PSALM 23:1-6 TEXT: v6
I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
An old preacher shrewdly noted the following about Psalm 23
[i] Beneath me - "green pastures" (v2)
[ii] Beside me - "still waters" (v2)
[iii] With me "my Shepherd" (v1)
[iv] Before me - "A table" (v5)
[v] Around me- "mine enemies" (v5)
[vi] Upon me "anointed with oil" (v5)
[vii] After me - "goodness and mercy" (v6)
[viii] Beyond me - "House of the Lord" (v6)
This Psalm, as a whole, is a great Psalm
Augustine designated it as the hymn of the martyrs and so we are not
surprised to read that when Bishop Hooper, centuries later during the
Reformation, was cast into Fleet Prison in the reign of Bloody Mary -
cast into what was described as a "vile/stinking chamber" with nothing
for a bed, but a "little pad/straw" he drew much comfort from
writing an Exposition upon these words of Psalm 23 and other Psalms
If the whole Psalm is good, then we may expect each of its parts to
measure up also and our text does not prove to be the weak link
It is a great text for the preacher to preach on
Paul spoke words of a similar nature in 1 Thessalonians 4 when having
spoke on some of the events surrounding the Lord's return, he says:
"And so shall we be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words." (v17-18)
3 main thoughts:
1) THE HOME OF WHICH DAVID WROTE:
There are a number of things which make up a home
The Hebrew word is translated household (x54) and home (x25)
A/ FAMILY: We may explore this a couple/ways:
[i] Our Heavenly Father is there. It is the "House of the LORD"
He is the One who chose us unto salvation, solely on the basis of His sovereign grace
He is the One who decided to send His Son to die for us in an act of unequalled and unsurpassable love
[ii] Our Elder Brother is there. McCheyne was fond of this designation
for the Lord Jesus, based on Hebrews 2:11 where Christ is not ashamed
to call us brethren
We will see Christ face to face And they shall see his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads. (Revelation 22:4)
[iii] Our Comforter (Holy Spirit) is there also
Here, we often vex, grieve and quench Him but no so "over there"
We will be with the Divine Family of 3 Persons on One Godhead
We will be with family in that we will be with the departed people of God from all ages
From righteous Abel to the last/elect gathered in
For this cause I bow my knees unto
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named, (Ephesians 3:14-15)
B/ FRIENDS: We might include in this designation the angels/God who minister to us who are heirs/salvation
While Christ is the main attraction/Heaven, yet part/glory is to be
with the angels of God whose appearances/pages of Bible are always
welcome sights
Perhaps we will learn then of the many times they came to us (unknown)
and stood between us those dark hellish spirits who also lurk and try
to destroy us
C/ SAFETY: This world, for the Christian, is a battlefield.
Did you put on your Ephesians 6 armour today? I hope so!
Did you pray today that the Lord would not lead you into temptation?
Do you know your foe? Have you a fighting attitude? (spiritual sense)
Do you see this world as a place of spiritual danger? Friendship/world is enmity with God (James 4:4) Why is that?
Because the world seeks to injure the people/God
Only in Heaven (where all sin/temptation is gone) will we be safe
Pictured in Isaiah 2 where we are said to hang our trumpets (the
instruments/battle and alarm) in the hall and will study more no more
"Till all the ransomed Church of God be safe to sin no more"
D/ REST: We do not rest at work nor in the street
We rest at home
Our time/earth is one of work
Not to be saved, but because we are saved
Heard Him say: My son, go work today in my vineyard (Matthew 21:28)
The night is coming when no man can work…but it is not yet
I hope that you are redeeming your time
We have little enough time to labour/God to be wasting it on nonsensical things
There remaineth a rest for the people of God (Hebrews 4:11)
Heaven is it. It will be an undisturbed rest - it will be a sweet rest.
The sleep of the labouring man is said to be sweet (Ecclesiastes 5:12)
It is earned/deserved. So (in that sense) is the rest of the faithful
E/ HAPPINESS: What joy it is to come home!
Especially when we add the words "at last"
What joy after a hard time at work
What a joy after a hard, severe battle when perhaps many who once
professed faith fell away…and bloody and scarred, you made it
home
What happiness! No more sorrow in our Father's House
F/ FREEDOM: Which is an entirely different thing from license, and esp. license to sin
True, lasting, freedom has always been subject to certain boundaries
Hence: God's law is called "the royal law of liberty" (James 2:8) finding an echo in words/Psalmist:
And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. (Psalm 119:45)
What freedoms we can enjoy in our own house and what freedoms we will enjoy in Heaven
Moses likened death unto a bird flying away - perhaps chained to the ground/perch, but then set free
This is the home of which David is speaking. Elsewhere, he describes himself as being a stranger in the earth (Psalm 119:19)
Need not remind you/Peter's words: Dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; (1 Peter 2:11)
Let's start longing for the Father's House
We can do more than long!
2) THE CONFIDENCE WITH WHICH DAVID WROTE:
Taking God's House (as we have been doing) to be Heaven, David speaks with absolute assurance that he is going there. I will dwell…
A/ Not based on what David did before he was saved
No one gets to Heaven by good works
Only get in by confessing: we are unworthy!
The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. (Matthew 21:31) was said by the Lord Jesus to people who thought good works was the route to Heaven
Worth noting: Such folk are always hoping (lesser sense) to be saved,
but are never sure (Never can be sure) and loathe those who enjoy what
the Bible calls the full assurance of faith on this matter
This was not the ground of David's boast
B/ Not based on anything David did after He was saved
David did many good things after he was saved, but none of them contributed in any way to his entrance in to Heaven
A lot/Christians seem to think we are saved by grace but kept by works
and that our entrance/Heaven is somehow influenced by them
Not so. David did several things as a professing believer that make us blush and which we cannot excuse nor defend
C/ David's assurance was based entirely on the work/Christ at Calvary
David could say: Salvation belongeth unto the Lord (Psalm 3:8)
Same as Jonah: Salvation is of the Lord (2:9) or Paul's By grace are ye
saved through faith…not of yourselves…gift of God etc.,
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
D/ The child/God - not the mere professor, but the real possessor - is
certainly, truly going: Heaven. A number/things all come together:
[i] The Father wants Him there. A decree has gone forth to this end
and all the arrangements put in place to see that it is carried out
[ii] The Son has died to make it possible and at this very moment he is
in heaven with this specific task/hand re: His Father's House:
"I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2)
His return/earth is to bring many sons/glory i.e. His Father's House
[iii] The Spirit/God, as the agent of our conversion to Christ, is now
making us meet for Heaven (Of which we will say a little more soon)
idea is that if we have no desire to live holy lives on this earth, then we are not going to enjoy Heaven (and won't be there)
Foremost reason for all these activities: God's glory (Goes without
saying) but God/glorified in us spending eternity in God's House.
E/ David was so sure about this matter, because:
[i] He had written promises/God
Not a full Bible…but enough to rest/case (Job 19:23-27)
These promises survive all weathers. They stand whatever
[ii] He had the witness/Spirit of God within: he was indeed born/God
His prayer in Psalm 51:11 shows this
If just a gut feeling…all we could say is that He felt homeward bound
But since based/Word - he both felt/knew it and enough to say so
F/ Although this is a corporate truth for all Believers, yet David here
spoke only for himself, because this is something which every one as an
individual must be certain of before God
No one is going to the Father's House because another is going
I went many places with my parents and later on with my boss etc.,
I was not there in my own right.
I can only go to the Father's House because of my own personal and individual relationship with Jesus Christ
What shall I do with Jesus?
3) THE DUTY OF WHICH DAVID WROTE:
Implicitly rather than explicitly…but nevertheless real
A/ Some think David speaks only here of the earthly tabernacle as in: LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. (Psalm 26:8) "Forever" = "length of days" (Heb)
If so…we but elevate the type to the reality and still speak/Heaven
But there is a point in the lesser view, to which we referred earlier
B/ While saved entirely/grace, yet such produces certain duties
One/several being our relationship with and love for God's house
Bible urges us in preparation of the greater House/Above:
[i] Not to forsake the House/God (Hebrews 10:25) Only works of necessity/mercy should keep us from it
[ii] Keep our foot in God's house (Ecclesiastes 5:1) Respect/reverence
[iii] Rejoice in our privilege and seek to bring others (Psalm 122:1)
Word/Christians: These duties are real and not to be carried out in a mechanical fashion
Seek God for His Spirit's help so that we can obey them in a manner glorifying to God
Word/Unsaved: Text cannot flow from your lips as it presently stands
No place for the unsaved/Heaven. Only valid words if you get saved
THE END