Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Sermons
I. THE CHURCH THE LORD'S RESTING-PLACE. (See Numbers 10:33-36.) When the ark set forward, it was "to search out a resting-place for them." And where they were, God would be (ver. 13). It is not the magnificence of the shrine, the numbers or the rank or wealth of the attendants, but it is the spiritual character of the people, that God looks at. His Church consists of those who believe, love, and obey him. They are the objects of his love and care and choice. They shall have his presence, and his delight shall be with them. II. THE CHURCH CANNOT PROSPER WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN CHRIST. This is the meaning of the words, "Thou and the ark of thy strength." For though we had the presence of God, we could not know it apart from Christ. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me;" "This is life eternal, to know thee, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Our knowledge of God is dependent on our knowledge of Christ. The ark was the ark of God's strength. Before it the waters of Jordan parted asunder; the walls of Jericho fell down; the idol-god of the Philistines, Dagon, was shattered. It was the symbol and pledge of strength from God for all Israel's need. Hence the consternation of Eli when he heard that the ark of God was taken. But so is our Lord Jesus Christ the strength of God. For through him God wins us, keeps us, inspires us, strengthens us. God can do anything with us and through us when Christ is our Life. Revealed to our hearts in Christ, we are utterly his. III. THE CHURCH IS BLESSED INDEED WHEN THIS PRAYER IS ANSWERED. 1. Her priests are clothed with righteousness - endued with the spirit of holiness. The being clothed tells of manifested character, the habit and garment of the soul. And what a joy and a power to the Church is a holy ministry! Nothing can compare with it, nothing can compensate for its absence. 2. Her saints are filled with joy. Gladness and sanctity go together, as they ever should. Let us ever pray, "Endue thy ministers with righteousness, and make thy chosen people joyful." IV. THE CHURCH, WOULD SHE BE THUS BLESSED, MUST SEEK FOR THE BLESSING IN PRAYER. "Arise, O Lord," etc. Then the Lord will dwell in her; she will be his rest (vers. 14-18). - S.C.
Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength. I. THE TEMPLE IS HERE CALLED THE PLACE OF REST, OR THE ABIDING PLACE OF GOD.II. THE TEMPLE, GORGEOUS AS IT WAS, WAS INCOMPLETE AND VALUELESS WITHOUT THE ARK. In all ages the ark in the Temple is its life. Still the quick heart within the man, and you will have the stately skeleton soon. Withdraw the magic vapour, and the wheels whirr no longer, and the most exquisite contrivances are mute and motionless machinery. Take the breath from the great organ's heart, and in vain you bid it discourse its harmonies. III. LOOK AT THE OTHER BLESSINGS WHICH ARE ASKED FOR, EITHER OBVIOUSLY OR BY DIRECT IMPLICATION IN THE PSALM. 1. The ark of God's strength in the Temple implies that God's power is in the Temple, and He waits to exert it in the Word, in the minister's appeals, in the people's prayers. 2. The prayer proceeds to ask that the priests may be "clothed with righteousness," which is, in fact, a petition for universal purity. It is a prayer not only for us who minister, but for you who hearken, that we may, all of us, be robed always, robed already, in the new linen, clean and white, in which the saints were seen in heaven. 3. The third blessing that is asked for is holy joy in God, which has its foundation in oneness with God, both in favour and feeling, and which has its outlet in the appropriate expressions of praise. (W. M. Punshon, LL. D.) 1. He, to whom this great name belongs, is the independent, self-existent God, whose being is in and of Himself; and who gives being to all His words and works. 2. He is the eternal, and, consequently, the unchangeable God. 3. He is the fountain of all blessedness, as well as of all being. Indeed, if He is the one, he must needs be the other. If He is independent, He cannot but be all-sufficient. 4. He is Israel's own God. In our applications to Him, therefore, on this and on every other occasion, we ought still to view Him as Jehovah, our God: our God by His own gracious grant and promise; our God by virtue of that everlasting covenant, which is sealed to every worthy communicant at the sacramental table. This will encourage us both to be fervent in our supplications for His presence, and confident in our expectations of it. II. THE PLACE INTO WHICH GOD IS HERE INVITED, OR WHERE HIS PRESENCE IS DESIRED; CALLED, IN THE TEXT, HIS REST. The Church of Christ may be called God's rest on a twofold account. 1. On account of His Divine pleasure and satisfaction in her, much beyond the pleasure that a weary or burdened person has in a place or state of rest. 2. On account of His constant and perpetual residence in her. III. THE INVITATION WHICH THEY HUMBLY, YET CONFIDENTLY, ADDRESS TO HIM. "Arise." The manner of expression here used, especially when applied to the Church, intimates the following things. 1. That, in taking possession of His rest, it is necessary that God should make signal displays of His power. 2. That there may be times when God seems, in human reckoning, inactive and negligent about the affairs of His Church. 3. That though Zion is God's rest, there is, and always will be, much work for Him to accomplish in her. IV. THE MANNER IN WHICH HE WAS DESIRED AND EXPECTED TO ACCEPT THE INVITATION. They did not ask Him to be present, unless in a manner adapted to the dispensation under which they lived, and under those symbols by which His presence among them was always exhibited and secured. They only wished Him to be present, along with the ark of His strength. This imports — 1. That the people of God had an earnest desire after the symbol itself, and expected not to enjoy the presence of God, in the same comfortable manner, without it. 2. That they could not be satisfied with the symbol, without the thing signified and represented by it. 3. But the principal thing to be attended to about this ark of God's strength was its being the most lively type of Christ. This intimates — (1) (2) V. IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUBJECT. It affords us — 1. Matter of wonder, gratitude, and praise; in that we enjoy the symbols of God's presence, and have access to worship Him according to His own appointment. 2. Matter of reproof to all who satisfy themselves with outward privileges, and matter of warning to all who enjoy them, against such a fatal mistake. 3. Matter of encouragement to all in this company who have business with God to-day. 4. Matter of consolation to all those who mourn for the low state of the Church in our day, and for the very low state of the work of God in her. 5. Matter of trial to all present; particularly to those who intend to eat the sacramental bread and drink the sacramental cup. (John Young, D. D.) People David, Ephratah, Ephrath, Jacob, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Arise, Ark, O, Rest, Resting, Resting-place, StrengthOutline 1. David in his prayer commends unto God the reverent care he had for the ark8. His prayer at the removing of the ark 11. With a repetition of God's promises Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 132:8 1105 God, power of Library An Examination of Post-Millennialism. Post-millennialists teach that the only Kingdom over which Christ will ever reign is a spiritual and celestial one. They say that those Jews who expected their Messiah to set up a visible and material Kingdom on the earth were mistaken, that they erred in the interpretation of their prophetic Scriptures and cherished a carnal and unworthy hope. Let us examine this assertion in the light of God's Word. In Psalm 132:11 we read "The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it: Of the … Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return Vive Jesus. Preface. Promises and Threatenings The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible Bespeak the Omniscience of Its Author Emmaus. Kiriath-Jearim. Manner of Covenanting. The Promise in 2 Samuel, Chap. vii. Nature of Covenanting. Covenanting Confers Obligation. Introduction. Chapter i. --The Life and Writings of St. Hilary of Poitiers. Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus. Departure from Ireland. Death and Burial at Clairvaux. Psalms Links Psalm 132:8 NIVPsalm 132:8 NLT Psalm 132:8 ESV Psalm 132:8 NASB Psalm 132:8 KJV Psalm 132:8 Bible Apps Psalm 132:8 Parallel Psalm 132:8 Biblia Paralela Psalm 132:8 Chinese Bible Psalm 132:8 French Bible Psalm 132:8 German Bible Psalm 132:8 Commentaries Bible Hub |