Mt. Zion

Years ago, I walked into a new church one Sunday, and the congregation was enthusiastically clapping and singing this song.  Maybe you’ve heard it:

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised

In the city of our God

In the mountain of His Holiness

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth

Is Mt Zion, on the sides of the north

The city of the great King!

 

I really didn’t understand the words, and I had no idea what Mt Zion was, but for some reason, I loved it.

I’ve since learned that this song is actually the first two verses of Psalm 48.

 

Hebrews 12 says:

 

you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God...  (Hebrews 12:22) (NIV)

 

Do you notice how this verse says you “have come to Mt. Zion?”  It’s past tense; we’re already there.  Mt. Zion is actually another name for the “Kingdom of God.” We know that once we come to Jesus, we are “in” the Kingdom of God.  Colossians 1:13 says, “for He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the “kingdom of the Son … (NIV)” 

 

According to Isaiah, people who live in Mt Zion are not only full of joy, they are also covered with all the blessings:

 

Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance.  And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.  (Isaiah 61:7) (NIV)

 

When I read that verse two little words popped out at me.  The two words are “and so.” It says, “you will rejoice in your inheritance and so you will inherit a double portion.”

When we rejoice in our inheritance, we will receive our inheritance.

 

Any promise that you can find in the Bible is your inheritance, and some people say there are over 3,000 promises.  So, we could say…

 

… when we rejoice in our promises, we will receive our promises. 

 

We rejoice and so we will receive.

 

Isaiah repeats this same secret in chapter 60.  In verse 18, he tells us that the gates are called “praise.”  And in verse 11, he says that the…

 

… gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations.  (Isaiah 60:11) (NIV)

 

In other words, you’re going to be praising God for your blessings all day long.  Your mouth, your gate, will always be rejoicing in all those invisible promises of God, and then what?

 

Your blessings will begin to flow.  So why do we praise?

 

We praise so that we will be blessed.

We praise so that our promises become reality.

We praise so that our invisible blessings become visible.

 

This is how things work in Mt. Zion.  Faith is the currency in the City of God.  In Mt. Zion, we keep our gates wide open, and as the praises flow out, the blessings flow in!! The song stops after the first two verses of Psalm 48.  But I want to read a few more verses:

 

For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.

They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.

Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.  (Ps 48:4-7) (KJV)

 

When verse 4 talks about kings, it’s talking about the devil and his army of demons.  And when they see us living in Mt. Zion, with our gates open, praising God all day, they get scared, and they run away from us. 

 

And Psalms 48:7 says that God breaks the ships.  What ships?

 

Ezekiel compares the devil and his army of demons to a captain of an extravagant ship.  He gives a detailed description of what the devils ship looks like in Ezekiel 27:

 

You have extended your boundaries out into the sea… You are like a ship built of finest fir (trees)… They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.  They made your oars from oaks…The walls of your cabin are of cypress …Your sails are made of Egypt’s finest linens; you stand beneath awnings bright with purple and scarlet dyes… Your sailors come from Sidon and Arvad; your helmsmen are skilled men. (Ezekiel 27:4-8) (TLB)

 

And Isaiah adds to Ezekiel’s picture.  In Isaiah 33:21, he talks about a mighty “galley” with oars.  A galley is a ship that people used for war. So these descriptions paint a picture that the devil is like a captain of a beautiful but terrifying war ship, perfectly equipped to fight against us.  But wait- there’s good news!!  In Zion, Isaiah says, the devil’s ship has some major issues!!  

… rigging hangs loose: the mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread.

Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.  (Isaiah 33:23) (NIV)

 

What happened to the devils extravagant battle ship that used to terrify people?

He can’t terrify you anymore, because you live in Zion now, in Christ, and your gates are open day and night.  You’re always praising God, always rejoicing in His invisible promises to you!!  And you’ve been rejoicing so much …

 

… that no weapon that’s formed against you will prosper (Isaiah 54:17 KJV)

…. and that you have been given power to tread … over all the power of the enemy and nothing will by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19)

 

… and guess what happened to the devil’s ship?  It fell apart.

 

The mast, that tall pole that used to be so straight and strong, is rickety and bent over.  The sail, which used to be so beautiful and intimidating and powerful, is now torn and useless.  The rigging, all those ropes and chains that would pull the sail up and down, is hanging down, flopping all over the place.

 

The devil’s ship is still there, but it’s lost all its power.  It can’t hurt you anymore.  All because you rejoiced in your invisible ruling authority over the devil.  You praised so that the devil would lose his power over you and that’s exactly what came to pass. 

Just one last thing about that Song.  Let’s look at Psalm 48, verse 2 again:

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. (KJV)

I want to look at two words in this verse.  The first is “situation.”  Mt. Zion is beautiful for “situation.”  The word situation, in the original Hebrew language, means to quiver, to beckon, to wave, to rock up and down or back and forth (Strong 1983)

This City of God is moving!!  It’s calling people to come in, jumping up and down to get their attention, waving them over - “Come out of the darkness, come into the Light!!  Come to Jesus!!”  Isn’t that cool??  No wonder I loved this song – it’s a hidden treasure!!!

 

Speaking of hidden, the last word I want to look at is “north.”  Mt. Zion is on the “sides of the north.”  North, in the original Hebrew language, means, “hidden.”  And it comes from a root word that means to hide, or secret (Strong 1983). 

 

If we put these two little jewels together, situation and north, we see that this Kingdom of God is invisible to most people.  Hidden to most of the world- that’s why many people think Christians are idiots.

 

But if they would just allow themselves to see and hear with their spirits, they would see the inhabitants of this city waving them over and jumping up and down, trying so hard to get their attention.  And they would hear this city calling out to them, “turn to Jesus, turn to Jesus!!”

 

The city is open to anyone who will simply come.  All who will simply turn to Jesus and repent of their sins.  As soon as we are washed by His blood, we are somehow suddenly in Mt Zion, this beautiful, secret, joyful, protected, Kingdom of God!! 

Declarations of Praise

I praise You Jesus, that all things work together for my good (see Rom 8:28)

I praise You Jesus, that I am blessed in the city (see Dt 28:3)

I praise You Jesus, that I am blessed in the country (see Dt 28:3)

I praise You Jesus, that I am blessed when I come in (see Dt 28:6)

I praise You Jesus, that I am blessed when I go out (see Dt 28:6)

I praise You Jesus, that everything I touch is blessed (see Dt 28:8)

I praise You Jesus, that I will overcome the devil (see Rev 12:11)

I praise You Jesus, that I am more than a conqueror (see Rom 8:37)

I praise You Jesus, that You have given me the victory (see 1 Cor 15:57)

I praise You Jesus, that no weapon that’s formed against me will prosper (see Isaiah 54:17)

Hallelujah, Amen!!!

 

 

 

Reference:

 

Strong, James. Strongs Exhaustive Concordance: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Original, with References to the English Words. Baker Book House, 1983.

 

 

 

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com.  The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

 

Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.