "loving-kindness is better than life." God is the soul's exceeding Joy.
II. WHERE WE SHOULD MAKE THIS ENDEAVOR.
1. In our own heart. Until he have a place, a habitation, there, it is no good our trying to find him a place elsewhere.
2. In our homes. Let our own family be the scene of our first aggressive work.
3. In the branch of the Church to which we belong. The Church should be God's rest forever; he would have it so (Psalms 132:13). But it too often is not. And until the Church is right, the world will remain wrong. To have a better world we must have a better Church.
4. In our own neighborhood. All who dwell around ought to be the better for our dwelling in their midst. "Let your light so shine," etc.
5. Throughout the world. The missionary cause should be dear to our heart.
III. HOW WE SHOULD GO TO WORK.
1. By personal self-surrender to Christ. This stands at the threshold of all our work. Nothing can be done till this is done.
2. By believing prayer, importunate and persevering, and by holy example and faithful testimony.
3. By consecration of our substance to this work.
4. By continual self-denial.
5. By perpetual trust in Christ.
6. By firm, holy, and abiding resolve. (Psalms 132:2-4.)—S.C.
Led of the Lord.
We do not know for certain what "it," in Psalms 132:6, means. Probably the ark of the covenant—"the ark of thy strength" (Psalms 132:8). Nor do we know exactly where Ephratah was, and "the fields of the wood" (see Exposition for a possible interpretation). But we may suffer the expressions used in these verses to suggest to us the progress of the soul led by the Lord in the ways of life. We only take "it" as telling of the grace of God, the Word of life. And concerning this we may note—
I. THAT GOD PREPARES THE HEART THAT IS TO RECEIVE HIS GRACE. See how it was with David, how his soul was stirred in connection with the object he had in view. And so God ever deals with men. By one means and another he gets them ready for what he is going to give them.
II. THEN HIS GRACE IS HEARD OF. The Ephratah stage is reached. When the soul has been got ready, the seed is sown, the Word is heard, and it has fallen into good ground.
III. THEN IT IS SOUGHT AFTER AND FOUND. The search may be a long one, and the discovery made at last in some seemingly very unlikely place—some fields of the wood, as it were, where no one would have thought of going to look for it. In what unthought-of places and ways God is found!
IV. THEN COME THE OPEN CONFESSION OF IT, AND FELLOWSHIP WITH THEM WHO ARE LIKE-MINDED AND HAVE ALSO FOUND GOD. "We will go into his tabernacles." They have found what their soul desired, and they will proclaim it before all by going to the house of God with the people of God.
V. THIS FOLLOWED BY THE LIFE OF WAITING UPON GOD. "We will worship at his footstool." So the Divine life in us is matured and sustained. At what stage in this progress are we?—S.C.
The Church the rest of the Lord.
This is the only place in the Psalms where the ark is mentioned. And it is only described as here in 2 Chronicles 6:41.
I. THE CHURCH THE LORD'S RESTING-PLACE. (See Numbers 10:33-36.) When the ark set forward, it was "to search out a resting-place for them." And where they were, God would be (2 Chronicles 6:13). It is not the magnificence of the shrine, the numbers or the rank or wealth of the attendants, but it is the spiritual character of the people, that God looks at. His Church consists of those who believe, love, and obey him. They are the objects of his love and care and choice. They shall have his presence, and his delight shall be with them.
II. THE CHURCH CANNOT PROSPER WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN CHRIST. This is the meaning of the words, "Thou and the ark of thy strength." For though we had the presence of God, we could not know it apart from Christ. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me;" "This is life eternal, to know thee, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Our knowledge of God is dependent on our knowledge of Christ. The ark was the ark of God's strength. Before it the waters of Jordan parted asunder; the walls of Jericho fell down; the idol-god of the Philistines, Dagon, was shattered. It was the symbol and pledge of strength from God for all Israel's need. Hence the consternation of Eli when he heard that the ark of God was taken. But so is our Lord Jesus Christ the strength of God. For through him God wins us, keeps us, inspires us, strengthens us. God can do anything with us and through us when Christ is our Life. Revealed to our hearts in Christ, we are utterly his.
III. THE CHURCH IS BLESSED INDEED WHEN THIS PRAYER IS ANSWERED.
1. Her priests are clothed with righteousness—endued with the spirit of holiness. The being clothed tells of manifested character, the habit and garment of the soul. And what a joy and a power to the Church is a holy ministry! Nothing can compare with it, nothing can compensate for its absence.
2. Her saints are filled with joy. Gladness and sanctity go together, as they ever should. Let us ever pray, "Endue thy ministers with righteousness, and make thy chosen people joyful."
IV. THE CHURCH, WOULD SHE BE THUS BLESSED, MUST SEEK FOR THE BLESSING IN PRAYER. "Arise, O Lord," etc. Then the Lord will dwell in her; she will be his rest (2 Chronicles 6:14-18).—S.C.