Psalm 132

Reading for September 10, 2012          Psalm 132

Psalm 132 remembers King David establishing Jerusalem as the spiritual home of Israel. As the psalmist recalls the promise of God to King David that, “your royal line will continue forever and ever” (v.12) we recognize that Psalm 132 is a Messianic Psalm, because it’s ultimate fulfillment is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Recently, I read two books about the state of Israel’s fight for survival through four wars: the War of Independence in 1948; the war for the Sinai Peninsula in 1956; the Six-day War in 1967; and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. I was deeply inspired by the self-sacrificing commitment of the people to re-establish Jerusalem as the center of their homeland. Verses 8-10 of Psalm 132 are taken from 2 Chronicles 6:41-42, the prayer of King Solomon upon the dedication of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, an event that occurred almost three thousand years ago in 960 B.C. The inspiration of the Jews fighting for their freedom in 1948, 1954, 1967 and 1973 was as passionate as the American patriots fighting for freedom within days of our Declaration of Independence.

As the followers of Jesus, “we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior” (Philippians 3:20). We long for the time when the holy city, the New Jerusalem, will come down from God out of heaven. We look forward to when “God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” We look forward to when there is “no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Revelation 21:2-4, 22).

When I read Psalm 132, and think of the passion of David to establish Jerusalem, the passion of Solomon to build God’s Temple, the passion of the psalmist in recalling his history, and the incredible passion of the sons and daughters of Israel sacrificing for her freedom, I am stunned by my comparative lack of passion to strive for the building of God’s Kingdom, today, in my time.

One of the patriots of Israel was asked why he was willing to sacrifice all he had in his David verses Goliath fight for freedom. He responded that the purpose of man is to overcome fear.

Maybe so. Maybe so.

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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Reading for September 11, 2012          Psalm 133