Psalm 122
THE ASSEMBLY SEEN IN FIGURE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Nehemiah 10: 32-39; 12: 27-40, 43; 13, 1-3
A.J.G. I have thought of the great importance of keeping the thought of the assembly continually before us. Jerusalem is a figure of the assembly for us. It is also an allusion to what can be seen in expression at the moment. Zion represents the divine thought and Jerusalem would speak to us of the response that comes on our part to this thought. Jerusalem may or may not be in correspondence with Zion, but the psalmist in speaking of Jerusalem says, “they shall prosper that love thee”. In verse 3 of this Psalm, an allusion is made to unity. Then in verse 4, it is a matter of the service of God and of its character. Judgments must be seen there according to verse 5 and at the end of the Psalm is an exhortation to seek the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem.
In contrast with these thoughts, we see Nehemiah hearing at the beginning of his book of the ruin of Jerusalem. Its walls were destroyed, its gates burned with fire, and Nehemiah feels the conditions acutely. He is given the great privilege by God of leading several others in the exercises for the restoration of Jerusalem. In chapter 2, we see that when Nehemiah makes his request to the king, the queen was sitting by the king, v 6. So Nehemiah leaves, so to say, with the full thought before him of Christ and the assembly. The assembly is united to Christ and she is heavenly. Although further on the state of things may be different from the divine thoughts, Nehemiah leaves with the thought of Christ and the assembly before him so as to secure a response for God’s pleasure. The passages that we have read might help us to take our part in the exercises of which Nehemiah speaks, reminding us that those who love Jerusalem and pray for its peace will prosper.
Ques. Did the disciples have this thought before them when they were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God?
A.J.G. They were there in the testimony of grace to those who were in Jerusalem, but when we come to the Acts, we see that the temple is less in evidence than at the end of the gospel of Luke. The disciples are meeting in the upper room and it is there that they receive the Spirit. They still go up to the temple, but only as testimony, and they found hostility there on the part of the leaders. But it is in the upper room that they have the thought of the assembly.
It is very important that there should be unity among the saints. It is the first feature mentioned in Psalm 122: 3: “Jerusalem, which art built as a city that is compact together”. God being one, He can only dwell happily in conditions of unity and love. The great effort of the enemy is to bring in dissent among the saints, when the Lord’s great thought, and the effort of the Holy Spirit, are to bring about unity so that Jerusalem should be as a city compact together.
Rem. David rejoiced in considering these things!
A.J.G. It is remarkable that this should be introduced in a Psalm which forms part of the Songs of Degrees. In Psalm 137, the state of captivity is keenly felt by the psalmist who says, “If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill; If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to my palate: if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy”, vv 5, 6. That shows how those who were exercised in Israel were engaged with what Jerusalem corresponds to in the divine mind as to it. In Psalm 122: 4, the tribes go up to serve Jehovah. Then in verse 5, it is the great question of judgment that is in view. Every question raised must be governed according to God, in a way full of dignity. It speaks here of thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. David is presented as the man after God’s heart, who fulfils all His will. His influence gives character to every judgment pronounced. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem”, v 2. The gates were the place where judgment was carried out and our feet must stand there. In chapter 22 of Revelation, it is said that those who wash their robes would have the right to the tree of life, and they enter in by the gates into the city. The gates give us the thought of discrimination between good and evil. They are there so that nothing that is not according to the divine mind may go inside the city. “Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate”, Amos 5: 15. This verse gives us the thought that the gates refer to.
Rem. In Proverbs, it is said as to the virtuous woman: “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land”.
A.J.G. In Psalm 122: 4, it speaks of celebrating the Name of Jehovah. The light in which God is known must give character to the service of God among the saints. In Psalm 48, it is said: “According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth”. Praise must correspond to the way in which the Name of God is known. In recent years, there has been exercise among the saints to bring into our hymns the fulness of God’s Name as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The way in which the Name is known must give character to the response which is in accord with Him.
In chapter 10 of Nehemiah, we see that God made those who exercised to prosper, so that the wall was rebuilt and the gates set up. Now the question is to know how things are going to be maintained. Nehemiah says, “And we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God …”. This was not something that God had commanded them, but that they undertook in their own exercises, and each of them accepted his part in responsibility to secure that the service of God in each part should be maintained.
Rem. If there is a certain weakness and a lack of praise in our localities, that comes from everyone not accepting their part in responsibility.
A.J.G. We live in days when the truth of the assembly has been recovered. We have received what has come as light. The Spirit of God is at our disposal, but each of us must accept his part in responsibility.
Rem. The wood-offering seems to have a great place.
A.J.G. I do not think the wood-offering is mentioned except in this chapter and in the last verse of this book. The wood-offering was that which was needed to maintain the fire so that the various offerings could go up to God. It may be that that is an allusion that unless certain inward feelings are there, things are not effective, simply a formal or intellectual manner. When the Lord, according to Psalm 40, was to come into the world, His language is: “To do thy good pleasure is my delight”. Not only did He do the will of God, but He found His delight in it. His offering could thus go up to God, because of the inward feelings that were involved. The apostle Paul in the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans speaks of God whom he served in his spirit in the glad tidings of His Son.
Rem. In Malachi, it is said: “Who is there among you that would even shut the doors? and ye would not kindle fire on mine altar for nothing”.
A.J.G. That speaks to us of what was lacking. We see in some of the prophets that God hates offerings that are presented to Him and that because a lack of sincerity existed. This tenth chapter of Nehemiah goes on, entering into great detail at the end of which it says: “And we will not forsake the house of our God”
Rem. The word “first-fruits” is repeated several times.
A.J.G. That signifies that God must be served first in all that we have. In the gospel of Luke, the Lord says, “seek his kingdom, and all these things shall be added to you”. God has the first rights. If that is realised with us, we find not only that we prosper, but that there is richness in God’s house.
Ques. Is that a collective exercise?
A.J.G. Yes, but it must first be taken in hand by each one. It is “the first-fruits of our land … and the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle … of our herds and of our flocks … the first-fruits of our coarse meal”. In reality, that finds its beginning in our houses and in our private lives, “our coarse meal” for example would find its origin in our houses.
Ques. What does the tithe of the tithes signify that the Levites brought according to verse 38?
A.J.G. With the tithe of the tithes, we come to the book of Numbers. The Levites had no possession in the land, and they could not bring a tithe for themselves. But the people brought their tithe to the Levites, who could offer the tithe of this tithe. The greater the testimony as to God is, the more the priestly service will be developed.
Rem. In verse 36, it speaks of “the house of our God”.
A.J.G. That shows how the spirit of devotion is found there. The Lord in addressing Sardis says, “I have not found thy works complete before my God”. It is as if he was jealous as to what is for God.
Rem. Nehemiah himself, at the end of his book, says, “O my God!”.
A.J.G. Nehemiah has the spirit of devotion. He constantly exclaims in short prayers to God. When the enemy speaks with mockery of what they were doing in chapter 4, he prays: “Hear, our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head”. Through the whole book, you will find such expressions.
Rem. It could be said that Nehemiah went on on his knees.
A.J.G. But he was also one who maintained God’s rights. At the end of the book, when he saw conditions that were not as they should be, he says, “I … cursed them, and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair, and adjured them by God”, v 25. That shows how ardent he was in what was due to God, refusing all compromise with evil.
In chapter 12: 27, the wall has been finished and inaugurated. It is a good thing to consider the maintenance of separation in what has to be dedicated to God. That has to be kept for God in this essential condition so that the service of God can go on. It is an occasion of great joy.
From verse 31 to 39 of chapter 12, several gates are mentioned. They suggest not only the thought of the place where judgment is exercised, but they speak of particular features of the truth. Those who approach see the saints walking in the truth and must be impressed by the fact that separation is maintained there for God. But also they go in by a gate and each represents the particular impression received as to what the city itself is. The fountain gate would speak to us of the springing up of the Spirit. In the assembly, things are in freshness in the power of the Spirit in response to God. The water gate speaks of the water that flows in abundance; it would be an allusion to spiritual ministry in the assembly. The first and last gates mentioned here are not gates attractive to the natural man. In verse 3, it is a matter of the dung gate, and at the end of verse 39, the prison gate. The particular features of the truth that they represent must be in evidence. The more faithful we are to the cross of Christ, the more we will know the dung gate. The apostle Paul says, “we are become as the offscouring of the world, the refuse of all, until now”, 1 Cor 4: 13. The Corinthians were tending to be prominent in the world and they reigned without Paul, but Paul was faithful to the cross of Christ and as a result of this faithfulness, he was considered to be the refuse of all. That is the teaching of the dung gate. As to the prison gate, it implies that we accept the limitations that the truth requires in days of decline. It is through the dung gate and the prison gate that the joy of Jerusalem is found; and it was so great that it was heard afar off.
Rem. In verse 40, the two choirs stop in the house of God to form no more than one choir.
A.J.G. One of the choirs was led by Ezra, according to the end of verse 36, and the other choir was followed by Nehemiah according to verse 38. In the service of God, the priest is the one who leads. Nehemiah himself was the governor. The thought of priest and that of governor must be kept together. In verse 43, it is said, “for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and also the women and the children rejoiced”. It is very interesting to see that God brings that in, not only the sisters, but also the children. The children are found there, in the assembly in life, and satisfied.
Rem. It is said in verse 27 that there were thanksgivings, with singing, with cymbals, lutes and harps.
A.J.G. There were different kinds of instruments. The harp for example is what requires the most skill. Someone can be more spiritually skilful than others, but there is at the same time room for each.
In the last chapter we see that they read in the book of the law, and it comes out that there are certain conditions among them that necessitated adjustment. Whatever measure we may have reached by grace, in our privileges as to the house of God, we can still in our exercises and in keeping the Word of God discover points to adjust. Nehemiah had had to leave Jerusalem and when he returned, he finds what had been brought in that was not according to God. When the principle of government and watching is abandoned, the enemy takes advantage of that to bring in things which have a corrupting influence.
Rem. The Lord says, “watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation”.
A.J.G. In Colossians, Paul says, “Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving”. It is the attitude of prayer which is to be maintained, and we must watch that so that nothing may be introduced which could hinder our liberty and weaken our power in prayer. The Lord says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall come to pass to you”, John 15: 7. That shows how it is possible to acquire power in God, by the fact of abiding in Christ. We are also helped to be delivered from iniquity: “and my words abide in you”. That speaks to us of intelligence.
Rem. It speaks several times in Nehemiah about chambers. In chapter 10, there are “the chambers of the house of our God”, v 37.
A.J.G. That refers to the place where the tithes were kept. The quantity found in these chambers was a testimony to devotion, or to the enthusiasm of the people. Malachi draws attention to the treasure. There is a great encouragement as to the exercise to have God before us as having priority in all things. “Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it”, Mal 3: 10.
LORIOL
9th November 1954
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’, August 1955
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