“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” Psalm 37:3
Dear Ones:
How does one stand, withstand, overcome, and reign in life, in the land, or place of God’s choosing? Where does stability, balance, and overcoming grace come from so that it can be so? The answer lies in three things: Mission, Means, and the manifest presence of God.
When God called Israel out of Egypt, her mission was to enter and conquer the land of promise. God had given to Abraham a “prophesy” of things to come in this regard by telling him that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full. In other words, though God’s will would be the conquering of the land, there was a time factor involved. It would take four hundred years for the inhabitants to come to the place in their hearts and minds, where they would not receive the testimony of God. It would be then in the righteous, patience of God, that He would provide the clear mission to the people of Israel in Egypt, by the mouth of Moses. They were to forsake Egypt, and all that it meant, to traverse a desert, finally arriving at the Jordan River, there to cross, and begin the conquest of Canaan. The mission was clear…conquer and consolidate the land. The means by which this would be accomplished would be the active presence of God in the midst, working by His Spirit to lead, and provide for the people. The ultimate objective of the mission was the manifest presence of God going before, and being with, Israel. God’s presence would distinguish Israel from all the peoples of the earth. It would be through Israel that God would reach out to mankind, to draw out their hearts and minds, to turn to Him and be saved. Dwelling in the conquered land was to be the “normal” experience of a people, loving and serving God. It was to demonstrate to the entire world, that there is a God, one who saves, provides for, and is perfectly good and worthy to be worshipped and adored. The question then becomes: “How does one dwell in the land for this to be so?” Is the manifest presence of God a reality to the believer as it was to the Israelites in the land? Does God desire, and will, to reveal His glory in the lives of all believers today?
The great men and women of faith mentioned in the Bible had this in common; they all learned to appropriate God for their needs. They took what they knew of God in truth, prayed it through, laid hold upon God, believing Him to show Himself a reality to heart, mind, soul, and body. They learned to trust Him solely, and without reserve. The whole of their experience of knowing God was based upon a faith that they received, as they came to learn the truth of God.
In Psalm 90, we find Moses clearly taking that which was, and is true of God, by faith, then praying it to God. For example, He begins: “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” (v.1) What is Moses doing? He is taking eternal truth, and praying it back to God. It is as he prays, that the reality of the truth is born in him, germinating in his heart. He then goes on to declare that the Lord was, “…from everlasting to everlasting,” and that “…a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday.” (v.2, 5) The more Moses prays according to the revealed truth of God, the more his concepts grow. He becomes “established” by God, according to the truth.
Moses is not satisfied however, to just know the truth. His appeal to God is: “Return, O Lord, how long?” Here is a man who has tasted of the heavenly, and is not satisfied until there is the visitation by the Lord on high. By his prayer, bringing the Lord into his life, he begins to learn to dwell in the land, in God, by God, for God.
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see Thy glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad