Ver. 1. “How amiable are thy tabernacles, Ο Lord of hosts.” It is well with the soul when it longs after the habitation of God — when it loves the meetings of His saints because He is there. It is the new nature breathing after the living God, and desiring blessing from Him.
There may be a certain pleasure felt by some in attending a place of worship, so-called, who have no divine life in their souls, but such go not to meet God. Strong emotions, of a reverential kind, may be awakened through tender associations, as the congregation sings,
How lovely is thy dwelling place,
Ο Lord of hosts, to me!
The tabernacles of thy grace
How pleasant, Lord, they be.
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We’ll go into His tabernacles,
And at His footstool bow.
Arise, Ο Lord, into thy rest,
Th’ ark of thy strength, and thou.
Nevertheless, were they to be told when on the way to their accustomed meeting place, that God was to be there, they would gladly turn back. It is only the new nature that can say, “My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” Having the divine nature, we are capable of enjoying God and delighting in Him. True personal piety loves the tabernacles of the Lord. The place of His presence is the favorite resort of the devoted soul. Three things are necessary to acceptable worship. 1. The divine nature as the capacity. 2. The Holy Spirit as the power. 3. The word of God as the rule. John 4:23, 2423But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23‑24).
This is true and blessed experience, Ο my soul. Is it thine? But may not even the babe in Christ enjoy it? It is written, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” and surely the child is of the same nature as his Father, and capable of the closest fellowship with Him; and we have also His word and Spirit. True, Ο most true! But art thou child-like enough to have no rule but thy Father’s word, and no power but His Spirit? Is there nothing in thy religious ways which is the fruit of tradition or education f Oh! my Father and my God, I know I am thine — I bow to the truth; but Ο give me to enter more distinctly—more consciously into these blessed realities.
But may I ask of thee, and of all to whom the question belongs — what is thy motive? what is thine object? what are thy desires in attending the meetings of God’s people? Art thou quite clear about the three things? Do not the frequency, regularity, and general uniformity of the services tend to weaken their proper effect on thy soul, and to lead thee to forget their true meaning and object? The thought of going to the habitation of God, and of being with Him there, could not fail to produce an immense effect upon us if we fully realized it. What thorough self-judgment there would be, before leaving the secret chamber for the public sanctuary; and what close watchfulness over every thought, word, and act, while there: not that there should be the least feeling of bondage, for the Father’s presence is the children’s home, and the place of happy liberty. “The Father seeketh such to worship him.” He not only accepts, but seeks our worship, lie loves to hear His children’s praise, adoration, thanksgiving. But for this very reason, He would have their worship to be with the heart and with the understanding also.
Oh! what a thought! What grace! God dwelling with men: not as a visitor merely, as He was with our first parents in the garden of Eden, but as a dweller. Meditate on this great truth, Ο my soul. Be not thoughtless or forgetful, suffer not custom to induce formality; alas, that the constant enjoyment of such privileges should be the means of destroying their native power over our souls! Remember, Ο remember, it is the tabernacles of the Lord of hosts, thou art invited to. The word, “tabernacle,” means the dwelling of God with man. This thought of wondrous love and grace to us has been in God’s mind from the beginning. He showed Moses a pattern of the tabernacle on the mount. The plan is His own; but Ο what will it be when it is fully carried out! For this we must wait till we are in the new heavens and the new earth. Then God will have everything His own way in His own house. “And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself shall be with. them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:3, 43And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:3‑4).
What a description of our future dwelling place! Who can conceive its blessedness! But it is home — the Father’s house. And no thought of blessedness to the human heart can rise above that which these words inspire, “My Father’s house.” And, oh! wondrous thought! this is the eternal state, and home is its character. “Forever with the Lord.” The millennium is past — the ages have run their course — eternity in its unmingled happiness is begun. And what is the symbol of its perfect blessedness? Just that which has always been the symbol of God’s grace and man’s privilege, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.” How sweetly one has sung of this — our future, happy home.
“High in the Father’s house above,
My mansion is prepared:
There is the home, the rest, I love,
And there my bright reward.
With Him I love, in spotless white,
In glory I shall shine;
His blissful presence my delight,
His love and glory mine.
All taint of sin shall be removed,
All evil done away:
And I shall dwell with God’s beloved,
Through God’s eternal day.”
It is also worthy of special note, that in this beautiful description of our future dwelling place, there is no mention of different classes. “The tabernacle of God is with men” —simply “men.” “The former things are passed away.” The distinctions of time are at an end It is no longer Jews and Gentiles; or nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples, but simply “men.”
There will, no doubt, be individual and spiritual distinctions; we can never lose our individuality, and that which is of the Spirit in us can never perish. But all will be in the resurrection-body, and bearing the image of the heavenly. In God’s new world there will neither be Jew nor Greek, but new “men” in Christ Jesus. This will be God’s new order of things, and in the midst of which, He takes up His eternal abode. This is enough to know! happy family! happy home! happy scenes of never-ending blessedness! Ob! that all we tenderly love may be there! Oh! to have an unbroken family circle there—no missing link! God in richest mercy grant it, through our blessed Lord Jesus Christ!
“God and the Lamb shall there
The light and temple be,
And radiant hosts forever share
The unveiled mystery.”
But the leading thought in our beautiful Psalm, is not so much our dwelling with God, as God dwelling with us. “How amiable are thy tabernacles, Ο Lord of hosts.” At the present moment, of course, it is in the Church He dwells, through the Holy Spirit. “In whom ye also are budded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:16-2216And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:16‑22).) Ere long, the children will have reached their Father’s house on high, as we have just been seeing, but so long as they are “passing through the valley of Baca,” He graciously moves with them in their traveling tent, so that in one sense they are absent from His dwelling place — the house of many mansions, and are earnestly longing to be there, as we often sweetly sing,
“Here in the body pent, absent from Him I roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent a day’s march nearer home.
Then shall all clouds depart, the wilderness shall cease;
And sweetly shall each gladdened heart enjoy eternal peace.”
But it is to the great truth of God’s presence with us now, in the assemblies of His saints, that I desire to draw thy closest attention, Ο my soul. And as Paul says to his son Timothy, “that thou mayest know how to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Tim. 3:1515But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15).) Surely the consideration that He is there, would lead to a spirit of worship and holy becoming watchfulness over our whole deportment. For although the house, through man’s failure (2 Tim. 2:20, 2120But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. 21If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Timothy 2:20‑21)), has become “a great house,” in which there are vessels “to honor, and some to dishonor,” the principle of God’s habitation, and that which is due to His presence, must remain unchangeably the same. And if we cannot say in faith, the Lord is there, what is the use of our going. It would only be a human association, however orderly, not the “habitation of God through the Spirit.” It is to this blessed fact, O my soul, that I beg thy deepest meditation. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” This is our Lord’s sacred pledge, lie seeks not to be relieved from it; only we do relieve Him, if we are gathered to any name but His. This is the condition, “gathered together in my name:” that is the pledge, “there am I in the midst of them.” True, I grant, the Lord is above all our ignorance and failure, and He can be, and surely is, present in meetings where faith could not say, for certain, the Lord is in the midst of them. Faith is ruled by the word of God, not by the experience even of His blessing. Faith in His presence works wonders in the soul, and in the assembly. It checks the pretensions of mere nature, it readily dispenses with all human inventions, it quiets all fears, and gives perfect rest of heart in His all sufficiency.
But how is it, may I ask — on what ground can God thus dwell with sinful man? This seems even more wonderful than men dwelling with God in their bodies of glory. Both are wonderful, but both are the fruit of the great work of redemption. We owe both to the blood of Jesus. Redemption is the foundation of relationship. We never read of God dwelling with Adam in the garden of Eden, though in a state of innocence. He made a happy dwelling place for him, and set him in it, and it would appear that He visited him there, but He never dwelt with him. Creation could not furnish a suitable foundation for God’s dwelling place on earth.
The song of Moses (Exod. 15) is the first intimation we have of God’s habitation on the earth. But now, observe, redemption, typically, is accomplished — the great deliverance is wrought. The desire of Moses is answered by the revelation of God’s own eternal purpose. But He waits until His people are safely through the sea. “The Lord is my strength and song,” sang Moses, “and he is become my salvation; he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” Further on he is privileged to sing God’s answer to his own desire. “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth thy people which thou hast redeemed, thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, Ο Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, Ο Lord, which thy hands have established.” Note here, my soul, that God adds the word “holy” when speaking of His habitation — not merely “habitation” according to the desire of Moses, but “holy habitation;” and, further, it is called “the sanctuary.” These expressions stamp the character of God’s dwelling-place according to His mind.
Now that the work of redemption is accomplished — His people delivered out of the land of Egypt — not an hoof left behind — the song of victory on their lips, and their faces Zion ward; He ascends His cloudy chariot as the Great “I AM,” to guide them through the desert, and be their all-sufficient help in every time of need.
Learn then, Ο my soul, this one, grand, all-pervading truth — the value of the blood of Jesus. Or, rather, seek to know God’s estimate of its value. When thou hast in some good measure learned this lesson, a thousand doubts and difficulties, as to God’s ways in grace with man, will disappear. But who on earth can speak of its power? We know it delivers from Egypt’s bondage, sin, and misery, and vindicates God in showing mercy. It is the basis of all blessing from first to last; it is our title to the highest privileges, and to the richest blessings of heaven. It has rent the veil and laid open the way to the Father’s throne, and fitted the children to be there; it has opened to the worshipper the Holy of holies; and it has unlocked to the sleeping dust of God’s redeemed, the portals of the tomb. It meets the highest claims of God, and the deepest necessities of man.
Is it asked then, how can God dwell on earth with failing man? The answer is in the blood. Or, is it asked, how can such ever dwell with God in heaven? Again, we can only reply, the answer is in the blood. In virtue of that precious blood, faith can say — the immediateness of God’s presence, in Christ, is now my happy home, and shall assuredly be forever. And so far from feeling anything like a spirit of bondage there, the blessed feeling is —at home, in happy liberty; but everywhere else is distance, bondage, misery.
“Until I saw the blood, ‘twas hell my soul was fearing;
And dark and dreary in my eyes the future was appearing,
While conscience told its tale of sin,
And seemed a weight of woe within.
But when I saw the blood, and looked to Him who shed it,
My title clear to peace was seen, and I with transport read it,
I found myself to God brought nigh,
And “Victory” became my cry.
My joy was in the blood, the news of which had told me,
That spotless as the Lamb of God, my Father could behold me,
And all my boast was in His name
Through whom this great salvation came.
And when, with golden harps, the throne of God surrounding,
The white-robed saints around the throne their songs of joy are sounding,
With them I’ll praise that precious blood
Which has redeemed our souls to God.”