Anticipate His Return
Psalm 87 predicts that God’s people will come to Him, to His heavenly city, from every corner of the globe. The psalmist, looking forward with the eyes of faith and anticipating the coming of the Messiah, describes how God’s people will come to Him through Jesus Christ from the east (represented by Babylon), from the west (Philistia), from the north (Tyre), from the south (Rahab, or Egypt), and from the ends of the earth (Cush, or modern-day Ethiopia). What a promise that we can anticipate with joy and thanksgiving!
Hebrews says that 2,000 years before Christ, Abraham looked forward to the city built on the Rock of Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ—a city beyond earthly Jerusalem that would be founded on the Messiah. This is why when Jesus told the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad,” they wanted to stone Him (John 8:56). They did not believe Jesus’ bold claim that “before Abraham was born, I am!” (v. 58). Jesus is the cornerstone; He is the foundation, and any other foundation will collapse sooner or later.
Like Abraham and the psalmist, all of us who love the church of Jesus Christ, all of us who belong to Him, look forward to the day when we are gathered together from every nation, tribe, and tongue and from every corner of the globe. “Indeed, of Zion it will be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.’ The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: ‘This one was born in Zion.’ As they make music they will sing, ‘All my fountains are in you’” (Psalm 87:5-7).
In Psalm 45:14-15, the bride (us!) is led in with joy and gladness to the palace of the king. Here the psalmist urges us to look forward to this future, seeing who we are, who we will be, and where we will be for eternity. As you joyfully anticipate the coming King, ask yourself, “Where are my fountains?”
Prayer: Lord, may my joy and confidence be in Messiah, faithful, constant, and true. You are my rock and my salvation. All my fountains are in You. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).
Check out more from Dr. Michael Youssef, here!