God’s Presence Our Treasure (Psalm 132)
Psalm 132 The Lord has Chosen Zion
The presence of God is our great treasure.
Exodus 25:21-22 “And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.”
Exodus 40:34 “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”
J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays “The tabernacle, then, becomes like a mobile Mount Sinai. The significance of this event cannot be overstated, for it is at the heart of the purpose of the entire exodus story, which is, in turn, at the heart of the entire Old Testament. God delivers the Israelites from Egypt so that he can come to dwell in their midst and relate to them.”
2 Samuel 6:6-7 “And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.”
2 Samuel 6:14-15 “And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.”
2 Samuel 6:21b-22a “I will celebrate before the LORD. I will make myself yet more contemptable than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.”
1) David was a man after God heart because he deeply desired God’s presence. (v. 1-7)
Acts 13:22 “And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”
2) God’s presence causes both righteousness and joy. (v. 8-10)
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Francis Chan “You have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin…As long as we are pursuing Him, we are satisfied in Him. It is when we stop actively loving Him that we find ourselves restless and gravitating toward other means of fulfillment.”
2 Samuel 11:11 “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
3) God made—and is keeping—a promise to be present with His people. (v. 11-18)
David’s Descendants Failed. (v. 11-12)
God chose Zion to receive His blessing. (v. 13-16)
Jesus fulfilled the promise where David’s descendants failed. (v. 17-18)
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Because Jesus fulfilled the promise, we are God’s temple through the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2:22 “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
Because Jesus fulfilled the promise, Heaven is the presence of God.
Revelation 21:22-23 “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
Response: Seek God’s Presence
Psalm 105:3-4 “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!”
C. S. Lewis “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labour is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake.”