Homeward Bound

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0:00So we're in a sermon series in Psalm 120 through 134 called Pilgrim Playlist. These are 15 psalms that were sung as people traveled to Jerusalem to worship three times a year. This is sermon six of seven, so we're almost to the end of this little series. The travelers, you can imagine, they're on the last leg of their journey. They're almost there.

0:27The expectations among them were probably high. As they were getting closer to Jerusalem, maybe they crested one of the last hills around Jerusalem and they could see the city as they approached it. Speaking of expectations, sometimes road trips can be a letdown, right? The Airbnb wasn't up to snuff, or the pool was closed, or the beach was full of jellyfish, or you get sick while you're on vacation. True stories, by the way, behind every one of those little examples.

1:06I'm sure you have your own stories of when a trip, a vacation that you were looking forward to, you had expectations for, it just did not meet those expectations, and you felt let down. There's worse things, though, than the pool not being open, or the jellyfish being on the beach. Sometimes trips are let down because you get to the people that you were going to visit, and they don't seem to want you to be there. Or you were hoping to reconnect with someone on your trip, and it just didn't happen.

1:46You didn't have the right moment, or you saw the right moment, and you just couldn't bring it up. If you accumulate too many disappointments, you're going to start to get sour, maybe, on the whole idea of travel. You just think, ah, I'm just going to stay home. At least there I know what to expect. Why go away and be disappointed when I can just stay home and just get whatever it is that I'm going to get, that I know I'm going to get. Sometimes you can feel like that about your spiritual journey with God.

2:20I know I can. Too many disappointments, and you just say, I'll just stay home. I'm just going to check out a little bit, lower my expectations of God and what He's going to do, so that I'm not disappointed. Now, I say all that as just a reality check for us, because I want us to be running to Psalm 132 today, because Psalm 132 is here today to help us in our disappointment, to meet us in our disappointment. We're going to join in this song, and we're going to be reminded of this fact, church.

2:58God is more zealous and more intentional to bless us than we are to praise Him. Isn't that good? He is more zealous for you than you are for Him. So we can raise our expectations safely, because God will meet us there. Because He is so thoughtful, so purposeful, intentional about loving you and rescuing you and bringing you to Him and giving you a future and a hope.

3:33He was at work for us before we even thought to ask. He took action to give us a hope, a future, a home. And this raises our expectations for where this road trip is taking us. So turn with me to Psalm 132. Let's be encouraged by our loving Father. Forget about all of the letdowns you've had, for the different road trips you've had, for the different experiences you've had in life. Let's remember together the power of God, the intention of God, and the promises of God.

4:15This is God's true word for us today. It comes to us from Psalm 132, and it is here for your help, for your good today. Remember, O Lord, in David's favor, all of the hardships he endured, how he swore to the Lord and bowed to the mighty one of Jacob, I will not enter my house or get into my bed. I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob. Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah.

4:58We found it in the fields of Jar. Let us go to his dwelling place. Let us worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness. Let your saints shout for joy. For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one. The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back. One of the sons of your body, I will set on your throne.

5:33If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne. For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provisions. I will satisfy her poor with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation and her saints will shout for joy. There I will make a horn sprout for David.

6:08I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame. But on him, his crown will shine. Pray with me. Lord God, help us to behold you in your glory. Your promises for us today in Christ Jesus. Lord, help us to see in this psalm the excitement of your people to draw near to you, but even more, your intention to draw near to them, to draw near to us. And so, Lord, encourage us today. Encourage us in our real lives. Remind us, Lord, of what we are journeying towards, who we are journeying towards, and how you came to us.

6:58Jesus, we pray this in your name. Homeward bound. Be zealous and delight in the Lord who came to dwell with us first. This is a psalm of anticipation. In 1971, Carly Simon was waiting for her first date with Cat Stevens.

7:26I don't know, maybe half the room knows who those people are. The rest of you look it up. So in 71, Carly Simon, famous singer, was waiting for her first date with Cat Stevens, famous singer. While she waited, she wrote a song. Because that's what you do if you're Carly Simon, I guess.

7:48We can never know about the days to come, the song goes. We can never know about the days to come, but we think about them anyway. Anticipation. Anticipation. Is making me late. Is keeping me waiting. She wrote a hit song while waiting for a date. You all might scroll through your phones, young people, if you're waiting for a date, but Carly Simon wrote a hit song. She doesn't know what's going to happen and so she settles for the excitement of just waiting for the moment to happen.

8:20The song ends with her saying, stay right here for these are the good old days. You see, anticipation is a longing for joy. Anticipation is a longing for joy. But in that song and in so many like it, there's anticipation without assurance. What's going to happen? We don't know. Wouldn't it be nice, we sing, without knowing if it's going to happen. Well, the song of Psalm 132 is different than that. And here's how it's different. It's anticipation with assurance.

8:56Anticipation with a promise. So let's start with the anticipation. Our anticipation. When you're really excited about something, it can come out in various ways. You might be antsy, can't sit still. You might be kind of spacey, just kind of daydreaming about what's going to happen. Can't hear the conversations around you. You might start babbling to anyone who will listen. Do you think it'll be here soon? I wonder what it'll be like. Aren't you excited too?

9:28Oh, I sure hope it's today. Like a kid in the backseat who just can't wait to get to the campsite or to Universal Studios or to their cousin's house. Excitement just kind of comes out of you. The excitement of the people here in Psalm 132 comes out in a really different way. The psalmist goes to God on behalf of the people with a couple of really bold requests. Remember and Arise and Go. Now, it might seem disrespectful to go to God and make this kind of request of Him.

10:07But God understands this is the excitement of His people talking. They're relating to Him as a loving Father with these two commands. These are commands of anticipation. The first one, He says this, Remember, O Lord, in David's favor, the big point of verses 1-5 is that David went through a lot of hardships, but he was zealous for the Lord to have a resting place. The promised land had been conquered. Enemies had been pushed back. But David wasn't at ease yet.

10:42He wasn't comfortable yet. He knew that God had told His people this in Exodus 25. God said, Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst.

10:56Ever since the people were at Mount Sinai after leaving Egypt, the tabernacle was like a temporary sanctuary. They would set it up and take it down as they traveled all the time. Sound familiar? Set up, take down? It was a temporary sanctuary. Now they were in the promised land. The people had houses. David had a great house. But God didn't have a house. And so David knew the job wasn't finished yet.

11:29God had no dwelling place. Now at this point, you may be thinking, wait a minute, I thought God dwelled in heaven. He is present everywhere. Somewhere? What's all this talk about making God a dwelling place? We need to approach this whole dwelling place thing symbolically. That's how God meant it. The tabernacle, the temple, the most holy place, the Ark of the Covenant. God said, I will meet with you there. Those are special places, God said, where I'm going to meet with you.

12:03Man didn't invent these things. God told them to build these things because He was going to meet with them in those places. These were all types and symbols to represent that God was with them in a personal way. To give them assurance. Yes, I am with you. So that helps us understand David's zeal here. He wants to find a place for the Lord and that's him saying, God, be with us. Stay with us. We will not be secure unless you dwell with us. We won't be a secure nation without you being here with us.

12:42David's saying, I'm the one who wants to be with you. He wanted it so much that he swore and he vowed no rest for himself until it was done. There's nothing I can do. I only want to be with you, David said. No rest. No bed. No sleep. But of course, you see that he's being, he's exaggerating, right? But he's expressing his heart. I don't want any of these things, God, until you have a home. Until you have a dwelling place.

13:16Now as it turned out, God didn't want David to build this temple. He was going to have his son Solomon build it. But even though God didn't allow it, God was pleased with David's zeal. He said, you did well that this was in your heart. That you wanted this. It was an expression of faith. And the people identify with that. Look in verse 7. They say in verse 7, let us go to his dwelling place. Let us worship at his footstool. We're zealous too, God.

13:48Remember David and remember us. We really, really want you to be here with us, God. Come and be here with us. Dwell with us. The faithful impulse is to go to him and worship him. And do you see how it's said to each other here? Let us go. Let us worship.

14:10May that always be heard among us. Because you know how it is. Sometimes you're the one saying it. And sometimes you're the one who needs to hear it. Right? Let us go. Let us worship. These are good things for God's people to say to each other. They reflect the zeal for the Lord that's essential for our faith. That we need to continue to stir up in each other.

14:39So remember is one thing that they say to God. God, we're so excited about getting near to Jerusalem. About worshiping you. Remember. Remember David's zeal. Remember our zeal. But that doesn't sound too disrespectful. But the next one kind of does. Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place. Did they think God's tired? He had a really hard week at work. He needs to take a load off. Are they speaking to him like he's an old man?

15:13He's not tired. He doesn't need to take a load off. They're not speaking to him like an old man. They are bowing before him as their king. When a king rests on his throne, it doesn't mean that he's lazy. It means that he is in control. He has all the power, all the authority. The first command was about zeal for God's dwelling place. This command is about delight once he's there. Delight in his rule. Delight in his dominion. They say, take the throne, God.

15:46Be our king. That's where you belong. We want to sit under you. Tears for fear saying everybody wants to rule the world. They're right. That's what we want. We want to have complete control, total autonomy. But be honest with yourself. Making all the decisions, managing everything, it gets pretty exhausting.

16:16Plus, when things don't turn out well, there's no one to blame but yourself. All for freedom and for pleasure. Nothing ever lasts forever. When you give up your autonomy, when you yield your kingship to God, what happens next might surprise you. You are delighted by his rule. Now this is your experience if you're a believer, if you're honest with yourself. Think about it. When you really do yield control to him, on the other side of that comes delight.

16:53Comes rest. Because you're not holding on to everything anymore. Which is exhausting. And again, things go wrong and you end up looking at yourself. When he is in charge, you see that following his way gives you more peace than your own ways did. His wisdom is better than what you could have come up with on your best day. He is kinder to you than you were to yourself. And he's stronger than you ever could be. That's why it's delightful to come under his rule.

17:31To let him sit on his throne and say, Arise, O Lord, and go. Go to your resting place, your throne. Rule over me. Rule over us. And when he's doing that, it leads God's people to look to their king to cover them. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness.

17:53If you look in the Old Testament, you'll see that God gave all of these strange instructions. They look strange to us. Including what the priests are supposed to wear. There's pages and pages of describing what these priests are supposed to wear. Or how they're supposed to wash before they put those things on. All of those things were symbols of holiness. Without which, no one could be in the Lord's presence. The people were looking to God for the covering for their sin.

18:26Let your priests be clothed with righteousness. They knew they needed it and they were bold to ask for it. You can only do that if God's sitting on his throne. If you're in control of your own life, you're not going to God and saying, clothe me with righteousness. You're saying, you're still working for it yourself. They knew that when he did, when they clothed his priests with righteousness, the saints would shout for joy. They delighted that a holy God could make a way to come near.

18:59So that's their anticipation. Remember, O God, remember our zeal. And arise and go to your throne because we delight in your rule. But again, this is anticipation with assurance. So God gets the final word in this passage. The first part of the passage is about the people's requests of God. Did you see that? Remember, arise, O God. The end is all about what God says in response. So let's look at that. God's assurance. Those requests are big and bold.

19:33Remember and arise and go. But it's God's answer that really blows us away. The people say, remember, O Lord. Arise, Lord, and go. And God's response basically is, I have and I will. The people want God to come near to take His place and God says, I am already way ahead of you. This is the moment on vacation when the kids see the water park and say, can we go there? And Dad says, I've already bought the tickets. It's actually even more than that.

20:05He says, you know what, I built that water park for you. I built it for you because I knew you wanted to go. And I got the tickets and we're on our way. Before you even asked, I was building that for you.

20:24Look at this in verse 11. The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back. God says to the people, look, yes, I remember people. I remember. You don't have to remind me. I remember that David swore and vowed to me about a dwelling place. But you remember this. Long before that, I swore to him.

20:49Before he swore to me, I swore to him. He made an oath to give him a lineage, a line of kings. And one in particular, God says, I will set on your throne. And this line of kings from David will be forever if your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies. That's a big promise, but that's also a big if, isn't it? It's a big if. The people knew what had happened to David's line. David's offspring had taken the throne and had proceeded to disobey and disobey and disobey.

21:27Even Solomon did. But still, the people held on to this promise in faith. Trusting the Lord. So here's the second part of God's response of assurance. The Lord has chosen Zion. He appreciates the people's invitation for him to come, but he's already made his choice. He's already decided. Long before we ask God to move towards us, he has already done it and moved towards us himself. We ask for it and God says, I'm already there. David felt insecure because the ark wasn't in a temple.

22:07But God didn't need him to do that. God made the first move. He's the God who seeks and who finds. The God who goes out into the far country. The God who picks the perfect spot for his people and for him to live together. And what God wants he shall have. If any of us puts an offer on a house, you may or may not get it. It may not happen. But for God it's a sure thing. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell for I have desired it. I'm moving in there.

22:45Boy, that's power right there. That's my spot for me and my people. It's mine. Isn't it wonderful to hear that God wants to dwell with us? He's not tolerating us.

23:03We don't have to twist his arm. He wants to dwell with us so much that he made the first move. He's made a decision to be with his people. Not because they're really gifted. Not because this spot in Judea is just really nice. They are special. You are special. That place is special because of his sovereign choice to move towards you in love.

23:34I want to conclude by showing you how this psalm is truly fulfilled. Of all the psalms in this series, this one screams Jesus more than any other. All this anticipation is not resolved when the people get to Jerusalem. That's great. That's what they were doing, but that's not the ultimate fulfillment. The ultimate fulfillment is this. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

24:08Dwelt among us. God moved into the neighborhood. He came to us. Jesus of Nazareth, a human baby boy from David's lineage, born in Bethlehem, was God coming near. God coming close. God intruding to dwell with His people. But Jesus was not going to be an earthly king who overthrew the Romans. He's got a different path to become king.

24:38He was the son of David who kept God's covenant. The passage says, your sons will sit on the throne forever if they obey and keep My commandments and keep My covenant. Jesus kept the entire law in every situation, under every temptation, His whole life. He obeyed the Father, not completely, just as we ought to have done, but we failed to. He fulfilled the covenant of works in our place. He's the mediator of the covenant of grace. As our great high priest, He offered Himself a perfect sacrifice for sinners.

25:19He came to cover us. Look at how the need of verse 9 is fulfilled in verse 16. Her priests, I will clothe with salvation. The Father does this through the perfect Son. His obedience, by His obedience, the many will be made righteous. All who believe are clothed in garments of salvation. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And then you might say, well, look, that's for the priests.

25:55it is for the priests. And in Christ, you are one. As Peter says, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. you are a priest in the Lord Jesus. And He clothes you with His righteousness. His salvation. We are priests clothed with salvation and we are saints shouting for joy. You're a priest and you're a saint, child of God. Do you believe that? Do you embrace that identity? I hope so.

26:35And the good news just keeps getting better. When God makes His home with us, blessings abound. I will abundantly bless her provisions. God is like the roommate that we all want. You know, the one who comes and He brings all of the furniture with Him. He furnishes the whole place. You don't have to buy anything. He's got the microwave. He's got everything.

27:03We don't have to worry about buying anything or furnishing anything. He's got a couch and a bed, a dining room table. And speaking of that, He's also the roommate who stocks the fridge so we don't have to go to the grocery store. I will satisfy her poor with bread. There's enough for everyone. This is the promise of God that's fulfilled in Zion and the new heavens and the new earth and not merely the absence of hardship but the presence of blessing.

27:35Instead of sickness, we get health. Instead of futility, we have fruitfulness. Instead of conflict, we experience peace. Instead of death, we receive life.

27:49Like the Christmas song goes, He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found. Far as the curse is found. There's great, great theology in a lot of Christmas songs. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found. He goes to every single place the curse is reached and He says, I am undoing this and inverting it and making it blessings.

28:18This is the Hebrew concept of shalom. This is your promise, child of God. This is the end point of your journey that you are going towards. Don't settle for low expectations of what God will do. Raise those expectations because He's given you the assurance. You can anticipate with great hope and great joy. All of this comes only through the faithful Son of David, the divine Son of God, the King who will sit forever on His throne. On Him, His crown will shine.

28:55Our anticipation eventually, finally, one day will give way to joy. There will be nothing left to anticipate. There will be nothing but joy to experience. New words in light outside from the nameатели. In the name charity is the the world that is the land.