231. Rejoice in Goodness
2 Chronicles 6:41 Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
Solomon closes his dedicatory prayer at the new Temple in Jerusalem with these words. The Lord will arise and settle in His resting place over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. The priests will be vested in holy attire bearing salvation for the people who come to worship the Lord. All the believers will rejoice in goodness.
God promises to be there in His “resting place.” We know where God is and we know how and where to find Him: we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ; we have access into this grace wherein we stand. The “resting place” of God Almighty, our Savior and Lord, is now in the hearts of believers who have heard the Gospel mixed with faith, which the Spirit has created in the heart. The Lord God is now in that resting place, hovering within our human spirit.
God promises priests clothed with salvation. Now in the NT these are the priesthood of all believers who have received salvation and proclaim salvation to the world. We NT believers are at the same time temples and priests of God because of Christ who has opened our hearts to receive the presence of God. We are saved and we tell the world so through words and deeds.
God promises that all believers may rejoice in goodness. Now that God is in the human spirit, heaven is in the heart, and the Lord reigns in His Kingdom all is right with the world. Things go wrong, sin enters and corrupts our world, and bad things happen in our minds, emotions, and wills, but we may still rejoice in goodness. This is the miracle, the beauty, and the witness of the believing Christian. Because Jesus is always with us we can, we may, we should, and we do “rejoice in the Lord always.” We rejoice, according to the promise, because God is good, life is good, and the goodness of God in us overcomes all the bad stuff. “Rejoice!” Again, “Rejoice!”