A Divine Preference and its Reasons
W. A. Gray. Psalm 87:2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. When the Roman soldier went out to fight, his battle-cry was "Pro aris et focis" — that is, for altars and hearths. It was not of his fields that he thought, it was not of his beeves — or at any rate it was not of these in the first place, but of treasures he held dearer still, the inmates of his dwelling, the honour of his gods. Now, it is these two thoughts, of home and of sanctuary, that are brought together in the text. What are the "dwellings of Jacob"? Are they not just the peaceful homesteads scattered up and down the land, in which families dwelt together in unity with themselves, and in covenant with their God? And what are the "gates of Zion"? Are they not a symbol of the common convocations when they gathered for religious worship — to pray, to praise, and to sacrifice? I. GOD'S REGARD FOR THE FAMILY. We may prove it by various facts, and in especial by three, 1. Consider the place God has given to the family in the economy of nature. For what is home — home, I mean, where it attains its destined ideal and fulfils its appropriate ends? It is a means of protection for the young, hiding them in their defenceless years from the sight of evil and the strife of tongues. It is a ministry of refreshment for the old, calming and recruiting them in their hours of weariness after the bustle and fret of toil. And it is a school of charity for all. 2. Consider the place God has given the family in the kingdom of grace. Let us never forget that there is a law of heredity in grace. There exists a principle of transmission, on which Scripture lays abundant stress, by which the generations are made one, linked together in a chain of blessing. 3. Consider, too, the place that God has given the family in the discipline of Christ. Can there possibly be a stronger proof of the honour which God sets on the household than the fact that to the household's keeping and to the household's care He entrusted the most precious treasure of heaven, the noblest life on earthy II. GOD'S GREATER REGARD FOR THE CHURCH. The text says that, good and beautiful as home is, the assembly of the saints is better. And why? Why is it that, while God delighted in these peaceable habitations, each beneath its vine and fig-tree, the nurseries of brave young men and pure and gentle maidens, sons as plants grown up in their youth, daughters as corner-stones polished after the similitude era palace, He took still greater delight in the temple services at Jerusalem? 1. The Church's fellowship is more catholic. However close, however sacred, and however enriching the fellowship of the family is, it is the fellowship of those that are one in blood. As such it is circumscribed. And there is an element of selfishness in it, innocent selfishness if you will, permissible selfishness, but selfishness notwithstanding, a certain home-contrariness which may easily turn to exclusiveness, coldness towards the wants, and indifference towards the interests, of those beyond. But in the fellowship of the Church the range is extended, the horizon is enlarged. We are out on the open platform of grace. 2. The Church's testimony is more public. Home means privacy, home means seclusion; there is the erection of a certain barrier, the intervention of a certain screen. And therefore the witness of home, however consistent and faithful, may be said to begin and to end with the inmates of home; it is seldom far-reaching, because little observed. It is otherwise with the Church; publicity is of its very essence. The character of the Church is maintained, the ends of the Church are fulfilled, not when it edifies itself merely, but when it makes confession to the world. 3. The Church's character is more spiritual. The Church is the special abode of the Holy Ghost, whose living and personal presence gives meaning to every privilege and might to every agency, purifying the Church's life, prospering the Church's work. And, in comparing the Church with the family, may we not say that the Church has ampler provisions, finer adaptations, more sacred and select appliances, more ample and effective energies, for the maintenance of God's worship, the proclamation of His message, and, as a consequence of both, the saving and the sanctifying of souls? 4. The Church's experiences are more permanent. There are duties and joys of the domestic life which it would be wrong to say, "I am acting and feeling now as I shall act and feel in heaven," for we shall be changed in more ways than we think, if by grace we get there. But we can say so of worship. For the exercises of worship are spiritual, they are therefore abiding and unalterable; the future can make no real change in them. Both home and Church have their close connection with the heavenly life. But while home life prepares for it, Church life anticipates it. The one is a training, the other is an earnest. III. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE TEXT, with its elevation of Church over home, in the aspects, and for the purposes we have spoken of, is suggestive of various practical lessons. I. It means comfort for the homeless. Though God has denied you the lesser good, He offers you the greater. If He has shut the door of home, He has thrown wide the door of the Church. 2. The text suggests a caution to those who have homes. For though the Church may be a substitute for home, home can in no wise be a substitute for the Church. Beware of imagining that it may. See to it that the home points upwards to the Church. Teach your children to take their place at the Church's services. Accustom them to bear a share in the Church's work. Always keep before them the duty of communicating at the Church's table, and making avowal of the Church's Lord. (W. A. Gray.) Parallel Verses KJV: The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. WEB: Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.