The House of the Lord

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever. (Psalm 23:6b)

The final promise of the 23rd Psalm neatly wraps up the narrative of the Good Shepherd. The quintessential "Happily Ever After," Psalm 23:6 tells us the end of our journey is not the end of our story. It serves as a reminder that, after God has kept us all through this life -- after He has led us through the Valley, after He has provided for us and kept us safe and found us rest and refreshment -- He will finally lead us to an eternal home with Him. 

What a promise! It is in this verse we learn that, though He is the shepherd, we are not merely sheep. Indeed, we are family to the Shepherd -- children of the King -- and He has prepared us a place in His own house!

This verse also implies another promise: that we do not wander in vain. That we have a destination. Sure, God promises to keep us safe in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but why walk through it at all? Because, as we find in verse 6, we're going somewhere. We're not not merely walking around, grazing from field to field, but our Shepherd is guiding us to a permanent Home -- a place where there are no enemies, where still waters abound, where the shadow of death cannot reach. 

And we know that, once we get there, His home -- the House of the Lord -- is OUR home forever. 

Jesus and David: A Tale of Two Tombs

For David says concerning Him:

‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.

For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. (Acts 2:25-32)

In his message to the people on the day of Pentecost, Peter quotes from Psalm 16. He then uses these words to do a little teaching. In Peter's statement, we learn that, in some of David's psalms, the poet wasn't always speaking of himself, but was in fact prophesying. Such is the case here, in which David declares, "You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." As Peter points out, David is dead, and his body long since rotted away. 

God liked David a whole lot, even calling him a man after his own heart. Yet even David was not above corruption and sin. Even David was subject to sickness and, ultimately, death. 

But Jesus is the Lord over life and death. His resurrection is the sign of that Lordship. Unlike us, who are beholden to death, our Messiah is death's master. It answers to Him. And because our Savior is Lord over even death, He is able to free us from its bonds as well. 

This, indeed, is our hope: that in Christ, we are not subject to death forever, but can be given new life. Our hope is for nothing so paltry as life in this temporary world, but an Eternity in the sight of a loving, living God.

I Found The Prize!

Today is Cracker Jack Day.

I love Cracker Jacks. The caramel popcorn and peanut concoction recalls a simpler time, sitting on the lawn, that little cardboard box in front of me, hands slipping in for another handful and finding instead that wrapped object, shoved in among the deliciousness. The prize. It was always some cheap piece of junk, a plastic magnifying glass or... actually I can't even remember any other prizes. But there was a time in our lives when we loved it.

Yet, that was never why I bought cracker jacks with the day's allowance. I bought it because it was a tasty snack. The prize was a bonus.

Christianity is like that. We hear about our "reward" in Heaven, but that's not why I'm a Christian. I am a Christian because Jesus Christ allowed Himself to be humbled, to be humiliated, to be tortured and killed, all so that I could be forgiven, and know God. He called me out of sin, and into righteousness. He has given me a life of purpose, of grace, and of Love. He has given me a relationship with the Creator of the Universe. And then to top it off, He extended it for all eternity, and without the pain we suffer in this life. A life lived as close to the presence of God as we are able, an eternity in the actual presence of the Most High. That's the goodness in the box, for me. That I am loved by a sovereign king, the creator of all things, the God of the Universe.

But then, as though it isn't enough that He willingly forgives everything I've ever done, he adds a prize.

"Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done." (Revelation 22:12)

That's not why I'm a Christian. That's not why I serve Him. I serve Christ because I love Him. A life serving a loving, living God is the box of cracker jacks. But God's reward sure beats a plastic magnifying glass.