The Journey: Obedience

The Journey:
Obedience
Psalm 132

Introduction: Have you ever prayed intensely to God in the midst of a crisis? Did you promise God something in return for his help? Did you keep the promise? Such times are filled with fervor for God but more frequently our obedience and our fervor are more like background music to our daily activities. This psalm reminds us of both kinds of obedience because both are part of the journey.

I. The Ark
The psalm is built around the coming of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The Ark was built under Moses’ direction during the time at Sinai. It was a symbol of God’s presence in Israel and was referred to as the footstool of God’s throne. The priests carried it during the wilderness wandering and during the time of the conquest of Canaan. After years of wandering the tabernacle was set up in Shilo.

The story of the ark flows throughout the history of Israel. Israel tried to use it as a magic charm to assure victory and found out that God could not be manipulated when the ark was captured. Of course the Philistines who captured the ark found out that God didn’t like their idols and quickly sent it back. The psalm refers to the time when David brought the ark to Jerusalem and place where the temple would be built.

David had finally been made king and his kingdom was stable. The first time David attempted to bring the Ark to Jerusalem was a disaster. (2 Sam. 6:1-11) David had not consulted the law and as a result God struck down a man named Uzzah for touching the Ark. This scared David and the Ark was left in the care of a family along the way. Several months later, after consulting the Law and probably the Levites David had the Ark brought into Jerusalem with great rejoicing. (2 Sam. 6:12-19) Scripture recorded that David danced before the Lord with all his might as he had sacrifices made every few feet.

In a sense this was the pinnacle of David’s spiritual life. David had endured years of abuse and hardship waiting on God to fulfill his promise to him and God did do as he promised. Now David as king was going to have the Ark, the symbol of God’s presence with his people close at hand. David could go up to the tabernacle and pray and worship at any hour. His obedience brought him close to God and it was filled with excitement and fervor. His fervor touched an entire nation as people came to Jerusalem to celebrate with David. His obedience set an example that must have caused people to take seriously their covenant with God and to live in faithfulness. And David desired to do more, to build a house for the Ark that was glorious and worth of God. God refused David that honor but even though we refer to the temple that was built as the Temple of Solomon, David’s son, David made extensive preparations in planning and materials so that the young Solomon simply had to give the word for the work to begin.
So the temple was built and Israel began the trips to Jerusalem to worship and sacrifice. This psalm was sung as part of the journey to the temple. People could imagine what it must have been like that day as the Ark made the journey, what the celebration must have been like and now they were making the journey, they were rejoicing as they entered Jerusalem.

It strikes me that sometimes our remembrance, our worship, is more solemn that it is celebratory. Certainly, solemnity is one aspect of our worship as we come to the table but there is so much more that we seem to overlook. For the early church the Lord’s supper was more about Sunday than Friday, the glory of the resurrection than the darkness of the crucifixion. Celebration is more about community. Celebration is done with others, it is shared, and you can’t keep it in or to yourself. It is like welcoming the Ark into Jerusalem with feasting, songs, and dance. This psalm is about the joy that comes from faithful obedience.

II. The Covenant
Because of David’s tremendous heart God made a covenant with him that he would have a descendent on the throne forever. Many of us know how the story continued with David. From the pinnacle of joy that comes from obedience came the pit of death and despair from disobedience. It wasn’t just David who fell, invariably all who followed him fell. Eventual the kingdom was sent into exile. But verse 10 is an appeal to God to remember his covenant even in the face of Israel’s unfaithfulness.

God remembers. We often think of this in negative terms, “How could God forgive, not remember my sin?” But the positive side of this is God remembers. He remembers your faith, your baptism, your stumbling progress, the times you tried to help someone or share your faith with a friend. God remembers the covenant he made with you whether it was fifty years ago or yesterday. We have a history with God and he remembers and so should we. When a couple marries they have started a history together and that is part of their love. As the years pass good and bad happens, they share joy and sorrow, victory and loss. Every anniversary is a remembrance of the covenant and the history. Couples that grow apart often begin building a history separate from each other. They forget their history and their covenant and why they had such love for each other in the beginning.

We need to remember our history with God and what that means. We journey toward God each day that we live. Others have gone before us on the journey, David, Peter, Paul, maybe parents or a friend, even Jesus. This psalm was one to help the pilgrim remember and to be filled with joy.

“The Lord has chosen Zion.” The Lord has also chosen you to be his dwelling place. You didn’t just choose to follow God, he chose you. You are the place where God sits enthroned. The words of Jesus are astounding in John 14:23, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Paul describes us as God’s temple where God’s spirit dwells, 1 Cor. 3:16.

The last part of the psalm is, “I will bless.” God will give physical blessing, clothe his people with salvation, and give strength and victory. That is what God did for David because of his obedience. Discipline came because of David’s disobedience. Discipline came when Israel failed to keep the covenant, when they failed to remember God. But discipline is not what God desires to give us, he wants to bless but his blessing is tied in many ways to our faithfulness. This is one lesson of David’s life. David did not have perfect obedience, in fact he was a long way from that, but David was faithful. His heart was turned toward God so that when his sin was revealed he turned back toward the God he loved so much. God did bless David and he blesses all who journey toward him.

Livonia Church of Christ: July 30, 2006