Psalm 39
Where does God Dwell?
Where does God dwell?
Does He visit one church and not another?
Is He only there for believers?
Does He ask us to prove our faith or test Him?
Moses made the tent of testimony
after the pattern that God ordered.
Everything from the construction
of the tent to the furnishings
was according to pattern.
During that time, God
dwelled in the ark of the covenant.
Only the privileged elect
could experience His Presence.
This tradition was passed on through generations.
Until such a time as God appointed
Solomon was to build a house as
a dwelling place.1
Why would God appoint someone
to build a house when He proclaims,
"Heaven is my throne
and earth is my footstool."
I say, God gives us directives
for our good, not because He needs it.
Can we follow His instructions?
How is our communication with Him?
Can we hear? Do we see?
The Divine Teacher instructs
those he chooses.
Does God dwell in the handling of snakes?2
Jesus says,
"Be as wise as serpents and gentle as doves.3
Does God dwell in the drinking of poison?
Jesus says,
"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,
and let the one who believes in me, drink."4
Does God dwell when speaking in tongues?
Paul said to the Corinthians,
"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels,
but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal."5
God sets a pattern and a season for all things,
and He offers many spiritual gifts.
Out of love, He gave his Son, Jesus
so that all could be set free,
when in the time of the law of Moses
you could not be freed.6
Beloved, I urge you to
pray without ceasing,
give thanks, rejoice always,
test everything,
hold on to what is good
and most of all
to love one another.7
For the Lord Himself
with a cry of command,
with the archangel's call,
and the sound of the trumpet
will descend from heaven!8
May we be caught up in the clouds
flying to meet Him there,
so that we may be one
with The One
forever and ever!
1 Acts 7:44 "Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, 46 who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says, 49 "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?'
2 Mark 16: 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it
3 Matthew 10: 16 "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves
4 John 7:37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' " 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified
5 1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing
6 Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; 37 but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; 39 by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
7 1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil. 23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this
8 1 Thessalonians 4: 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
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Comments
Jali, there you are again sista, thanks for the Amen!
(And I believe that in the words we are given wisdom, if we can find it! I love the wisdom in yours!) Love, Julie
Rhetorical questions are not very helpful if we hope others will think about what our writing means FOR THEM. They are false questions in which the reader is assumed to agree with the writer. That is fine in fiction and some other forms of literary writing, but falls far short of a reasonable way to teach people to think for themselves. So I am delighted that you avoided them.
The last two stanzas are also open to interpretation as to the meaning of how those things will come to pass and I really appreciate that you stick closely to the scripture which allows your reader to use his or her imagination to decide for themselves how they visualize them.
As you know I do not think they are literal (but many do) because when that time comes I believe we will be on the cusp between time and space and eternity and ordinary physical explanations will not apply.
Be that as it may, others can make their own decisions.
I also like that, regardless how we answer those questions, since it is far more likely that we will meet our Lord by passing through earthly life through death into heavenly life the third stanza from the end (and the Biblical reference) tells us clearly what we need to be doing now.
As Jesus told us, even he knows not when the end time is, only the Father. Our job is to be ready when it does come, and to be equally ready to be called home through death. If we are there will be no need to fear death and there will be Christian hope for eternal life in the presence of our Lord.
Excellent psalm.
Monte