A Devotional about Priorities and Persistence from Psalm 132:1–5
Psalm 132:1–5
A Song of degrees.
1 Lord, Remember David,
And all his afflictions:
2 How he sware unto the Lord,
And vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
3 Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house,
Nor go up into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes,
Or slumber to mine eyelids
5 Until I find out a place for the Lord,
An habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
Reading from today’s portion of the Psalms I was reminded of a children’s song.
Do Lord, oh, do Lord, oh, do remember me, Do Lord, oh, do Lord, oh, do remember me, Do Lord, oh, do Lord, oh, do remember me, Look away beyond the blue.
Why did this song come to mind?
Because of the opening words of the first verse, “Lord, remember David”
I believe that Psalm 132 was written by someone during the reign of Solomon sometime around the time of the dedication of the temple. The prayer is requesting God’s blessings on the Temple, the nation of Israel, and her newly crowned king. If that is true then it could be considered a bit unusual to begin with those words since David was no longer king and had passed into his eternal home.
Why did the Psalmist say “Lord, remember David…”?
He is begging for the efforts of David toward the building of God’s house to not be wasted.
We learn from this Psalm about a vow that David had made promising to make the Lord and the construction of the temple a priority, ahead of his own comfort and his own home.
Psalm 132:3–5 3Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, Nor go up into my bed; 4I will not give sleep to mine eyes, Or slumber to mine eyelids, 5Until I find out a place for the Lord, An habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
David desired to build this place of praise and worship, he had even purchased the land and accumulated the building materials but did not live to see the construction.
So, the Psalmist prays, “Lord, remember David…”
Was this prayer answered?
Did God honor the prayer, the desire, and the efforts of David in response to this psalmist prayers?
Did the Lord remember David?
We know that those works were not wasted, David may not have been able to complete the task himself but his heart for the work was seen and the work was completed.
God did remember David.
So, what can we gain from this small portion of Psalm?
1. Prioritizing God and his work is a wise investment.
I believe that we should remember David and follow his example of putting God and his work first. Remember what Jesus taught us, how he blesses when we prioritize him.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
2. Not all our investments come to maturity at the same time.
Even though David had a wonderfully spiritual mission, to build a Temple for the one true God, he sadly never saw the desire of his heart fulfilled yet the Lord was faithful to remember David!
God remembered David but will he remember me?
In a period of great frustration, I reached out to my great uncle, a local pastor for many years. I told him how hard I had been working and how little fruit I had to show for it.
I explained how I must have not properly recognized my calling because God’s hand didn’t seem to be blessing me and my efforts.
I said that I was ready to quit.
It was then that my great uncle told me one of those stories for which he is so well known. Iint went something like this…
A man wanted to do something special for his wife who loved roses. He planted rose bushes in front of the fence beside the house so that she could see the roses bloom and she would know how much he cared. He planted, watered, and worked in every way so that she could see the roses. Despite all his efforts, there were no roses to be seen. Frustrated, he decided to pull up the bushes and start again. Realizing that he didn’t have the right tools for the task he went to his next-door neighbor’s house and discovered something unexpected on the other side. His rose bushes were flowering on the other side of the fence and the blooms were too many to count. The man found that his labor had not gone entirely in vain. It is at this point in the story that my uncle quoted a scripture.
Galatians 6:7–9
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
My wise uncle reminded me that not all the results of our work are seen in this life. It could be that we only see the fruits of our labor from the other side. Perhaps that is why the Bible says
Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
I know that I am not so special, I am so filled with fault that I am amazed that God would even call me to his field of labor. I however have committed to do my best, to try to put God first, and then when I inevitably see a season showing very little fruit I will trust that my faithful Lord will remember Jason.
I believe that he will, HE remembered David, HE will remember the Bald believer and HE will remember you too!
Readings for 11/25/20
Ps 132:title–5
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