Ps.96:6 – Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
This passage is really the simple key to understanding the life of David and God’s plan of redemption all at the same time. As far as redemption goes, Jesus bought back what we lost at the fall. It wasn’t just long life, health, and prosperity that we lost, we lost access into the very intimate presence of the Father. That was the most stunning thing for Adam and Eve; not that they began to age, get sick, and suffer loss – it was that they no longer could walk in that immediate presence of the Lord. They were created in His image to walk with Him and they lost that. As for David, he tasted this presence for himself when the anointing fell on him and began to abide on him. He was determined to build a house in Jerusalem for just that, the dwelling place of God. Here are Spurgeon’s reflection on this verse.
“In the presence of Jehovah real glory and sovereignty abide, as constant attendants. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. In him are combined all that is mighty and lovely, powerful and resplendent. We have seen rugged strength devoid of beauty, we have also seen elegance without strength; the union of the two is greatly to be admired. Do we desire to see the “sublime and beautiful” at one glance? Then we must look to the eternal throne. In the Chronicles we read strength and gladness; and the two renderings do not disagree in sense, for in the highest degree in this instance it is true that “a thing of beauty is a joy for ever.” Not in outward show or parade of costly robes does the glory of God consist; such things are tricks of state with which the ignorant are dazzled; holiness, justice, wisdom, grace, these are the splendors of Jehovah’s courts, these the jewels and the gold, the regalia, and the pomp of the courts of heaven.”
I love the sound of that, “in the presence of Jehovah”. This is the place of strength and beauty, there is nothing that is comparable to the presence of our great Jehovah God. His strength and power are uncontested, He is absolutely all powerful. His beauty is beyond compare. He has given us glimpses of His perfection in His creation, one moment in His presence shows that even His beautiful creation doesn’t come close to Him. So I am sharing these things hoping that you too will know that this place of sovereign power and beauty is available to you, enter in today to this new and living way to live our lives.
