Weekly Devotional 28th of February 2025
by Bruce Billington
We will continue our series on hearing God through the Psalms by examining Psalm 132 (author unknown).
Psalm 132:14-18 – “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. 15 I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy with bread. 16 Her priests also I will clothe with salvation, And her godly ones will sing aloud for joy. 17 There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed. 18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, But upon himself his crown shall shine.”
What incredible words! They should fill us with awe. God refers to Zion as the place where He will demonstrate His love and joy by being among His people. Just think: God wants to dwell with and rest among His people. His resting signifies both His presence and the manifestation of His power. And this isn’t temporary; He declares it will be forever. Such a statement shows that He is pleased with His people, something we often struggle to accept.
This is a two-sided coin. It signifies that we can place our trust in Him and offer our eternal love to Him. We can be assured that He delights in those who fear Him, referring to those who show Him reverence. Although this referred to the place where His people were in the Old Testament, it merely typifies the spiritual house, of which Jesus is the foundation and cornerstone, upon which all the living stones are built together for the habitation of God through the Holy Spirit. This is the joy of the church of God; for if the Lord dwells in her, she shall not be moved; if the Lord desires her, no one, including evil and the devil, can destroy her.
The horn (Verse 17) serves as a symbol of defensive strength and the reign of victorious dominion. The lamp represents dignity and joy. Now that the glory of the Lord shines throughout the earth, His rest is found where Christ and His people are. It is crucial to rightly understand what the Psalmist says about the everlasting existence of the Temple. The advent of Christ marked “the time of reformation,” and the people of the Old Testament also experienced their fulfilment in Christ. If we assert that Mount Zion remains the residence of God, we can only state that the entire world is seen as an expanded Mount Zion following Christ’s advent. The promises concerning Zion’s hill are just as applicable to the gospel church as those concerning David’s seed are to Christ; both are represented by Christ to us.
The promise of the horn of David springing forth (Verse 17) was likewise fulfilled in Christ. Luke 1:32 states,
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
So, Jesus kept God’s covenant and His testimony, did His Father’s will, and pleased Him in all things, making His spiritual seed—all those in Christ—the inheritors of the promise. He and the children God has given Him shall sit upon the throne for evermore (Revelation 3:21).
This again highlights the joy God finds in His church and the presence He maintains with His church, which serves as comfort and joy for all its members. Through the numerous promises referred to here, we can now claim that the Kingdom of God, established by Jesus at His first coming, is richly blessed. All who are part of it will share in God’s goodness. The blessings described in Matthew chapter 5 belong to them.
Verse 16 states that the godly will sing aloud or shout for joy. We do this because God gives abundantly beyond our requests and consistently seeks our well-being and steadfastness. Such joy should be a regular part of the lives of those in Christ because, while the crowns of earthly princes do not last for all generations (Proverbs 27:24), Christ’s crown will endure for all eternity, as will the crowns set aside for His faithful subjects – they will never fade away.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington