Till I entered the sanctuary of God. Psalm 73:17 (NIV)
Three things were placed inside the ark of God: 1) A golden pot filled with manna, 2) the stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments, and 3) Aaron’s rod that had budded.
The items in the ark told the story of the promises, the provision, and the presence of God for His people through the centuries in every circumstance of life.
There is something very important for us to grasp here. Asaph was confused. His mind was full of unanswered questions over things that were going wrong in his life. His mind needed to be straightened out by the truth, and that’s what happened when he came into the sanctuary.
Before Asaph entered the sanctuary, he was consumed with his own problems. But when he came into the sanctuary, Asaph was reminded that he was part of something much bigger.
In Asaph’s time, God’s people had been walking with him for 500 years. God brought them through the wilderness. He fed His people in the desert, even though they should have died of starvation. He gave them victory over powerful enemies. He kept them, protected them, and sustained them in every generation. Asaph came near to the same ark and took his place in the great line of succession, and he was reminded that the same God is with him.
Think about God’s faithfulness to previous generations. Think about the faces of some older friends in your church. Were your parents or grandparents Christians?
