Sent From the Lord’s Table

(Ps.127 & 128)

We are sent from a place of communion, of true spiritual fellowship, with the Lord.  The Lord will bring heavenly awareness and revelation of Himself according to the magnitude of our present calling.  Too many are in a hurry to “change the world”.  Mother Teresa is quoted as saying something like this.  “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”  Jesus did that for 30 years before He left Nazareth to fulfill the will of His Father in heaven.  My point in repeating that is that if we do not learn to love family, and in the process learn to love Him more, our love is not real.  We do not know what love really is.  True religion is to care for the orphan and the widow.  Begin with your own family so that no one is made an orphan or widow.  Or a widower for that matter.  We learn first in knowing His great love for us.  It takes focused time in His presence.

Read the referenced psalms.  It begins speaking of a city, and our focus is brought to the city that the Lord is building.  Men build cities, they make names for themselves.  (Gen. 11:4)  It will all come to nothing.  Confusion enters into all that men do without the Lord’s initiative.  This age and all of man’s construction will pass away.  Let us learn to edify one another by the Spirit, in love and honor toward the Lord, that His city may be built.  He is building an eternal dwelling, a heavenly city.  Only that city will remain.  And the Spirit cautions us in Psalm 127 not to do the watching over the city in our strength.  Don’t burn the wick, the candle that you are, from both ends.  No burnout!

This psalm is a song written by Solomon.  It is called a song of ascents.  We are on our way up, to a higher place, a place of the Lord’s perspective.  May we not be fearful of the heights trusting that He will be our guide.  He is the good shepherd, faithful and trustworthy, the One we must focus upon.  So, as with John’s revelation, the picture of the city, shifts to a family.  For John, he saw the bride, the wife of the Lamb.  Solomon writes of a family of children.  He is writing of natural children but more than this.  I hear of the Father’s spiritual children.

First consider natural children.  They never “belong” to us as parents.  We are responsible to nurture, to raise them, and then release them.  They are the Lord’s inheritance.  They are like arrows in the hand of warrior.  Happy is the one whose quiver is full of them.  The Lord and all the host of heaven rejoice when new ones are born of the Spirit.  And godly parents rejoice with the little ones around their table.  If they are wise spiritually they will raise them to honor God and respect all authority.  Yet they will teach them, by example, to recognize usurped, corrupt authority and to resist all darkness.

The Spirit speaks to me concerning the preparation of the arrows for flight.  The shaft is made straight and polished.  The feathers must be placed carefully so that the flight will be true to its target.  Then a sharp and balanced arrowhead must be set.  After all that, the arrow is placed in a quiver to be withdrawn at the right time.  Do you hear the Spirit speaking of a full preparation?  We are not to be in a rush.  He, the Lord of the harvest, the Lord of the battle, knows when to set you in His bow.  Wise, godly parents know when to release their children into the Lord’s direct parenting.  Children are under our care and nurturing for a time.  Then we should encourage them to move out knowing the voice of the One who is the Good Shepherd to each of us.

A final thought from Ps. 128:3.  Our heavenly Father has many children like olive plants around His table.  So may it be in our families and fellowships.  True fruitfulness in every area of our lives will result as we sit at the table together.  In my Spirit, I have seen a progressive picture of seats at the Lord’s table.  First, as I was taking the seat He had prepared for me, I saw empty seats and heard our Father’s desire that they be filled.  See Eph. 2:6, and Ps. 23:5.  He looks for all men to come and know Him where He sits is in the heavenly realm.  At a later time I saw a table with many seated around.  The table grew to allow for many to come and then I was aware of many interconnected tables which I understood were the many prayer fellowships around the globe.  The Lord is rapidly expanding a global, interconnected house of prayer!

The Lord is calling and many are responding.  Many more are still on their way.  They will be like olive plants, filled with His Spirit to overflowing.  They carry His life wherever they go.  They will be like arrows in His quiver, straightened and fitted for Him to shoot as He chooses.  Know that His working and preparation continue as the olives are pressed so that the oil will flow.  He who began a good work in us together will complete until His glorious day.  See Phil. 1:6.