Have You Numbered Zion’s Towers?
5/4 Reading Portions: Numbers 11; Psalm 48; Isaiah 1; Hebrews 9
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
5/4 Reading Portions: Numbers 11; Psalm 48; Isaiah 1; Hebrews 9
Listen to the audio devotional above, and/or read the written devotional below.
Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, Psalm 48:12
CALCULATE
A young person asked me once, “Where is Mount Zion?” I told him that Zion isn’t a where, it’s a who, not a place but a person— it is none other than Jesus Christ, “the city of our God... the mountain of our holiness” (Psa 48:1). Now, certainly Zion is many things in Scripture— a city, a region, a mountain, the Messiah; yet, these should all point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Rock who smashed the feet of human idolatry and grew into a great and holy mountain which filled the whole earth (Dan 2:35, 45). Jesus is also the city of our God, and for us to dwell with God, we must dwell in Christ (John 14:6). Someone may say,
“Christ has ascended into heaven. How then are we to walk about Zion?”
Since His ascension, we are Mount Zion; in other words, His beloved church is the blessed city and beautiful mountain. Jesus is the Head of His church and we are His body. Notice that our verse tells us to number her towers. It is because Zion is also the bride of Christ, the church of our Lord Jesus Messiah (Eph 5:23-32).
One of the wonderful blessings we are given is to number, to take account of, and calculate carefully the church’s towers. “Number” is the command סׅפְרוּ (sif-ROO) in Hebrew. Jesus Christ is our refuge and strong tower against the enemy (Psa 61:3). Jesus’ very name is a strong tower to which we may run and be safe (Prov 18:10). Yet, when we number the towers of Christ’s beloved church, we must exalt our Lord Jesus in humble reverence for the majesty of whom and what He has built us to be. Oft I weep in forgetting how wonderful Christ has supplied us in and among the members of His church. Need grace? There’s a tower. Need forgiveness? Another tower stands tall. Encouragement required? Christ has a tower in His people. Need to confess your faults? Christ provides a towering brother or sister with open arms. Have you counted the “one another” passages of the New Testament? That’s a lot of towers, dear one. And our Lord Jesus Christ built them all in His church. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Christ’s name is a strong tower,
Our holy refuge, He
Still blesses through the Spirit’s power,
Building as we should be.
