The Righteous

“They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” (Psalms 84:7)

This psalm is believed to be written by the sons of Korah and compiled by David in the psalms.  In this particular verse, “They” are the righteous.  They are the ones that live in the tabernacle and the house of God, the Levites and priests and those who lived in proximity to the Ark and the tabernacle who had the occasion to worship frequently. (Psalms 84:4)

We must remember that the presence of God came to the Ark when the people gathered to worship and when the priests did their duties.  God did not dwell in them.  They did not have His presence always with them as we do. God the Holy Spirit would come upon a certain one to give mighty strength or whatever was needed to do a specific task.  The righteous then were the ones who followed the Law and obeyed it.

Today the righteous are those whose sins have been forgiven and there is no unrighteousness in them. (1John 1:9) Those who have received God’s precious gift of salvation through Jesus are those who have been given the righteousness of Jesus. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Corinthians 5:21)

The psalmists state that “they go from strength to strength.”  The life of a child of God is always forward from glory to glory. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2Corinthians 3:18) It’s the work of God in us.  Each trial of our faith, each battle or struggle is a test of our faith.  Do we really believe?  Are our words and actions in line with our faith?  Each obedience takes us to the next step, the next glory of God. Each step is an advance in strength. Each day, doing the things that are required, we read the Bible, study the Word, commune with the Holy Spirit, go before the Throne of grace to speak with our Father and give praise and honor to the Lord for the grace in our lives throughout the day, we grow nearer to Him and grow in the knowledge of Him. We continue steadily and consistently, knowing He is with us, in us and for us. “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2Peter 3:17-18)

In the days of the sons of Korah, the people had to go to the place of worship to commune with God. It was in Jerusalem where the Ark and the tabernacle were. Then Solomon built the temple and that was where the people would meet with God at the times of worship.  But in the covenant that Jesus ratified by His death and resurrection, the Lord sent the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit to live and indwell in us. God is always with us. We don’t have to go to a special place to meet with our God.  Now, it’s important to clarify why we must go to church even though we are always in God’s presence.

Peter explains this so graphically so that we can understand.  First, He writes that Jesus is the living stone and in other Scriptures the corner stone of the foundation of our faith.  Without Jesus there is no foundation, nothing to base our faith on. “To Whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,” (1Peter 2:4) and it continues in verse 6: “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.” (1Peter 2:6) Jesus is the living chief corner stone, Who without all crumbles.  But we, as the holy priesthood of the Lord are also living stones building a spiritual house, an altar for the holy sacrifice of praise. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1Peter 2:5) When we gather together and worship the Lord, we are acting as His royal priesthood offering together the sacrifice of praise.  Yes, we can praise Him alone in our quiet time and throughout the day, but when we gather together, we are acting in our capacity as priests before our Lord and God. This makes corporate worship which is holy and acceptable to God imperative. We don’t want to miss this time by coming late or not coming together with other believers at all.