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Articles 2018-2020
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Human history is about the goodness and mercy of the Lord and His work of redeeming and gathering a people unto himself from the chains of bondage. But He has redeemed us for a purpose. And some are not finding it.
They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; they found no city to dwell in (a city of habitation they have not found – YLT).
More was at stake in this prophetic and timeless Psalm than simply some travelers looking for a place to live. I think Young’s Literal Translation conveys the thought better. They sought a city of habitation, of permanence, a place not only for them to dwell but where God would abide as well – a city of eternal design and everlasting endurance. Here is one of the main themes of the Bible – the search for the hidden city. In fact, while the Bible starts in a garden, it ends in a city. In the Book of Revelation, an angel offered to show John the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. But when he looked, he saw a city coming down from heaven (Revelation 21:9 - 10). Over the last two thousand years, the earth has experienced the gradual appearance in human history of this bridal people/city from heaven.[4]
And because men have tried to organize this phenomenon, Christian religious structures have appeared everywhere. But God is after more than this. And for those with eyes to see, something is under construction. And the interconnected parts of this project are people with bridal hearts – they love to spend time with their Groom, the Lord Jesus and with each other.
About two thousand years ago, God’s work from heaven invaded earth in a powerful new way. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting (Acts 2:2). Christ’s bride/city began to come into view.
And all of human history is the tale of two cities – one built by man, one built by God. John saw them in the Book of Revelation. One was from the earth, the city of man; she was a harlot. The other was from heaven, the city of God; she was a bride. And all men would have to choose the one in which they would reside.
But it is sad when many redeemed people wander, when they do not find the route to God’s city of habitation. To be true children of Abraham, we must expectantly anticipate Heaven’s city.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
The Lord promised an inheritance to Abraham. He was not totally sure where God was taking him geographically, but he knew it was connected to his promised heritage. And when He saw the land of promise, he rejoiced. But he knew that God had more in mind. And so he lived in tents treating the land like a foreign country as though it belonged to others. Many years later it would be an act of faith for Joshua to war against the Canaanites. But for Abraham, it was an act of faith to live peaceably among them. Lived out faith does not always look exactly the same in different believers living in different circumstances.
To live in tents spoke of impermanence, they were dwellings without foundations. They could be in one place one day and in another the next. And so Abraham lived in that manner. Why?
…for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Abraham looked forward to the city of permanence, the eternally designed city from heaven. He knew that God would intervene in human history to execute His design. And so he watched, and then by faith saw the beginnings. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad (John 8:56). Indeed, Christ was the foundation of God’s permanent work from heaven among men.
Just like the believers in Acts Chapter Two, so also Abraham and Sarah many years previously would need heavenly intervention in order to participate in God’s building project.
By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
Israel’s existence was rooted in Heaven’s intervention. And in our own day, our prayer is that she would again discover her eternal roots.
Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude–innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
This innumerable company was not Israel; it was those in Israel who had believed like Abraham. While there had been many Jews who did not believe, many who had been idolaters, or who had lived in other expressions of rebellion against the Lord, there was also over the years a huge number who had walked in the footsteps of their father. They embraced God’s promises and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They knew that they were part of something greater than simply being a people defined by living in a particular geographical locale. Like Abraham, they lived rooted in an intimate relationship with the One who filled heaven, the One who had called their forefather by name. And because they understood their heavenly roots, they could live in the land of promise knowing that the land spoke of a fulfillment yet to come.
For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
These sons of Abraham were living in the land of promise but sought the reality that gave the physical land its full meaning. And when by faith they foresaw Christ, they gained an insight into the One who would live flawlessly in the reality they sought. Indeed, Jesus did walk perfectly in union with His Father doing only what He saw Him doing. And in His obedience, Christ put on display the fullness of what the fathers only tasted in part.
and if, indeed, they had been mindful of that from which they came forth, they might have had an opportunity to return, but now they long for a better, that is, an heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He did prepare for them a city.
(Hebrews 11:15 - 16 YLT)
The city presently emerging from heaven, though still quite uncompleted on earth, is Heaven’s answer to the city of man. And it is the answer to the longing that was in the hearts of the fathers as well as in the hearts of Abraham’s descendants over the last thousands of years. God is its designer and its builder. And He will bring it to completion. Let us pray that He would open the eyes of our hearts that we might gain insight concerning the route to His city in our generation. Where we are is not where we are going; but it is on the way.
But the redeemed wanderers in Psalm 107 were not finding the way.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Today, we might refer to their difficulty as spiritual burnout. And in our day, if in some measure we are utilizing our own strength, coming up with our good ideas on what the work of God should look like, to that degree we have been infected by the city of man. Sadly, there is simply too much overlap between these two cities. And spiritual burnout is the fruit of God’s work where He makes known to us the inadequacy of our strength. Thankfully, He is committed to revealing both His design for His city as well as His strength to build it. But we must pay attention. The learning process will have pain.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses (Hebrew, METSUQAH – straits, constricted places).
When it feels like we are stuck and there is no way out of our predicament, where we cannot go forward or backward, left or right, God has brought us to the place where He can gain our attention, where as we call out to Him, He can make known to us His grace, His wisdom, and His timing. O Lord, teach us Your ways.
And causeth them to tread in a right way, to go unto a city of habitation.
(Psalm 107:7 YLT)
He really does have a plan, a strategy. And He has resident within himself the grace necessary to bring us to our eternally designed destination. Since He instructed us to count the cost of following Him (Luke 14:25 - 33), would He not also have sat down prior to the incarnation and calculated the grace necessary to complete His mission among us? Surely, He did. Or to put it another way, there is no spiritual burnout in heaven. And He can say to us as He did to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
Donald Rumble – December 2018
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