Psalm 87 shows us that God’s heart is set on Zion with Christ in it. Yes, God cares for the tents of Jacob and for His people, but what He wants is Zion, His city, with Christ in it.
In Psalm 85 the psalmist says, “Restore us, O God” (v. 4), desiring that God would restore His people. In Psalm 86 the psalmist says, “Save Your servant who trusts in You, O You who are my God” (v.
2). What the seeking ones care, many times, is for God’s restoration, God’s saving us from many things, and for being released from sufferings. But God cares for Zion with Christ! May we be those who care for what God cares!
God’s heart is set on Zion
Why is God’s heart set on Zion? It is here, in Zion, that God dwells, and it is here that Christ is installed as King. Zion is the elevated place in the city of Jerusalem where the temple is built and where God dwells.
Our heart needs to be filled with highways to Zion (Psa. 84:5), until our heart would match and line up with God’s desire, which is Zion with Christ! God’s heart is set on the city of God with Christ installed as King.
This Christ is everything in God’s economy, and He is installed as king in Zion!
Matt. 17:5 shows us that God doesn’t want the law or the prophets, no matter how good they are – God delights in His Son, the Beloved!
God’s heart is in Christ, and He desires Christ to be preeminent in everything. Psa. 48:1-2 says, beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Christ is here, in Zion, on the highest peak, installed as King.
Whenever we praise the elevated Christ in our spirit, we automatically become part of the elevated city, the Zion with Christ in it!
Not caring for other things but Zion
We as believers in Christ and as loving seekers of God are just like the psalmists – we want God to restore us, revive us, save us from this and that, and we especially want God to deliver us from all kinds of sufferings that come our way.
None of these are bad or evil in themselves, but at the same time none of them is what God desires. God desires Zion with Christ – He wants to gain the city of God, the strengthened and uplifted house of God to be the kingdom of God.
If He gains Zion, if we pray according to His desire to gain Zion, we will get all the other things as well. But Zion should be our primary desire and focus!
The church is the real restoration, the real salvation, the real deliverance. Even when we pray for things like these, which are positive in many ways, we need to primarily focus on God’s desire, on Zion.
Many believers have prayed and are still praying for deliverance, salvation, freedom from sin, release from bondage, removing of the sufferings, etc… In God’s eyes, what He desires, what He focuses on, is Zion!
Our seeking and our praying should be according to God’s heart, which is for Christ and the church as the city of God. When God gets Christ enthroned in Zion and the church strengthened and uplifted as the city of God, He can gain the whole earth!
Everything God does is for Zion with Christ
God saves us not so that we wouldn’t perish but have eternal life – He saved us and is continually saving us for Zion. He is transforming us, renewing us, conforming us, building us up, so that He would gain Zion, the city of God, with Christ in it.
When God gains Zion, when He gets the city of God with Christ on the throne, He can gain the whole earth.
We tend to focus on minuscule matters, the obvious problems and things in front of us, but not focus on God’s desire and the purpose of God in creating us and saving us. How we need to have our view uplifted and our vision strengthened to see Zion, God’s desire, God’s city with Christ in it!
Our view and our vision need to be uplifted from seeing our own needs and the needs of others – to seeing God’s need, His heart’s desire, what makes Him happy.
The truth is that if God gets what He desires, if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33), all the other things will be given to us as well.
God just wants Christ in Zion, He wants Zion with Christ – He does everything for His Christ, for His Zion, and for His house and His city in order that one day He might gain the entire earth through Christ with His overcomers. God is for this, and we are for this.
This is God’s economy and His desire!
Lord, we want to lift up our eyes from seeing what we immediately need and what others need – to seeing what God desires. O, Lord, make Your heart’s desire be our heart’s desire. You care for Christ in Zion and You desire to gain Zion with Christ as the King. Lord, gain what You are after. We are for this also, Lord – we desire Zion with Christ! We desire that You would build up Your church, You would obtain Your Bride, and You would gain Your overcomers who will bring You back!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from the life-study of Psalms, and Christ and the church revealed and typified in the Psalms, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 15;
- Also recommended: the desire of God’s heart is set on Zion with Christ – will you be an overcomer?
- Hymns on this topic:
# Zion is God’s habitation. Sing praises in Zion, the city of our king!
# Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness.
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