The Secrets of the Lord

Psalm 77:13 -- Thy way O God is in the sanctuary.  Has it puzzled you about the ways of God…the will of God?  It is good news that in eight words we are given the answer!  The tabernacle/sanctuary of Israel’s wilderness of wandering is full of truth, instruction, healing, and relationship living with God.  So often, if we have studied the sanctuary service, we see it as something the children of Israel did.  We do not see it as a visual aid for the entire plan of salvation…a relationship with the Godhead..  David, in the Psalms, often speaks of the sanctuary/tabernacle.

Psalm 61:2 – From the end of the earth I will cry toYou, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.  I will abide in Your tabernacle forever.  I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. 

When we feel overwhelmed, there is a Rock that is higher than we are.  This Rock is the Lord Jesus.  David calls it a shelter, a strong tower from the enemy.  He says that he will abide in it...God’s tabernacle…forever.  He says that he will trust in the shelter of God’s wings.  In the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant was topped with the cherubim symbolic of the angels before the throne of God.  These angelic wings  will shelter us and protect us.  All of heaven is working for our good. 
 

A shelter from the enemy is the tabernacle to David.  Most of the hurts of this life come at the hand of others.  Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.  David’s allusion to the “shelter of His wings” means that he understood this Most Holy Place process of being in God’s presence.  Here is where secret things are made known to us.  David said, "The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant." (Ps25:14 NASB)

Here is the same Scripture in the Amplified Bible: "The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning." 

Psalm 63:1 – 2 – O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.

How did David utilize this knowledge of “God’s way?”  The above scripture gives us guidance:

·        Early will I seek:  God’s way should be the first thing we seek to understand.  Often when our troubles come, we turn to everything but God.  Seeking Him is the last ditch effort.  This is human nature at its finest…the fig leaf garment of Adam and Eve.  David’s instruction is that God is to be sought the first thing.  It may also be an allusion to early in the day.  It is a perfect way to start the day…seeking God’s wisdom for our life, seeking His answers for us.

·        My soul thirsts:  Jesus is the water of life.  His word is called a cleanser.  We drink and are filled. 

·        My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  This is so beautiful.  In the wilderness wandering they experienced a dry and thirsty land.  Our life experiences are this dry and thirsty land.  We try so many things to turn it into something other than a wilderness.  It is not supposed to be home.  It is preparation for the promised land so that when we get there, we will want to go in.  The people who came out of Egypt did not want to go into the promised land…they feared the giants.  They said that it would have been better to have died in the wilderness.  They pronounced words over themselves that became their future.  It was their children that went into the promised land.  This is so full of lessons for us.  I believe it is also showing us that their will be two types of people all along the journey…those who want to go to the promised land, and those who do not.  Those who do not want their way not the way of the Rock..  

Are we thirsty for Jesus?  David’s words put it in very physical terms.  I think that this is fabulous.  In the deepest sense, our need for the Lord has physical implications.  Science has proven that down to the cellular level our bodies respond to our beliefs.  When we are having those very physical signs that come as symptoms, I have found that often there is a spiritual need that can only be healed by changing the belief system.  Get out the lies and bring in the Word of God (truth).  Jesus told the woman at the well that He was the water of life and that those who drink of Him never thirst again.  Just as we need physical water daily, we need daily the word of God filling us with the water of life. 

How beautiful is the word of God and the love of God towards us.  Let us see Him as our shelter when we are overwhelmed.  Let us know that the answers are in the sanctuary with Him.  May God’s blessing of continued revelation be on us as we come into the chapel with Him.  God bless!