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Established in Zion
“They will be made to remember me:
Rahab and Babel to know me;
Behold, Philistia and Tyre along with Cush.
‘This one was born there.’
And of Zion, it was said of him,
This man was born in her.
The Most High himself will establish her.”
(Psalm 87:4-5)
As are many of the Psalms, this psalm is deeply evangelistic, anticipating the going out of the Gospel that is formally commissioned by Christ, though is found throughout the Old Testament as well. Even as far back as God’s covenant with Abraham there is a promise that all of the nations will find their blessing in him and in his seed (Genesis 12:2-3). Here we see much the same spirit, the psalmist looks out to the nations surrounding Israel and essentially says of them, though people from the nations will have a birthplace in Cush and Philistia, etc… they will be made to identify with Zion, the eternal city of God — a physical birth in the nations, but a spiritual rebirth by God, building his church.
Notice how these verses begin as well. The psalmist writes: “they will be made to remember me.” This is the Hiphil form of the verb rkz (zakar — “to remember” or “to speak of”). The Hiphil form makes it causative, thus we find God bringing about this remembering, this thinking of the things of God himself. How often we flirt with the idea that we choose God when the testimony of Scripture is consistently that He chooses us…and we do not deserve that choosing. Yet, I wonder whether we who are chosen make enough of God’s name…remembering Him and remembering His expectations for our life.
The last words of these verses are also of the utmost importance to us. Who establishes Zion and her people? God — the Most High himself. Were it any other, then one’s citizenship in the heavenly Zion would be untenable on a good day. Sin is such that it pervades the totality of our being and all of our actions. What a lot that we are, for we can only ever act righteously if God himself (through his Spirit) is directing our actions! Woe to us if we are apart from Christ! Yet, praise be to God that he does direct our actions and that he does hold us securely in his hand so that none may fall out! And in light of that great assurance, the Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are Sons (and Daughters) of God. How can we ever show our gratefulness adequately!
Friends, our problem is not that we are not grateful. Our problem (I believe) is twofold. First, we often do not meditate deeply enough on the horrific nature of our sins and thus do not appreciate grace as greatly as we ought. Second, we get so busy with the cares of this world that we neglect the care of our eternal souls and do not express our gratefulness as we ought. Sadly, many Christians are more like Cain, offering leftovers as our sacrifice to God, rather than being like Abel, offering the best. And thus, sin crouches at our door as well, seeking to take dominion over us. Let that not happen and let our song of joy be that we are established (eternally) in Zion.
Ego Eripiam
The third of our statements deals with the relationship of Satan toward believers—“I will snatch them” or “I will steal them away.” While we would affirm in our theology that the believer is held by Christ and can never be separated from his hand (John 6:37; 10:28; Romans 8:37-39), the reality of Satan’s eventual failure does not dissuade him from this attempt to make us stumble and fall away from our Lord and master. He is a persistent foe. This phrase could be embellished with some of the means that our enemy employs: Ego Territabo (“I will intimidate”) or Ego Onerabo (“I will weary” or “I will oppress”).
In contrast to Jesus, who gives life and life abundant (John 10:10), but the thief, which is Satan, only comes to kill and destroy. He comes to undermine the work of the fellowship and to frustrate our labors. Though he knows he cannot win, he strives toward that end. Peter describes him as a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) seeking someone to devour. Jesus describes him as a wolf, seeking to prey upon the weak sheep (John 10:12). John describes him as a dragon who deceives the world and seeks to lash out and destroy the followers of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:9,17).
So, what is our response to this kind of wild enemy. Peter says that we are to be sober-minded and watchful. Being sober-minded means that one’s mind must be clear from distractions and from all of those things that would flatter us so as to lead us astray. As the man who is drunk acts in a way that is both unwise and unlike his character, so the man who is sober-minded should act in a spirit of wisdom and in a way that is consistent with the Godly character that the Spirit has instilled in us. It is to remain self-controlled even in situations where threat arises.
And to be aware of those threats, we must be watchful. This is a military term reflecting the guard that we must have on the wall to warn us of the temptation of sin (Ezekiel 3:16-21). We are not to be like the ostrich burying its head in the sand. We must not be found asleep at the post. The Apostle Paul even uses this term of watchfulness as an analogy of being alive (1 Thessalonians 5:10), a reminder that life and death are the matters with which we are dealing; a serious reminder indeed, particularly in a world that rarely takes seriously the warnings that scripture sets before us.
Though Harry Houdini may not be a model example of Christian faith (his heritage was Jewish), he is an example of what it means to be sober-minded and watchful as a Christian. Many of his stunts, from the perspective of an outside observer, were death-defying, reckless, and foolish. Yet, when you realize that Houdini never performed a stunt that had not been planned out and rehearsed many times with many safeguards in place, you must confess that reckless is not a term that can be properly applied. From the perspective of a non-Christian, sometimes the work that Christians do seems equally reckless and foolish. Christians regularly go and minister to people in plague infested areas knowing that they too might contract the disease, but doing so for the sake of the Gospel. My favorite missionary, John Paton, went to Tana Island in the New Hebrides which was populated by several cannibal tribes and his life was at constant risk. Yet, he went anyway. I have worked with inner-city drug addicts in a place where at one time the shelter’s director was stabbed by a man staying there. The Christian goes, though, because the Christian understands that the call of God is more important than the risks. At the same time, the Christian goes knowing the risks that are present and does not ever go until one has bathed himself in prayer and sought the prayers of others. Like Houdini, there are risks certainly, but the risks are approached in sober preparation.
The Devil seeks to snatch you out of the hand of God. That cannot be done, but that does not mean that the resultant tug-o-war on your life will always be a pleasant thing. At the same time, in knowing who the victor will be, it enables you to stretch beyond your limits and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Given our fallen and sinful state, there is a great deal of stretching left to be done to prepare us for God’s heaven—what are we waiting for; step into the call that God has placed upon your life.
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