Word of Encouragement (05/16/2023)
"There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. 27 The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, 'Destroy.' 28 So Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down dew. 29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs."
Moses reminds God’s people how blessed they are to have the eternal God as their dwelling place. As an eternal God, He is not bound by time. He dwells outside of time and therefore is not subject to the succession of time; He does not grow old because He dwells in the eternal present. He was there before time existed and He will be there even after time expires. Indeed, it is He who created time when He created the heavens and the earth. Though He exists outside of time, He is ever present in time from beginning to end. No moment in time is outside of His sovereign lordship.
If the eternal God should be our dwelling place, we should not worry that our shelter should ever break down or get destroyed. In this world, we can have a shelter one day and not have one the next due to an earthquake, tornado, tsunami, or bombing. Vain is our confidence in earthly shelters. But that is not the case when the eternal God is our dwelling place. Even after we die, even after heaven and earth pass away, we will have our dwelling place in our eternal God.
If the eternal God should be our dwelling place, how safe we are! The Hebrew word is often used for the lion’s lair (Amo. 3:4) or the den of other beasts. So, this word does not so denote a place of living as a place of hiding and resting. We can see ourselves as lions resting in their lairs or lion cubs safely tucked away from danger in their lairs. As the scorching wind of time passes by us, we will grow wrinkled and weary; our vitality will dry up and our last day on this earth will knock on our door. This earthly tent, in which we live, will get worn out and be destroyed someday. But the eternal God is no man that He should be here and gone the next day. From everlasting to everlasting, He is God and He is our dwelling place.
Can we say that God is our dwelling place simply by existing in His created world? No, we do not get to have God as our dwelling place simply by being born into this world. To have the eternal God as our dwelling place is a covenantal privilege: it is given only to those who have been brought into covenant union with Him through the saving work of Jesus Christ. To those, who are outside of Christ, the eternal God cannot be their dwelling place. For they rebel against God in their idolatry and sin. How can they find rest and safety in God when they are at enmity with God? To them, God is a consuming fire, not a dwelling place, even though they live and move and have their being in God’s world. But anyone, who comes to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance, will have God as their dwelling place. Because the eternal God is their dwelling place, they will have eternal life in union with Him.
Do you feel fearful and vulnerable? Do you feel all alone out in a fallen and dangerous world? Put your faith in this truth that, because you believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal God is your eternal dwelling place. Nothing can harm you and separate you from His eternal love for you. Let this truth speak peace and resto to your turbulent heart. Abide in your eternal God by submitting to Him. Abide in Him through prayer and prayerfulness.