‘I Have Looked…In The Sanctuary’

‘I Have Looked…In The Sanctuary’

So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

Psalm 63:2

David’s desire after God was a lifelong pursuit. To put it in evangelical terms, His desire after Christ was persistent and pervasive. In solitary labors as a young shepherd of the flock, he sought Christ. As a fugitive, ‘in the wilderness of Judah,’ He sought Christ. In every season of life, we see evidence of his seeking Christ. Our text for the past two days reveals David’s seeking Christ, even in his darkest hours. Our text today speaks of his sight of Christ, ‘in the sanctuary.’ He had beheld Christ by faith through the means of Grace which God had provided for his generation. It is even so for us. God has provided for us the means of Grace whereby the Holy Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. The reading of the Scriptures, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and especially the preaching of Christ, are means whereby God reveals Christ to us. We should go to ‘the sanctuary’ seeking to see Christ. This places great responsibility upon the teacher of the Scripture to ‘cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.’ Here is the standard by which teaching and preaching stands or falls. What is there of Christ for me to see here? ‘The sanctuary’ is a place, not for any less purpose than to lift up Christ, and to make much of Him. Let us seek Him elsewhere, but most of all, let us seek Him there.

O, Christ of our salvation,
we long to see more of You.
Show us Yourself more clearly,
by the power of Your Spirit,
and so teach us, to imitate You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning