Lord, remember David
And all his afflictions;
How he swore to the Lord,
And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
“Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
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.
Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
— Psalm 132:1-9
As we have said, the Old Testament example of the ark being separated from the tabernacle (cf. 1 Sam. 4) corresponds to how we often feel about the church life. Therefore in Psalm 132 we see a mature person who is struggling.
He does not struggle for how he can grow, how he can be used by the Lord, or how he can become a blessing. He has already gained all of these things through his previous experiences, but he is still not satisfied. He cries out, “Lord, I am not just here to be a blessing to others. I am not just here to render the church a supply of life and enjoyment. Lord, I am after the ark of testimony! I am after the substance of the church life!” This should be our struggle. We should struggle that the church life would be filled with reality.
Adapted from The Journey of Life, pages 103-104.
Tomorrow: “Producing the Reality of God’s Testimony (1)”