Psalm 132, and we're currently on the 13th of 15 songs of ascent. Next week, I think we can finish the songs of ascent. The last two are perhaps the shortest, and it's a fitting end to the 15, but today we're maybe at the high point that leads us into these next two. We'll read Psalm 132, a song of ascent. It's number 13 out of 15. Please hear the Word of God. 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 the woods, or of Jar. 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. For Your servant David's sake, do not turn away the face of Your anointed. The Lord has sworn in truth to David, he will not turn from it. I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimony which I shall teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever." For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place. This is my resting place forever. Here 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 I will make the horn of David grow. I will prepare a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall flourish." This is the Word of God, and may God, by His Spirit, bless us and convict us according to His will this morning. You may be seated. As we said, we're nearing the end of the Songs of Ascents, and you might remember the last few. I think it does lead up to this one quite well. Psalm 129 was an imprecatory psalm. You had the persecution of the saints and the imprecatory prayer. The other half were to be resting in the righteous and persecuted one in the midst of it. But then Psalm 130, which we did look at last week, was a penitential psalm. Rather than looking at the evil of others, now it's the conviction of the guilt of the pilgrim himself. And the theme of that psalm was redemption by grace from the depths of sin and guilt. He cries out, and eventually the psalm itself is a song of ascent as it rises to the height of great hope, crying out of the depths of guilt, confessing sin, looking for communion with God, and hope in Him. And at the end, calling out to others as well to hope in such a wonderful God. And why be so excited about this God? Because Psalm 130 says, with the Lord, The Lord himself is forgiveness, is mercy, is abundant redemption and hope. Then we had Psalm 131, which you go from an imprecatory psalm to a penitential psalm to now a contentment psalm, which makes some sense. Now the pilgrim is resting in God after being restored by grace. After the persecution and penitence comes a settled rest in God. And he says in Psalm 131, "...before I was caught up with myself in the world, but now I'm like a child weaned with his mother, content in my God." I think then Psalm 132, which we just read, appropriately follows these three, but also appropriately has put it near the end to be a fitting close almost to the Songs of Ascent. First of all, the pilgrim now is restored and resting in God from the last few Psalms. And now he's able to focus on his ascent to Jerusalem. You might remember these were put together as pilgrim songs for the Jews as they go to the three feasts of the year. As they would then travel to Jerusalem up the steep mountain roads to Jerusalem from whichever direction they came. They would be looking to be focusing on and desiring the presence of God and His people when they got there. And this psalm actually then focuses on that very thing. And what we see though with the rest of the songs of ascent, Psalm 133 then, after we get there, so to speak, with this psalm, Psalm 133 focuses on the unity of the brethren, and Psalm 134 focuses on the worship of our God. We're there. But I think as well, Psalm 132 is a psalm about the ascent of the Ark of God to Jerusalem in the days of David. That's a key thing. Psalm 132 is a psalm about the ascent of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem in David's day. When the Ark returned by David to Jerusalem, that Ark took the same sort of route that the pilgrims were taking as they traveled to Jerusalem as well. The ark itself had to be taken up the steep mountain roads to Jerusalem before it could be there with the people. And so, when the pilgrims are singing this psalm, Psalm 132, they might likely be thinking, we're ascending to Jerusalem just like the ark ascended to Zion. We're doing the same thing. And like the ark represents the presence and the holiness and the worship of God, so do we desire these things when we get there. And just like the Ark represents the atonement and mercy of God, so do we desire that when we arrive in Jerusalem, to be in the presence of God and his people. And since the Ark itself is fulfilled by the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, so this psalm is clearly a messianic psalm, and we can see Christ throughout it, and hopefully we will. We think, but there's debate on that. I think Solomon is likely the writer of this psalm. It's not attributed to him in the little title. But at least it makes sense that Solomon or somebody around the time of Solomon, at least a later king, but Solomon makes the most sense to me, was a writer of this psalm. And likely if it's Solomon, it was during the time of the dedication of the temple. David couldn't build the temple, he wanted to. Solomon had that joy. And then at the dedication of the temple, there's things that are in this psalm that are much like what Solomon prayed and said in the dedication of the temple. And so it seems like it's a picture of Solomon writing this psalm, and he's looking back to David and the promises given to David. And in this psalm, he's asking God to remember those promises given to David. And on behalf of David, his servant's sake, carry those promises out that you've already promised. And maybe you can even do it now. You can start now with your people now. In the second half of the psalm, is really God's response, affirming that those promises will be fulfilled, but then he's actually describing them in such a way to remind us that God's promises, when they're fulfilled, are always greater than we could ever ask for or expect. So the second half of the psalm then points to something that's greater than what even the first half of the psalm asks for. And throughout it, there's not just the discussion of the ark, But there's the anticipation of the Anointed One, and in anticipation of the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ will fulfill all things. And so, if you look in your bulletin, you will see an outline. And the basic part of it is you have verses 1-10 and you have verses 11-18. Really, you have verse 10 that kind of stands out by its own. You almost have verses 1-9, which is David's promise and his actions or his accomplishments. Then you have verse 10, which is Solomon's prayer to say, do these things. And then in verses 11-18, you have God's reaction, God's promise. He declares what his promises were, but then he explains what his accomplishments, what his actions truly are going to be. And this psalm really does reflect 2 Samuel 7 where David says, I want to build a house. And then God replies, you don't need to build me a house. I'm going to build you a house. And really it is reflected in Psalm 132. But we'll follow this pattern from David's promise to David's accomplishments. Then you have the hinge of Solomon's prayer. And we have God's promise and God's accomplishments that are reflected in the second half of this psalm. So first of all, look at David's promise in verses 1-5. What did David give an oath to do, a vow to do? Let's just read verses 1-5. Lord, remember David. So again, this is probably somebody that's not David. Speaking of what David has done. Remember David and all his afflictions. How he swore to the Lord and vowed to the mighty one of Jacob. He made this promise. 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 in my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob. We see great zeal in what David is doing here, in his promise. It is interesting, if you look at the whole psalm, you do see that the psalm, yes, it focuses on the Ark and the Anointed One, but really there's a focus on David. Just to get a flavor of that in verse 1, we start off with, remember David and all of his afflictions. Then the psalm moves on to show, to explain what his oath, what his vow was. Then you go down to verse 10. This is Solomon then reflecting on this, "...for your servant David's sake, do not turn away the face of your anointed." David is mentioned, and on his behalf, please don't turn away, but hear this and do what you have said. And then verse 11, "...the Lord has sworn in truth to David, he will not turn from it." And that opens up the second half where God is explaining then what He actually has promised and what He will do. And then in verse 17, near the end, you basically have a promise that ends the psalm. There I will make the horn of David grow, I will prepare a lamp for my anointed, speaking of the Messiah, to come from David's descendants. So we have an emphasis on David throughout. But in these first five verses, the emphasis is on David's zeal that he wants to build a house for God. He wants to have a dwelling place for God. And if you could summarize those first five verses. Basically what David is doing, I don't think it's a literal vow because he can't actually make this happen. It would be maybe foolish to vow something you actually can't make happen. But it's expressing with great emotional zeal his desire for God and for God's worship and for God's dwelling place to be among them. And if you want to summarize this, David is saying, I will not rest until I build a house, a temple for you to dwell, O God. I will not rest until I build a place for Your ark, that ark that represents Your presence and Your holiness and Your atonement." And just the zeal of it, expressing how, I don't want sleep, I don't want comfort, nothing else will do until this gets accomplished. It's great zeal. David could not build the temple, but God was pleased with his zeal to determine to, to want to. And David did go to great lengths to bring the ark design and to prepare a house for God to be built. And then Solomon actually had the privilege of overseeing it being built. When you see the zeal like this of David for his God, I will not rest until this is done, that your dwelling place would be among us and your ark would rest in our midst in a temple. It has to make us wonder about our own zeal, our own desires. Do we have such zeal for God and his presence and his glory and his worship? Do we have such gratitude for God's atonement and zeal to make it known? I fear in 2022, in the richest country ever in the history of the world, that we have so many distractions, good things and bad things, we have so many distractions. We're involved in so many other things that we really don't give our Lord that much priority. And sadly, if you remember Psalm 131, if that's the case, if we're not willing to put other things aside and find our satisfaction or our contentment in Christ and Christ alone, then we don't learn the contentment that Psalm 131 speaks of and encourages us to have. I think perhaps one of the most important things we need to learn is what Ernie of Sesame Street learned once. You've got to put down the ducky. You've got to put down the ducky if you want to play the saxophone. He had a situation where he wanted to learn how to play the saxophone, but he couldn't put down his rubber ducky, and it was told him, you've got to put down the ducky if you want to play the saxophone. Maybe a better way of saying this is as Paul does the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 13. It's time to put away childish things and be focusing on the things that eternally matter without distractions from our Lord. We might have a single-hearted and a single-minded love for Christ that will compel us to love and to serve and to worship Him supremely and not find our satisfaction and contentment from other sources. When we look at verses 1-5, and since this is a Messianic psalm, You can easily see Christ's zeal here. We praise our God that Christ had such zeal that He would not rest and return to His throne until He had accomplished His work for the Father and for the salvation of His people. It's because of His zeal for His Father and for the purchasing of His people that we have such great salvation and trust and security in Him. So that's the opening, and we see David's vow, David's swearing, although we have no record of this any other place in scripture that this is done, but the great zeal of David to find a dwelling place for his God. I think it's speaking of, I want your ark here, I want to have a temple to have it here, so you'd be dwelling in our midst in this way. So then we look at verses six through nine. We see, well, since David didn't have the opportunity, he didn't get the okay to build the temple, although God was pleased with his zeal, He didn't have the opportunity to build the temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. He did have great zeal to go and find and retrieve the Ark of the Covenant and put it in the midst of His people. And so verses 6-9 actually speak of that, actually describes that in a very short summary. Behold, we heard of it in Eprathah, the it is the Ark. We found it in the fields of the woods. And it's another word for woods would be jar. It's actually a place. Let us go into His tabernacle. Let us worship at His footstool. Footstool is another way of referring to the Ark of the Covenant. It was referred to the footstool of God. Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place. Interesting, in Numbers 10, we find out that when Moses would be moving his people from one place to another, they'd get the Ark and that would go in front of them. That's what he would say. It would be, Arise, O Lord, You and the Ark of Your strength. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness and let Your saints shout for joy. Well, since we're speaking of the Ark, it makes sense to actually find out what it is and where it was, and how did we get it back. What is the Ark? What is this Ark we're talking about? Well, most of you would probably know, but it's good to review that while the Israelites were in the wilderness, God commanded the Ark to be crafted. And it was a three by one and a half by one and a half foot box, covered, overlaid with gold. It was a box that held the stone copies of the Ten Commandments, the law of the covenant, the agreement of the covenant. That was actually a practice that would be done back in the time. You have a covenant between two parties, you'd actually have the copy of the agreement, you'd store it away. So it represented the covenant itself that if you obey this, you'll be blessed and live. If you don't obey, there will not be blessing, there will be discipline. At one time, the Ark of the Covenant did hold Aaron's rod that budded forth miraculously, and it did hold a jar of the manna to show God's power, but also His provision. But eventually, there was just the Ten Commandments that were held inside the Ark of the Covenant. And on the box was a gold lid on top called the Mercy Seat. And that was a covering for the breaking of God's law that was stored inside the box. And on the day of atonement, the blood of the sacrifice was then sprinkled on the mercy seat to atone for the people of God in their breaking of God's law and their sin. And so there's the holiness of God with the Ten Commandments. There's the mercy of God with the mercy seat. And one thing that the box was meant to represent was God's presence with His people. It's another example of God with us. And so His glory, His presence with His people would be represented as well as His holiness and His atonement. When the people, the Israelites, would travel from place to place in the wilderness, the ark would be carefully covered by the priest, because you're not supposed to look at it or touch it. It was representing the holiness of God. And the priest would go first with the ark in a proper way. An example of this is when they came to the Jordan River on the brink of the Promised Land. You might remember that the priest went forward with the ark, and when the priest's feet touched the water, the water parted, and they could cross on dry land. The question might be then, if that is the Ark, where was it now? What was the deal? Why was it missing? Well, if we had time, we'd go back and read 1 Samuel 5-7. It is rather an interesting and entertaining story, actually, to see how the Ark would go from one place to another. puzzling even in some ways. But in chapters 5 through 7 in 1 Samuel, we see that in chapter 5 that the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant. The Israelites at the time were treating the Ark like a trinket. They were basically trusting in the Ark, not in God. So, oh, we'll just take the Ark out and our enemies will flee. Well, it didn't quite work. And they just took the Ark itself. The Philistines did. But then what the Philistines did, you might remember, that they placed the Ark in their temple right next to their God, Dagon, an idol of their God. You remember what happens, that every day they went back in, the idol of their god was tipped over, bowed before the ark, and even parts of it would be broken off. And then the people then were plagued with tumors and sickness, and so finally the Philistines said, take it away! And so in chapter 6 we see they sent it to Israel to a place called Kirjath-Jerim. It's an important thing because when it says the woods in verse 6, literally that's a shortened form for Jerem. So I think it's referring to Kerjath-Jerem. But in chapter 6 of 1 Samuel, the ark was sent to Israel and it rested in a place called Kerjath-Jerem. And then in chapter 7 we find out that the ark then rested there for at least 20 years. This is right before the people said, we want a king. And Saul was appointed king. They lost the ark before they received a king. Just imagine that. This is the symbol of God's presence and holiness and his mercy. But now it was in a place called Kirjath-Jerim and seemingly forgotten. It's like the people become used to it being gone and didn't give God a second thought. And instead, they wanted a king to rule over them, but it makes that whole thing about, we want a king and we don't necessarily care about a god, it makes it all that much more sad. This is right after the time that the Ark was taken, and they didn't seem that bothered about trying to get it back. But in contrast to that, we see David's zeal for God, that he sought to retrieve the Ark when he became king. He sought to retrieve the ark when he became king. So how did he get the ark back? Well, if you look in 2 Samuel 6, and again, I wish we had time to look at that as well, because it's also a very interesting story. But in 2 Samuel 6, it's a longer version of verses 6 through 9 in Psalm 132. But in 2 Samuel 6, David makes plans to retrieve the house from Abinadab, which is in who lives in Kerjath-Jerim. But you might remember when he retrieves the Ark, he doesn't do it properly, he doesn't do it according to the instruction that God gave him. Priests were supposed to carry the Ark in a certain way on poles, but instead it was put on an ox cart, and then it hit a bump, and then it started to be jostled, and someone named Uzzah reaches out his hand to steady it, and what happens to Uzzah? Instant death, and it seems harsh, but you don't mess with the holiness of God, and you don't mess with the worship of God, you do it as He says. It made David angry, so he took it to Obed-Edom, a man named Obed-Edom, and so it rested with Obed-Edom for three months, but then it was heard that Obed-Edom and his whole household was being blessed greatly because the ark is there. So David's anger maybe subsides. And he makes plans to actually then retrieve it the right way according to the law with priests and with sacrifices, with trumpets and shouts. And David even dances, by the way. He's not naked, but he's dancing. Because the presence of God, the holiness of God, the glory and the atonement of God now is being brought back in the midst of God's people. Glory! It was a wonderful setting. And so that's what's being described in verses 6-9 in Psalm 132. We heard of it when we were in Eprathah, which is interesting, that's the birthplace of the true Messiah. We were there, we heard that, hey, it's in Kirgith-Jerim, in the woods, in the fields of Jar, verse 6. Let's go get it! So let's go into His tabernacle, let us worship at His footstool, the Ark. Arise, O Lord, mimicking what Moses would say when they'd move forward with the Ark in front of them, to your resting place, you and the Ark of your strength. Describing the fanfare there, let your priests be clothed with righteousness and your saints shout for joy. I love that picture. You have the holiness of the ark, but the great joy that God's people are to be holy, yes, but true holiness brings true happiness as well. Those things go together. So that's the first nine verses, which focuses on David's promise, but then David's actions or his accomplishments. It's centered on the ark and wanting to have God in their midst, in his dwelling place in their midst. You have verse 10, which is an interesting verse. I think that's actually... A prayer of Solomon. In fact, if you look someday at 2 Chronicles 6 verses 41 and 42, verses 8 through 10 are basically word for word from 2 Chronicles 6 verses 41 and 42. That's where Solomon is dedicating the temple and praying after the ark has been put into the temple. That was like the final thing. The ark is here. God's glory is here. And then he prays. And even verse 10 is a direct quote from verse 42 of 2 Chronicles 6. He says, for your servant David's sake, do not turn away the face of your anointed. For your servant David's sake, do not turn away the face of your anointed. I think by placing verse 10 at the center of this psalm, Psalm 132, What the psalmist is actually doing is he's saying, remember the promises you gave to David. Look at what's set up ahead here, what I've already mentioned. Remember the promises you gave to David, and on behalf of him, your servant, fulfill them. Bring them to pass. He's asking for God to fulfill those promises to him as the current king. And for His people and those who would follow on behalf of the Anointed One, in this case, David, but certainly looking forward to the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah to come. This psalm also looks to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the King, who would come from David, who is the fulfillment of the Ark and all it stands for. And we too appeal to God on behalf of the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, for God's promises, for God's blessings, and to know the presence and the communion of God Himself. And Solomon is appealing to what was promised to David on his behalf, then make your promises to come true. And so the rest of the psalm is basically on God responding to that and said, yep. Ok, God doesn't say yep. Yes indeed, I have sworn that I will make these things happen, and I will, and they're going to be greater than what you even imagine they could be. So verses 11 and 12, you have then God's promise. It reflects, mirrors David's promise, if you will, the first part of the psalm, and God's promise in verses 11 through 12. And we read, The Lord has sworn in truth to David, he will not turn from it. I know what I told David. I promised it. I've sworn it. My vow is a little bit more secure than your vow. I will not turn from it. I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. If your sons will keep my covenant and my testimonies which I shall teach them, their sons also. So sit upon your throne forever. In order to see this even better, turn to 2 Samuel 7. Because really this whole psalm is a reflection of 2 Samuel 7, one of the most important scriptures in the scripture, where the promise of the Davidic covenant is given to David that is only fulfilled through Christ. And in 2 Samuel 7, in particular verses 1-17, But we'll look at it. It makes sense of this narrowed down, concise version of less than two verses here in Psalm 132. In verses 1-3 of 2 Samuel 7, what you would read there is that David expresses to the prophet Nathan he has a desire to build a temple to house the ark of God for the dwelling place of God. I have my house, it goes back to the first part of this, he says I don't want to sleep or sleep, I have my house. I'm taking care of, I want to take care of God's house, which is always something that God's people need to consider. Don't be building your own house and leaving God's house, the church, left in ruins. But then in verses 4-17, and Nathan was okay with this, yeah, sounds like a good idea, but in verses 4-17, God actually then tells Nathan, no, tell David my servant again, that rather than him building me a house, to dwell in. If you look at verse 11, we'll pick up from there. The Lord tells you that He will make you a house. Play on words. Rather than you, David, building me a house to dwell in, I'm good. I'm going to build you a house. And the word for house there is a little play on it. It means a royal dynasty. A line of kings that will rule and reign over your people. The house of David, if you will. And then God continues in verse 12, When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. That sounds like verse 11 in Psalm 132. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever." It's speaking of Solomon in particular, that one who comes after you will build your house that you want to build for Me. That will be Solomon, not you. Verse 14, "...I will be his father, and he shall be My son." But here's where it has some distinction between the earthly kings, but then the sovereign divine king. In verse 14, "...if he commits iniquity," means those sons who come that will rule on the throne, "...if he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the blows of the sons of men." The earthly kings must obey. They must fulfill the law of God. Else troubles will occur, and the throne actually will be taken away. But verse 15, but my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Now verse 16, we're focusing now on the true heir of the throne, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will rule on the throne forever. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever, which is reflected in verse 12 of Psalm 132. That's specifically speaking of Christ, because Christ has no iniquity. He has perfect righteousness. He fulfilled the law perfectly, so he's the only one who could rule on the throne forever. And it's a greater throne than just a chunk of land in the middle of the Middle East. And so there's really two levels of promises here. It's in 2 Samuel 7, but then reflected as well in verses 11 and 12 in our text for today. The first level of promise is the promise to the earthly heirs of David, that as long as they obey, one will be on the earthly throne with blessing given, but if they do not obey, discipline will be given, and even the throne could be taken away. But then there's a greater promise to the Messiah, who is the fulfillment of the Ark, and is the fulfillment of the King to come. He will be the presence of God with us, like the ark was. He will fulfill the requirements of the law that was contained in the ark. And in His death, He becomes the true mercy seat, providing complete atonement for His people. And therefore, He may reign forever on His throne without iniquity, but with perfect righteousness." These are God's promises given through David, but fulfilled in Christ. And that should be enough encouragement for Solomon, or whoever is writing this, or for the pilgrims. But then you look at verses 13-18, you see God's accomplishments. Just like David had his promise and his actions, you have God who has His promise, but now His actions. These are accomplishments that are and will be both. What you see in verses 13-18, it lists what God has accomplished and will accomplish in Christ for His people and for His glory. And again, these are actually greater than were actually asked for or desired in the first half of the psalm. And I see three things if you look at these last six verses as three pairs of two. We have a throne and dwelling place, both now and forever, verses 13 and 14. We have blessings, both now and forever, verses 15 and 16. We have victory, both now and forever, in verses 17 and 18, promised by God. from his promises to David, but are much more great than we could have imagined. So if you look at verses 13 and 14. For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place. This is my resting place forever. Zion is not a crusty temple. Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. There's two things here. There's going to be a throne fulfilled, so therefore there can be a dwelling place that is forever as well. And the throne refers to the earthly kings who disobeyed, and they lost the throne. But in Christ, the Anointed One, the true Anointed One, who is perfectly righteous, He reigns on the throne forever. Verse 12, you might remember the earthly throne of David actually ended with Jeconiah, when he was exiled to Babylon, and he died. Upon him was placed a curse, and the curse was, from Jeremiah chapter 22, that on Jeconiah, a descendant from David, part of the royal line, that because of your sin, none of your descendants will be on the throne. That had to be a gasp for people to hear that. And what's going to be? But we do know from our study in Jesus' genealogy when we're back in Matthew 1, that Jesus' stepdad, Joseph, actually was from the royal line of David through Jeconiah. And his mom was also a descendant of David, but not through Jeconiah. And so what happens when Jesus is born of Mary, Adopted into the family headed by Joseph. Now he's adopted into the royal line, but he's not a physical descendant from it. And so he's the only one that could fulfill the royal line of David that would then be on the throne forever. And we see in Revelation 11-15 that it truly is forever. Where it says, "...the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." But because Christ's throne and His rule is forever, His dwelling place with His chosen Zion is forever as well, which is perhaps emphasized all the more in verses 13-14. Christ has chosen Zion as His permanent dwelling place, not just temporary place like the ark was in a temporary place, but He chose Zion as His permanent dwelling place forever. And Zion represents the place of God's abode with His people. In the New Covenant understanding, we understand it refers to God's holy reign, Zion does, His holy reign through Christ in the lives of His holy people, people made holy by Christ. Zion ultimately represents the Church of Christ, which 1 Timothy 3 says the Church is the house of the living God, His dwelling place. Brother and sister, what a blessing it is that God chooses and desires to dwell and rest with His people, people like us, forever in Christ Jesus. Christ came to be like us, to save us, and He desires to be with us forever. And we look forward to the forever of this in the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly Zion, where the blessings are even greater, that we will reign with Him as well. Then in verses 15 and 16, you see the great blessings, both now and forever, through our Messiah, through the Anointed One, who fulfills what the Ark pictured. In verses 15 and 16, "...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." This speaks of both earthly provisions, but then eternal provisions as well. When we think about the earthly provisions of verse 15, satisfying her poor with bread, we know that what Christ teaches is that if you seek Him and His righteousness in His kingdom, everything else will be added unto you. Christ teaches that you don't have to worry about what you're going to eat, what you're going to wear, what's going to happen. The Father will provide for all of our needs, just like He does the birds and the lilies. The earthly provisions are immense, and even when we go through persecution, as we've been speaking of recently, and difficulties, even those are under the control and the direction of our Savior for our good and for His glory. But we have eternal provisions, especially focusing on verse 16. I think it's wonderful when you look at verse 16, you see how we have increased, more abundant, blessings given in actuality than what was even thought about or asked. In the first part, in v. 9, it says, let your priest be clothed with righteousness. That's good. That's a hope. But look what happens in v. 16. I will also clothe her priest with salvation. That's even greater. Being clothed with righteousness, that's part of it. But being clothed with salvation is a whole deal. That's what we have in Christ Jesus. multiply all the more when He returns. And in verse 9, the original thing was, let your saints shout for joy. But what do we get in verse 16? And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. It's amplified, abundant, complete, and full redemption and joy in Christ Jesus the King. More than we could ask or hope for. And when we get to heavenly Zion, In the final state, the blessing is even more abundant. There will be clothed more fully in a glorified body like Christ and have no sin whatsoever and we will certainly shout aloud for joy. Indeed, blessings both now and forever dwelling place with our God in Christ both now and forever. And then verses 17 and 18 as we close this psalm, we have victory both now and forever in verses 17 and 18. There I will make the horn of David grow, I will prepare a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall flourish. Like the blessings of Psalm 130 and 131, the blessings there was not just the stuff we get, but the ultimate blessing of Psalms 130 and 131 was God himself. And so the ultimate blessing here in this psalm is Christ Himself. In Luke 1, verse 69, referring to John the Baptist, this verse, in verse 17, is actually applied to Christ. That Christ is going to fulfill this, that He is the horn of David that grows out of David. He is the lamp, and a lamp will be prepared for Him. And Peter quotes from verse 11 of his psalm in Acts chapter 2 verse 30 on the day of Pentecost say, Christ has fulfilled the promises given to David in this ark as well. And here in verse 17, it's a wonderful picture. I will make the horn of David grow. The idea of the horn. In the Old Testament, it's a powerful, strong ruler that rises up to rule and to reign. Coming out of the line of David, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. You also see the word horn used when we talk about abundant blessing and provision. So you have both the powerful ruler that comes out of David to bring and provide wonderful and abundant blessing. So God's anointed, the one to come, will win the victory. As the horn that comes from David, both now, and he's already defeated Satan, and sin and death and hell to redeem his people, and with the strength and the provision to keep His people. But then forever there's victory in this Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ, because when He returns, He will clothe His enemies with shame, it says in verse 18. Speaking about judgment reminds us of Psalm 129, to turn them back or bring them to shame. But those who are clothed in righteousness and closed in salvation, They will be glorified in Christ, but those who are outside of Christ and reject Him and are in their sin, they will be clothed with shame. And that means forever in judgment. So there's victory in the Lord Jesus Christ here. In verse 18 at the end it says, But upon Himself His crown shall flourish. It's an interesting thing. You see, His crown shall flourish. You're thinking, hey, a golden metallic crown. But actually the way it's worded, this is a green crown. His crown will flourish. I don't mean green as in trying to save the environment, I mean green as in a laurel or a wreath that would be made, that would be given in Bible times for the one who would win the battle, and he'd be crowned as a hero with a wreath on his head, or win the battle of the race. I think it's interesting that Christ's original crown as well was made from a plant, as He wore the crown of thorns for our sake and for our victory. But here it's speaking about in the end, He'll have a crown that flourishes, And one writer has said about this crown that flourishes, now he has got the crown of life, which maybe that's what that represents, a living crown made of living things. Now he's got the crown of life which shall not fade away. It shall flourish forever in mortality and bring forth all the olive fruits of peace for his people. And its branches shall spread and furnish crowns for all the victors in the spiritual warfare. A neat picture of the crown spreading to be crowns for His people in the end. A living crown that He's won in victory for His own people. And so in closing, as we see this psalm, as we see David's promise and his accomplishments, but then God's promise and His accomplishments which are far greater than they will be. Will you reflect on the whole way these psalms were used for the Jewish pilgrims? Think about being a Jewish pilgrim, maybe during the exile, or later. There's no king on the throne. There's really not much of a hope for a king on the throne. And you're moving to Jerusalem, even going up the steep mountain hills, the steep mountain roads, and you're singing this song about a king in the presence of God. You had to sing in faith, didn't you? that God's presence, His glory, His atonement, His anointed one would come on behalf of the promises given to David and God's people prior. And so do we come in faith. But what a blessing it is to be on this side of the cross and with the New Testament in our hand that we rejoice that the long-awaited Son of David, the horn from David, David's son and David's Lord and King, He's come in fulfillment of the ark as God with us. To dwell with us. Who's brought complete atonement as the Anointed One. On this side of the cross, we know that Christ has come in fulfillment as the King who reigns and rules forever in holiness and mercy is our victor. And we have faith and we know He is coming again in complete fulfillment and victory and blessing to finish what was started. And so with greater faith and experiencing of greater blessings, let us all the more look to Christ, Christ alone, the one who only satisfies us. Let's put everything else aside and be satisfied and content in Him, that we might love and serve and trust in Him and make Him known as we rejoice that He has chosen to make us His dwelling place. He's chosen to make us His house. He's chosen Zion and that forever. But for those who are outside of Christ, we do plead with you to bow before this Christ and receive His forgiveness, receive His righteousness, receive His blessings. Come before Him in repentance and faith that you might be clothed in righteousness and salvation, as Psalm 132 speaks of, lest your sin against Him and your sin of rejecting Him will be bringing unquenchable wrath and judgment According to the Word of God, outside of Christ, you'll be clothed forever in shame and judgment. Please bow before the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Dearly Father, we do thank you for this long psalm, the longest of all the songs of ascent, maybe even twice as long as even the nearest one. It makes it unique, but it also means that maybe it's a Psalm out of the 15 that we should really be paying attention to and grab our attention. Help us to see the zeal of David in desiring you, and to be willing to go to great lengths to have you in his midst, and here represented by the ark, but wanting to build a house for you. Help us to see even the zeal of Solomon, it seems like at this point, that he's appealing to the promises made to David. and desiring as well, please carry these things out. Help us to be the same way, to have the zeal and to look at your word and say, oh, may it be so, for your glory and for our good. Help us all the more to see the promises that God has given, that you have given, oh God, and the things you've accomplished already and you promised to accomplish in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've promised a Savior and a Lord on the throne to rule over us. in holiness, but in great mercy. That, Lord, we could rest on Him, our mercy seat, whose forgiveness of our sins has provided His righteousness, and clothe us in righteousness, and clothe us in salvation, that we might shout aloud for joy and long for the day that He returns. In the meantime, we can rejoice that we can dwell in His midst, as His Zion, as His house, with His people. Oh, strengthen us through all of these blessings Through you, O Christ, and through your word, and through your people, we might become more like you, and to serve and love you all the more. And we pray for those who are outside of Christ again, that they'd see the beauty of Christ, but they'd see the wrath that they deserve because of their sin, and they'd bow before Christ. Like Dagon was forced to bow before the Ark, but this time to bow before Christ willingly in repentance and faith, that they might know the righteousness and salvation of Christ, the one who's been crowned with many crowns, has the Lamb upon the throne, the one who's crowned with the crown of life, the crown of love, the crown of peace, the crown of years. May we love and worship Him now and forever. It's in Jesus' name we pray, Lord.