03.01. Psalm 84:1
"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O 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 divine 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,
O Lord of hosts, to me!
The tabernacles of Thy grace.
How pleasant, Lord, they be.
We’ll go into His tabernacles,
And at His footstool bow:
Arise, O 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 those who are born again 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 favourite resort of the devout 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 4:23-24) This is true and blessed experience, O my soul: pray, is it thine? It is only that kind of experience which all the children of God may have, even the babes in Christ. It is written, "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus," and surely the child is the same nature as his Father and capable of the closest fellowship with Him; but we have also His word and Spirit. True, oh 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? O my Father and my God, I know I am Thine — I bow to Thy truth; but oh, give me to enter more distinctly, more consciously, into the blessed realities of divine worship. 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 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 realise 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. He loves to hear His children’s praise, adoration, thanks-giving. 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, O 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, oh remember, it is to the tabernacles of the Lord of hosts thou art invited. 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 oh, what will it be when it is fully carried out! For this we must wait until we reach our Father’s house on high and also 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." (Revelation 21:3-4)
What a description of our future dwelling-place! Who can conceive its blessedness? But it is home — the dwelling-place of God, for the heavenly saints will be His tabernacle and yet we shall dwell with Him. What a mystery of love and glory — of grace and blessedness! And, oh, wondrous thought! this is the eternal state and home is its character. 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 — "The tabernacle of God." Now, the church is the "habitation of God, through the Spirit." Then it will be His tabernacle: during the millennium it will be seen as "the holy city, the new Jerusalem."
"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." But the leading thought in our beautiful psalm is not so much our dwelling with God, as God dwelling with as. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O 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 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 already seen; but so long as they are "passing through the valley of Baca," He graciously moves with them in their travelling 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, O my soul. Paul says to his son Timothy, "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 Timothy 2:20-21) has become "a great house" in which there are vessels "to honour, and some to dishonour," 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 on this blessed fact, O my soul, that I beg thy deepest meditation. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name," saith the Lord, "there am I in the midst of them." This is His pledge. He seeks not to be relieved from it; only we do relieve Him if we are gathered in 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 was 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 the 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 (Exodus 15:1-27) 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." Farther on he is privileged to sing God’s answer to his own desire. "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the 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, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O 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 a hoof left behind — the song of victory on their lips and their faces Zionward, 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, O 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 learnt 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 assuredly will be for ever. 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.
"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." But before passing on to Psalms 84:2, may I have a word with those who have never felt their need, or seen the value, of the blood of Jesus? You go regularly, it may be, to what you call your place of worship; but whatever it may be to others, to you it can be no place of worship. Worship is the grace that has come down to save, re-ascending in grateful praise. But you are unpardoned, unsaved, unreconciled to God, and dare not come into His presence. His presence would be intolerable to you and your sin would be intolerable to Him. Without the pardoning, cleansing power of the blood of Jesus, you can never come happily together. Why then, oh why, be satisfied with a mere form of religion? Were God to meet you on your own ground, what would be the consequence? Nothing but the terrors of judgment against sin — nothing "but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." The "adversaries" are those who despise the blood of the covenant.
Oh then, dear friends — you who belong to that class — that large class, who pay an outward respect to religion, but have no inward grace in your souls — be warned, affectionately warned in time. The mere flickering light of profession is extinguished for ever when the Bridegroom comes. You are left in darkness, eternal darkness, just when the light is needed. The brightness of His coming will extinguish for ever the lamps of the foolish virgins. Let me entreat you then to come at once to Jesus. Come to Himself. His own word is, "Come unto me." It is not, be persuaded, go there, or do this or that, but simply, sweetly, graciously, heartily, "Come unto me," and the promise is sure, "I will give you rest." If you come to Jesus, you are God’s friends; if you refuse, you are God’s foes. Are you not alarmed sometimes? are you not unhappy? It must be so. Are you not going the downward road to destruction with your eyes open? Oh! what shelter, think you, would the thin veil of a little religiousness afford? It would only be the witness of your guilt, like Adam’s fig-leaf apron, and aggravate your misery. Awful thought! No Jesus — no blood — no pardon — no salvation — no heaven! Oh! the thought, the dreadful thought of going down, it may be, from a well-frequented pew or from the communion table to the depths of unutterable woe. May God in mercy save from this awful doom every precious soul that shall ever hold these lines in his hands! Him that cometh to Me, says the loving, gracious Saviour, I will in no wise cast out. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
"The seraphim, with shading wings,
Whose cry through heaven’s vast temple rings,
In glory serve near God’s high throne:
And there may BLOOD-WASHED sinners come.
From darkness brought to wondrous light.
And called to walk with Christ in white,
Oh may our lips and lives declare
His praise, whose holy name we bear."