The zeal of Thine house

Psalm 69:9

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

What a wondrous statement! A statement fulfilled in Christ, when He cast out the money changers and merchandise from the temple. This verse came to the mind of the disciples when they saw Jesus with a scourge of cords, chasing all the thieves and merchants out of the temple. God’s House was to be a house of prayer, not a house of merchandise! And so it is to be this day. Jesus was just simply fulfilling the words of the psalm, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” And “the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” This just means that if someone affronted God by desecrating His house, repurposing it for profane ends, then the reproach that God received from that was felt by the psalmist. And so it was with Christ. As the scribes, Pharisees, Jews, and Gentiles reproached and profaned God’s House, Jesus felt the reproach and effrontery upon Himself. He received it as if it were done to Him. Do we love God’s House this much? Are we offended when people treat it carelessly, tritely, flippantly? Are we offended when the House of God is being used for merchandise, self-gain, and gossip? Does it anger us when people that are called “God’s people” walk through the doors ready to call attention to themselves and call others to pity them rather than look to Christ? Does this not awaken our zeal? It should! Can we say, “the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up?”

Let us ask ourselves on this Lord’s Day, “what is our zeal for the house of God?”Are you zealous to enter into His presence? What a privilege we have! Are you zealous to be with the precious people of God, the brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you zealous to worship Him in spirit and in truth? Are you zealous enough to lay your burdens and cares on the altar? Are you zealous enough to repent of sin, and be cleansed and made whole? What zeal do you have? May God birth in us a deep zeal for God, His Word, His truth, His love, His people, and His house!

Let us enter His house today with zeal!

“Father, we ask you humbly this day that you would create in us a heart full of passion and zeal for you and your house today. Thank you for this great example by the Son of God, that shows what our zeal should be like. We confess that sometimes we have entered listlessly, tepidly, habitually, and have not been filled with vigor and life. The zeal of God has been missing! Bring it back where we have lost it, and fill us with your life again, infusing us with the zeal of your Holy Spirit. And these things we pray in Christ’s name, Amen.”