The River Of Thy Pleasures

by JOHN MCCORMICK | Category: The River Of Thy Pleasures | Nov 1963

When God called Israel out of Egypt it was that they should be a separated people unto Himself, among whom He could dwell and rule. He was leading them to the land promised centuries before to Abraham, the progenitor of their race. It was a pleasant land, in which they could enjoy the benefits He would bestow upon them, thus giving them cause to be a happy people. Perhaps the greatest purpose God had in them was that they might be in the place of His, choice, where He could dwell among His people to be worshipped and served by them. Many years later, He revealed to David, according to the words of Psalm 132.18-16, the city of His choice;

"For the LORD hath chosen Zion;

He hath desired it for His habitation.

This is My resting place for ever:

Here ,will I dwell; for I have desired it.

I will abundantly bless her provision:

I will satisfy her poor with breed.

Her priests also will I clothe with salvation:

And her saints shall shout aloud for joy."

The temple in Jerusalem was built by Solomon. Its services were ordered by the ordinances which David received of the LORD, and it was dedicated amid scenes of great joy. Why joy ? Because there was the house of God in Jerusalem in their day. Time passed on. Sin crept in. The joy of the people in the house of God was largely lost, and eventually the house was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the people were carried away captive. For seventy years the godly among them mourned:

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,

When we remembered Zion.

Upon the willows in the midst thereof

We hanged up our harps.

For there they that led us captive required of us songs,

And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,

Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the LORD'S song

In a strange land?

If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget her cunning.

Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,

If I remember thee not;

If I prefer not Jerusalem

Above my chief joy" (Psalm 137.1-6).

How it must have rejoiced the hearts of these godly captives when the year of release came

"When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion,

We were like unto them that dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

And our tongue with singing:

Then said they among the nations,

The LORD hath done great things for them.

The LORD hath done great things for us;

Whereof we are glad" (Psalm 126.1-8).

When the day came that the foundation of the house of God was laid in Jerusalem we read,

"But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, the old men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off" (Ezra 3.12, 18).

We live in a time when it has pleased God to raise again His spiritual house. In the early days of this dispensation this house was in being, where service was rendered to God, where sacrifices of thanksgiving were offered and were accepted by Him. But declension came, and like Israel of old the house was destroyed and the children of God found themselves in spiritual Babylon. Out of that confusion God called the faithful. They responded and commenced to build. We have no hesitation in applying the words,

"Blessed (happy) is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee,

That he may dwell in Thy courts:

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, The holy place of Thy temple" (Psalm 65.4).

To each one who is led of God to separate himself from the confusion around, we would say with David, "Happy is the man". In this present year of grace, there is nothing more precious in the sight of God than that which He has called together, "the Fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1.9), "the house of God, which is the church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3.15). "Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2.20-22). "Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2. 5). Is the house of God precious to us as it was to the people in the past? We live in a day of lofty privilege when again we can use the words of the psalm, "Blessed (happy) is the nation whose God is the LORD; the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance" (Psalm 33.12).

May we learn to appreciate increasingly the solemnity and privilege of being in God's house and participating in its worship and service, so that we are able to say sincerely,

"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD;

My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God" (Psalm 84.2),

and that the language of our hearts is

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple."

Then, not till then, shall the sheer delight of the following words be our happy experience,

"Blessed (happy) are they that dwell in Thy house:

They will be still praising Thee (Selah)."

"Blessed (happy) is the man whose strength is in Thee;

In whose heart are the high ways to Zion -

They go from strength to strength,

Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion" (Psalm 84.4-7).