GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF HER

A nation is naturally proud of its capital city. It is the centre of government, and generally contains the most magnificent buildings and impressive monuments.

The nation of Israel had special reason for their admiration of, and reverence for Jerusalem. When God gave Moses His law, He spoke of a place where He would dwell among His people, to which all the men were to bring their sacrifices at the three great annual festivals. That place was a rallying centre to maintain the unity of the nation, Deut. 12. 5-14.

The first thing mentioned in this psalm is not Jerusalem but the house of God in it. “Will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?”. So said Solomon, as he dedicated the temple in Jerusalem, 1 Kings 8. 27.

Not until God had redeemed a people from slavery and given them His law did He say, “Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them”, Exod. 25. 8. Then Moses made the tent of meeting. Later God chose Jerusalem for His dwelling place; but today, He dwells not in temples made with hands, but in the “spiritual house”, His people, John 4. 21-24; Acts 7. 48; 1 Pet. 2. 5. That imparts a high dignity to an assembly of His people.

This psalm is a “song of ascents”, probably sung as the godly went up to the hill of the Lord. Well might we pray like David, “Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces”, v. 7. Salem means “peace”, Heb. 7. 2, and peace is necessary for prosperity. We should go to normal church gatherings with the same zest that the godly had when they went to the temple, first seeking the face of the Lord in private, and then expecting His presence in the assembly.

Finally, in Isaiah 2. 2-5; Micah 4. 1, 2 and Zechariah 14. 16-21 we read of Jerusalem becoming the metropolis of the whole earth: “in the last days, … the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it”. Then the name of the city will be, “The Lord is there”, Ezek. 48. 35; Psa. 46. 5.

“There am I in the midst of them”, Matt. 18. 20.