When the disciples had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
— Matthew 17:8
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
We found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us go into His tabernacle;
Let us worship at His footstool.
Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
— Psalm 132:6-8
The psalmist has gone through a tremendous process to be able to provide the Lord such a rest. All of his experiences, all of his realizations, all of his struggling, and all of his tears eventually produce God’s own rest. After all of the psalmist’s experiences of consecration, transformation, and growth unto maturity, it is the Lord who is now resting.
As we have seen, when the reality of God’s habitation is produced, the “I” disappears and there is no one but Christ. When the church life is in such a healthy condition, the church’s strength is in Christ alone. The strength of the church life must be the ark of the covenant. The ark is Christ Himself, with His ruling, His resurrection power, and His life supply. Through the exercise of maturity as depicted in this psalm, the church life is upheld by the ark, that is, by Christ alone. Praise the Lord for this!
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 106.
Tomorrow: “Providing the Lord with a Way to Rest (3)”