August 7 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

These meditations are on the psalms. All those songs about Zion, the temple, and the Son of David really make sense when they are sung In the New Testament church.

Bible Reading:

Psalm 48

Bible Text:

Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain

(Ps. 48:1).

Devotional:

This psalm glorifies God and the city where he lives.

Mount Zion is the hill in old Jerusalem where the temple and palace were located. It represented the heart of the life of God's people. The hill of Zion was God's address in the ancient world. And Jerusalem was the holy city because it contained the temple on that hill.

Today Jerusalem is a caldron of religious disputes. The city and its ancient ruins are coveted by "Zionist" Jews. Mount Zion is also regarded as sacred by Muslims and by many Christians because it was there, many claim, that Abraham sacrificed his son and that Jesus became the Lamb of God.

Biblically speaking, Jerusalem is no holier than Montreal or Chicago. God's residence is holy, but God no longer dwells in any structure on any mountain. God lives in his people, who are many yet one.

By faith in Christ, Gentiles are "fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too [believers from all nations] are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" (Eph. 2:19-22).

This is today's Zion. Blessed and secure are those who live there.