Psa 132:11-18 “For thy Servant David’s Sake Turn not Away the Face of Thine Anointed” – Part 2

[Study Aired September 26, 2019]

The title of our study “For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed” reminds me of the following verses which reveal how Christ and His Christ, by extension (1Jn 4:17), are represented by a physical mirror we look into and continues therein, that is likened unto “the perfect law of liberty” in James 1:25.

Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jas 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Jas 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
Jas 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Christ is our liberty, “and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2Co 3:17, Gal 6:2). It is the disciples indeed, who as a result of continuing in the word by the grace and faith of Christ (Eph 2:8), can be cleansed of those things of which we come to see need to be washed, (Jas 1:21) and “be delivered from, the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Joh 13:14, Rom 8:21).

The disciples who believed on Christ, spoken of in the book of John (Joh 8:31-32, Php 1:29) were coming unto Christ or the mount (Psa 121:1) but would only become a sea of glass [mirror], to which the elect are likened (Rev 15:2) by continuing to be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44). So, Christ said “If ye continue [abide] in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Our flesh (2Co 3:14, Eph 5:30) will go where it does not want to go if we are Christ’s disciples (Joh 21:18, Mat 20:22), but the end result is that the beasts within us is/will be destroyed (Exo 19:11-14). Like Moses, who typifies the elect, we will be dragged to the place that results in our being able to reflect His glory (Joh 6:44, 2Co 3:9-14). Moses going to the mount typifies (1Pe 1:12) our going to Christ today (Psa 121:1), not so that we have this temporary reflection of Christ from our outward face, this anon with joy relationship that will soon fade when persecution comes as a result of the word (Mat 13:20-21), but rather to become a new creation with an inward man who has been blessed to be able to read and hear and keep the sayings of the prophecy (Rev 1:3) and continue to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ by abiding and continuing in Christ through God’s holy spirit which causes us to become a new creation (Col 1:24 2Co 5:17).

Exo 19:11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai [process of judgment Luk 13:32].
Exo 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
Exo 19:13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long [Rom 2:4, Rev 8:4-5], they shall come up to the mount.
Exo 19:14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes [type of Joh 17:17)].

2Co 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
2Co 3:10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
2Co 3:11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
2Co 3:12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
2Co 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

The ‘earth, earth, earth’ of Jeremiah 22:29 goes through a lifetime of much tribulation and fiery trials which come about as the result of being disciples of Christ (2Ti 3:12). We are granted to look into the perfect law of liberty and remember what we saw there, as Christ works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Rom 2:4, 2Co 3:18, Php 2:13).

As a result of that merciful process of being dragged and judged by what we see in the word (1Pe 4:17, Jer 26:9, Psa 12:6) or the mirror, we will continue therein typifying our following Christ, and we will be able to go onto perfection and inherit the kingdom outwardly, even as we now possess it in earnest (Luk 13:32, Luk 12:32, Eph 1:14).

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Washing each other’s feet as Christ commanded us to do is what is happening when we are blessed to “continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (1Co 3:8-15). We are blessed because God gives us the strength to continue in the Lord, or in his words, which we are blessed to not only believe but also continue to abide in together so we can be sanctified by those words of life which quicken us (Joh 6:29, Joh 6:63, Php 1:29). We will go on to perfection in this age, Lord willing, not suffering the loss of being saved “so as by fire” in the lake of fire, or great white throne judgment.

The point of God saving the weak of the world first is to demonstrate to all nations that God can make His strength perfect through His disciples indeed, or through His kind of first fruits who are blessed to be examples who first trusted in Christ (Eph 1:12). We are ambassadors of Christ and are the first to become mature sons under the sun of righteousness who is doing the ripening and giving us the power to be the light of the world to one another and to those who will one day glorify God for the work and increase (1Co 3:6) which He did through us today (1Co 11:1-2, Mal 4:2, 1Pe 2:12-13).

1Co 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
1Co 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name [obey his commandments] shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

1Pe 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
1Pe 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

Abiding ‘in the mirror’ or in the word or in Christ, leads us to examine ourselves if we be in the faith or not, and God’s holy spirit convicts us that we are an unprofitable servant who has done that which is expected of him day by day as we die daily (Luk 17:10, 2Co 13:5). This conviction and spirit is the gift God bestows upon the bride of Christ who is being made ready because of our Father’s good pleasure to do so today as we are abased through Christ and humbled under His mighty hand (Luk 12:32, Rev 19:7, Mat 23:12). The “on that day” spoken of in John 14:20 is what is required for us to reflect Christ in this world, keeping the ordinances as they were delivered to us via God’s word and submitting ourselves “to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake”. Our conversation, or the way we conduct ourselves as Christ’s ambassadors, must be honest, and that honest relationship includes the statement “We ought to obey God rather than men” and “let God be true, but every man a liar” (Act 5:29, Rom 3:3-4).

Christ, who is working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, makes it possible for us to be doers of the word, not deceiving our selves by being found with our own righteousness (Php 2:13, Jas 1:22, Php 3:9); and the sentence “For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed” should now be understood in our hearts to be speaking to us, God’s elect, who are typified by David who is anointed to not turn away his face from the law liberty, or mirror, Jesus Christ.

It is only by continuing in that relationship, and by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (Heb 10:25) that we will be able to go from glory to glory as we wash each other’s feet with the spirit of God which quickens us and brings about the liberty God gives us through Him as these books of life are written out to His glory (We are that book of remembrance, that testimony being laid up to the glory of God who is causing our actions and writing the book to His glory to also provide contrast for the ages to come of how those weak of the world, basest of men, who were his called and chosen, had been determined by God’s decree to be faithful witnesses from the foundation of the world – Mal 3:16-18) expressed in this Psalm in this manner, “For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed.”

God is the one who does the turning or not turning away of a man’s heart (Jer 10:23), but if we are His in this life, we have been anointed for that purpose to demonstrate to the world through our discipleship toward one another (Joh 13:35) that we can continue in the word of God and be our brother’s keeper, enduring to the end through Christ (Php 4:13).

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

The throne of King David is a type (1Co 10:11, 1Pe 1:12) of the thrones God will give to His elect to rule the nations (Mat 19:27-28, Luk 18:29-30, Rev 11:15) and the spirit of antiChrist is the spirit which says there is no time when Christ will rule the nations of men within, and ultimately without, on those twelve thrones that represent the government of God (1Jn 4:1-3).

Mat 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? [what is required to forsake all 2Ti 2:1-15]
Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [1Co 6:3]
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life [Mat 12:50].
Mat 19:30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Luk 18:29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Luk 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

1Jn 4:1 BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world [How God’s elect will overcome that spirit of antiChrist and the vessels of dishonor within and without through Christ as we fight the good fight of faith together (2Ti 2:16-26)]

We must be granted the spiritual fulfillment of these words in our life: “Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne“, and if we are the redeemed of the Lord who are being redeemed then we can labor to enter into that rest (Heb 4:11) knowing that “The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it“, meaning our labor in the Lord is not in vain, and it will bring forth “the fruit of thy body” because Christ is producing that fruit through the spiritual lineage of David (The church the body of Christ – Col 1:24) about which this parable in Psalm 132:11 is speaking.

We must however overcome those vessels of dishonor within and without through Christ and come to learn and be convinced (Rom 8:38-39) that the gates of hell within and without cannot prevail against the church or body of Christ, and that overcoming is being done to the glory of God, “the fruit of thy body“, which comes as a result of being connected to the vine, Jesus Christ (Joh 15:5).

Paul likened Timothy to a “beloved son” who was “faithful in the Lord”, and he brought the church into remembrance of Paul’s “ways which be in Christ”.

1Co 4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

To read and hear and keep the sayings of the prophecy of Revelation 1:3 is expressed in the old covenant in this manner: “If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them“, and the ongoing promise that God’s word will continue to be established from generation to generation upon those whom God has called, ordained, or sealed is stated this way in the old covenant: “their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore“, and expressed this way in the new covenant:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Joh 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Why has the LORD “chosen Zion” and “desired it for his habitation“? Zion, as we know, is spiritual language for the church (Oba 1:21), Christ’s footstool^{G5286 G4228} where “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it“. It is through the church’s experience of being bruised in this life (Col 1:24, Isa 53:10, 1Jn 4:17, 2Ti 2:12) that we will be prepared to rule and reign under him (Rev 20:6).

Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

Mat 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Mar 12:36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Luk 20:43 Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Act 2:35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.

Act 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? [This is my rest for ever!]

He desires this relationship, and He loves us, and He is making His strength perfect through the weak of the world (1Co 1:26). He is preparing the church to show all the world through the church the same love and desire He has toward us (Joh 3:16). He will and does “abundantly bless her provision” and “satisfy her poor with bread” to this end: (1Co 15:22). Twice in verse 15 our Lord inspires the words “I will” to remind us that all of this will be accomplished, not by might or power, but by His holy spirit and the church, and its salvational purpose will be fulfilled (Php 2:13).

Salvation was given to the sons of Aaron in type and shadow, and not to the Levites, and that point accords with the fact that many are called and few are chosen (Mat 22:14) to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Heb 13:10, Num 3:2-9). God’s elect are called kings and priests in the new covenant (Rev 5:10), clothed with the righteousness of Christ (Rev 19:8, Isa 61:10) who know that this righteousness has come from Him: “I will also clothe her priests with salvation“, and because of this growing confidence which we have in what He has promised He will start and finish within us, “her saints shall shout aloud for joy” (Php 1:6, Heb 10:35, Php 4:4).

Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Num 3:2 And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Num 3:3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.
Num 3:4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.
Num 3:5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 3:6 Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.
Num 3:7 And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.
Num 3:8 And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.
Num 3:9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Still speaking about the church, Christ’s place of rest and where her priests are clothed with salvation, we are told “There will I make the horn of David to bud“, there will I demonstrate my power “the horn of David to bud“. The budding is a reminder that this is the testimony of Jesus Christ being laid up in the lives of the few at first, and was also typified by Aaron’s rod that budded, demonstrating again the miracle of our calling and the tremendous honor of being among those who are given to rule and reign under Jesus Christ (Rev 19:9). God has told us that this will happen, and He has “ordained a lamp for mine anointed” to remind us today that this work He is doing through His little remnant is not being accomplished by might nor power but by His holy spirit, symbolized by the lamp in the temple of God which represents the two witnesses of Jesus Christ, the church which is His body (Zec 4:6-14, Rev 11:3).

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses [Rev 19:8], and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

If we are granted to decrease as Christ increases in us (Joh 3:30), then these words will apply to us: “His enemies will I clothe with shame” as we are led to repentance through the process of sanctification and judgment to which we are called (Isa 26:9). That judgment will cause Christ’s righteousness or “his crown” to “flourish” within us, and if we are blessed to grow unto mature sons in this age, we will demonstrate that maturity by living these words today which are found in Revelation 4:10-11 as we daily acknowledge where those crowns of righteousness came from, and Who has always been deserving of all the glory and honor in each and every life (Luk 17:10).

Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

The enemies of the cross are primarily within us, but they are also without (Act 20:31) and we are told not to let any man, including and especially within ourselves, take that crown. To take that crown away from ourselves is to be found with our own righteousness and claim that crown as something that we have achieved or had something to do to make it come about (1Co 9:25, Rev 3:11, Mat 7:22, Php 3:9).

Act 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

This last verse we’ve looked at will be accomplished by these prophetic words being fulfilled in our life in the generation Christ is working with and will be done to the glory of God: “For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed“.