Wednesday, October 30, 2019
On the holy mountain stands the city founded by the Lord. He loves the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel. O city of God, what glorious things are said of you! Interlude
I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me—also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia. They have all become citizens of Jerusalem! Regarding Jerusalem it will be said, “Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.” And the Most High will personally bless this city. When the Lord registers the nations, he will say, “They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.” Interlude
The people will play flutes and sing, “The source of my life springs from Jerusalem!” Psalm 87:1-7[2]
Problematic to the church is eisegesis,
that which happens when people look at Scripture and see only what they want to
see; that’s a sticky wicket indeed. Followers
of Jesus think this only happens with pagans who want to attack Christian belief
and use a passage out of context as a bludgeon to (supposedly) discredit and
disprove Christianity as a whole. But,
sadly, it also happens in the church family.
In fact, it happens especially in the church family.
The last sentence of the 87th Psalm
has singers gathered around the Lord’s presence lifting a testimonial song of
praise: …the source of my life
springs from Jerusalem! In a
casual reading of that verse it’s easy to start feeling all warm and fuzzy with
thoughts of a nice, comfortable sense that everything is right in Zion. It’s that picture of everything finally being
in proper places with no problems, mortgage paid, kids safe, great doctor’s
report, and no cracks in any foundations.
Many people get that same feeling in church services when we sing a song
like When We All Get to Heaven or In the Sweet By and By;
there’s such a sense of a secure future in heaven, which is so totally foreign
to the present reality of chaos on earth.
We live in a shadowy, troubled in-between time,
here below, while perfection is off, somewhere beyond the blue.
Now, while it is true we have not yet
arrived at the throne, and we are pilgrims in this life, the awkward shadow
trailing that truth is we wind up settling-in with this existence, managing the
pain of life with a teaspoon-full of religion, instead of being fully-immersed
in the fountain of life.
Let me put it simply:
Jesus didn’t die in Jerusalem so we could wring our hands over what this life offers or doesn’t, just waiting to die and finally be with Him. Jesus died so that we could be forgiven and freed to have an overflowing cup of the river of life eternally…beginning RIGHT NOW!
Here’s one other, related simple thought
to chew on as you hit the rocky road today:
Whatever circumstances your life holds at this moment, if you’ve decided to settle-in with the misery chaos brings in this life, just waiting, trying to hold-out until God finally takes you home, it’s a good bet you can’t sing the end of Psalm 87 now…that the source of your life springs from Jerusalem. And if you’re not ready for His fountain of life here, you’ll have a hard time finding it in the hereafter!
For You Today
From the birth of the church on earth on the Day of Pentecost, to this very
day, God’s Spirit has been giving new life from the fountain of life. An old Gospel song says it well:
There came a sound from heaven as a mighty
rushing wind.
It filled their hearts with singing and gave
them peace within.
The prophet gave this promise, he said the
Spirit will descend
And from your inner being, a river with no end.
There is a river, and it flows from deep within
There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin
Come to this water; there is a vast supply
There is a river, that never shall run dry.[3]
There is a fountain, that frees the soul from sin
Come to this water; there is a vast supply
There is a river, that never shall run dry.[3]
