More Kings in Rightful Places

Song of Songs: 8:5: "Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?"

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of the hour for love, it would be utterly scorned." (That's just rubbish- it's about discovering God's love for us and our love for God, not things.)

8:13: "You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance; let me hear your voice!

2 Chronicles 6:12:

Solomon stood before the altar, in front of the whole assembly and spread out his hands toward heaven. He said,

"O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth. You who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.

And now O Lord let your word you promised come true. 18: But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet, give attention to my prayer and plea for mercy. Hear my cry and prayer I pray in your presence. May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this of which you said you would put your Name. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place and forgive. ..

Now arise O Gos and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests be cloted with your salvation, may your saints rejoice in your goodness. O Lord, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David, your servant.

When Solomon finished praying fire came down form heaven and consumed the offerings and sacrifice and the glory of the Lord filled the temple! When Israel saw this they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground and they worshiped the Lord giving thanks and saying..."He is good; his love endures forever."

They observed the festival for 7 days and on the 8th day had an assembly. He sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David, Solomon and for his people Israel.

When he had finished the Lord appeared to Solomon:

"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself...

"If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name will be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

Kings Who Took Their Rightful Places

King David sang this song to the Lord when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

Psalm 18

I love you O Lord my strenght. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call the Lord who is worthy of praise and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the Lord. I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundation of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him- the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced with hailstones and bolts of lighting. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most His resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he recued me because he delighted in me....

Taking Our Rightful Places

Let's look at the testimony of some Kings to see what the reality of displacement meant for them.

2 Chronicles 20:16:

"Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up the Pass and you will find them at the end of the gorge. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you." "Oh Judah and Jerusalem, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you."

Jehosophat bowed with his face to the ground and all the people of Judah & Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some praised God with very loud voices.

As they set out, Jehosophat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem. Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."

As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men who were invading Judah and they were defeated. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground, no one had escaped.

Taking Our Rightful Places (Once We Know We've Been Displaced)

Are we able to see how our enemy has displaced us, God's people? Nine years ago my husband and I stepped onto a hand made floor map that depicted the places where people had once lived in an area called District Six, Cape Town, South Africa. We wept.

And in those nine years we've met countless others displaced by war, greed, economics, crime, etc. Ultimately we've all been displaced since the moment Adam and Eve gave dominion over to Satan. The good news is that God knew we would, and yet, He made a plan for us to return- through His Son, Jesus. Before you go thinking this is just an evangelistic ranting....take time to see, to ask yourself... "am I where I'm supposed to be?" "Is this all there is for my life?"

Someone once asked me, "when's it all going to start, Susan?" I thought, 'how should I know?' But out of my mouth came these words... "when people take their rightful places." I was as startled and confused as my friend who'd asked the question. That night in a dream God indicated: Kings 5:5. I woke up and read it immediately. What I deduced was that Solomon knew who he was destined to be and what he was destined to do. And when his father had died and he had succeeded him as king, he chose to take his rightful place in the Kingdom of God, being and doing with all his heart exactly what God had promised his father he would do. Hmm. What about us?

Well, when we are able to admit our displacement God is then able to reveal to us our rightful place. For those of you not able to get past displacement, check out what God says in Hosea 2:14:

"Therefore I am now going to allure her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. In that day," declares the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord."

"In that day I will respond," declares the Lord- "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people;' and they will say, 'You are my God.'"

"I will call upon the Lord!"

Psalm 18, 2 Samuel 22, 2 Chronicles 20 and Petra!

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised!
So shall I be saved from my enemies!
The Lord liveth and blessed be the rock,
And let the God of my salvation be exalted!

The words burst out of my mouth this morning like a declaration in my prayer time! It had been so long since that song was sung that I barely could call the words to mind. Obviously Holy Spirit knew it was just what I need to utter to heaven this morning!

I googled the song and also found an interesting article on worship. I want to give credit to the woman who wrote it, just don't have the notes before me at the mo. Her blog is Just Worship. I'll get the credits after our meeting today. Gotta run off and talk about Jehosophat and King David to encourage Green Market. The city is shutting them down and relocating them for the season to the company gardens. All details are not smoothly arranged and all are up in arms about the whole thing. We so appreciate your prayers as this is their livelihood, to sell their wares at the market to pay their bills, support their family, even their families back in other African countries. This is a huge work that could truly suffer a dangerous blow to their well being.

I had some notes mulling over in my mind from last night. I was re-reading Living from the Heart Jesus Gave you. I liked this: "Every one of has a unique, God-given heart. So does every church. When a church discovers it's God-given identity its ministry flourishes."

I believe BNFRSA is at this precipice. So also is Green Market Square Fellowship. At this very time it's about the market's desperate need for salvation, to know it's God-given identity, individually and corporately. For this is when we begin to grow. Another quote from The Life Model people, "that's the beauty of a church, when it lives in community, when family encourage each other to live from their hearts!" Wow! Can there be such a place of safety and of grace? Where people's hearts are healed and set free? What's in your heart to do? There is the purpose and power of God's glory! A church is a loving family that cares so much about each other that healing and deliverance abound! It's not an introspective thing, just a revelation of the importance of being whole, so that Isaiah 61 is true! The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me! Let's take a look at someone who discovered his God-given identity. A shepherd boy named David, became a King through worship.

Have you ever thought of worship as a weapon you carry into battle? This is what invites God into our circumstances, intimidates our opponent and motivates our victory in Christ! It puts the enemy on notice, on the run and shifts us into a higher gear to be open for God's intervention on our behalf. The Hebrew word for worship is Hallal. It means to make a show or rave about, to glory or boast upon, to be foolish about your adoration of God!

King David praises God for who he is in Psalm 150. Do we know him like this? For who he is, what he's done in our lives? David had a reputation for becoming undignified when he worshiped God. I don't think he cared about his reputation with people as much as he did His relationship with God! Worship shifts our focus from the battle to the Lord! It reminds us he is bigger than any battle! Worship counters the spirit of despair- Isaiah 61:3; 2 Corinthians 2:14; Lord, help each of us to worship you with the voice of triumph. Can we worship like King David?

I will call upon the Lord,
Who is worthy to be praised.
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
I will call upon the Lord.

The Lord liveth and blessed be the rock,
And let the God of my salvation be exalted.
The Lord liveth and blessed be the rock,
And let the God of my salvation be exalted.

I will learn to trust in him,
He will save me from my sin.
So shall I proclaim him the Lord of all.
I will learn to trust the Lord.