Title: Last Wish (2)
last wish (2)
“One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek it, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all my days, to look for His beauty, and to long for His temple” (Psalm 27:4).
I. Text Commentary
Judging from the content of this poem, it is not considered an early poem. As there are many stories of adversaries and enemies, and you confess that you do not hide the face of the Lord and that you do not forsake me in your wrath, I think it was a poem that David wrote after becoming king.
The many trials and tribulations that come our way help us to know what is most precious in ourselves. That is why God does not always give us prosperous things, but gives us trials and pains at the right time and allows us to experience betrayal by the person we love the most. So, He awakens and awakens our hearts so that we do not forsake our ultimate desire as saints that we should maintain. When we interpret the frustration and pain we encounter in this world from a new perspective of God’s providence, this is God’s great grace to warn us so that our hearts are not attached to this world, confirming the fact that God has not abandoned us in this world. is going to do it. The problem is that there are different interpretations depending on whether you have faith to accept it. If you have faith, you will come to know the deep love of God hidden in pain.
This poet was a man who enjoyed all the glory and wealth of human beings, and experienced the rise and fall. As such a person goes through the valley of many trials and tribulations, he is talking about the last wish he has left. It was to behold the beauty of Jehovah. You may have mentioned last time that the beauty of Jehovah is known through the Word of God.
God is God the Creator and God the Redeemer. Calvin called the knowledge of God the Creator and the knowledge of God the Redeemer a double divine knowledge. God created first and then redeemed. But when you know God, you will see the God who created you through God who redeemed you. When we see the world created by God through Christ, we know that the glorious light of the Lord is illuminating the whole world.
II. A wish found in hardship
B. Longing for God
The poet's first wish was to see the beauty of God, and the second was to long for God. Even if he lost his honor and health, there was one thing he didn't want to lose, and that was to fully love the good God. When we look back at our lives, when we have problems in our lives, those problems are solved when we come to know who God is.
Even though the reality may fluctuate, if the knowledge of God shines on us, we will hold on to the Lord through suffering, and we will know that God's love leads the church through a calm environment. But even if we have everything, if we do not have the light of true knowledge, we will turn away from God in adversity, and we will believe in our own strength and forsake God in a favorable environment.
To constantly discover its beauty, and only then to realize what an honor it is to call a human being like me to love you.
Where does the poet confess his desire to wait for the Lord? It is the temple of Jehovah. This means two things: First, it shows what the function of God's house is. There were no beautiful temples in David's time. There was a tabernacle. The edge of the tabernacle is surrounded by a cloth like cotton, and when you go inside, you will find the courtyard of the tabernacle, then the altar of burnt offering, and if you go further inside, you will find the sanctuary. But the roof was made of swine skin. Wouldn't it be like a leather bag that has been used for so many years, scorching in the sun, drying out in the rain, and so on? Such a tabernacle could not have been beautiful on the surface. Besides, David was the king of a nation. Was the royal palace he lived in splendid? Was the tabernacle gorgeous? Of course it would be the former. Then, what was the beauty that David discovered in the tabernacle? It is the sacrifice that was made in the tabernacle.
Second, it shows a communal character in knowing God. It's not about getting to know God alone, it's about getting to know God together. It is when we see that the members of the church are happy as they believe in the Lord while being moved by the Word of God. So God does not reveal the beauty of God only to me, but shows it in the church. As much as we meet the Lord deeply and discover the beauty of the Lord, we come to know how precious and beautiful the souls of our members are and to love Him.
III. conclusion