Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 132. Psalm 132, reading from our text, verse 15. I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread. Psalm 132 and verse 15. Zion's poor, satisfied with bread. When we read of Zion in this chapter, and indeed right through the Old Testament, you don't have the word occurring in the New, but it refers to not only the place where David dwelt, where his throne was, but it refers to the Church of God. We can gather from this very psalm that this is the aim that is in view. It is the place where the Lord dwells and enters into, enters into His rest. And in verse 13, for the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation. And so we have a picture of the Church of God. There will I make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. And when we come to the Prophet Joel, And we would remember that on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended, then the apostles were able to point to Joel and that prophecy being fulfilled. Come to pass afterward in verse 28 of chapter 2 of Joel, that I pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." And he points that this pouring out of the Spirit, the beginning of the Church of God in the New Testament, goes back to the prophecy of Joel. So when you look at this, especially chapters 2 and 3 in Joel, In verse 1, blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. And then in verse 15, blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. And in verse 23, be glad then ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God. For He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." And it speaks of the provision of Zion and the children of Zion. And in verse 32, "...shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance." as the Lord has said, and in the remnant in the Lord shall call. And it's very clear that this is speaking of the Church of God, the word that goes forth from Jerusalem, those that shall be called under the gospel. And then if we turn to the third chapter, Joel, then we have in verse 16, the Lord also shall roar out of zion and utter his voice from jerusalem the lord will be the hope of his people the strength of the children of israel verse 17 so shall ye know that i am the lord your god dwelling in zion my holy mountain and so he's pointing all the time because of the book in verse 21, for I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. So when we think of the chapter where our text is, and when we think of our text, I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread, it is blessing the provision of the Church of God. It is blessing the provision. for the bride of Christ, for the habitation of God, where God dwells, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. Unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And though, of course, we do not look upon the Zion or the Church of God as buildings, bricks and mortar, Yet there is a very specific place where they do gather. They gather in churches, they gather together. And so I want to look with the Lord's help of Zion, of the Church of God, four things that are set forth in this verse. The first is her provision. Zion has a provision. And secondly, her provision is blessed, blessed by God. And thirdly, her poor. Our text says that I will abundantly bless her provision and I will satisfy her poor with bread. She has her poor. And then fourthly, her poor satisfied. So those three, four points, as the Lord may help us. Firstly, Zion's provision. I want to base my remarks as that provision that is intimated and set forth in this psalm. And basically it goes through in the order that they appear in the psalm. So firstly, the provision of a place, a habitation. We read in verse five, until I find out a place for the Lord and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. And there is a contrast there. David is speaking about his own house. He says, surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house. and will go up into my bed, I'll not sleep into mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids until I find out a place for the Lord and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." And when you think that again and again through the history of the children of Israel, this was a very important thing, a provision for them, a place for them to dwell, the Rehoboth, the place that had been made room for them. And when the children of Israel were in Egypt, the Lord brought them out of Egypt. And of course, he had provided a place there for them. They were in Goshen. And yet then when he brought them into the wilderness and the tabernacle was raised up, It was the fiery, cloudy pillar, the Lord, going before them to find out every time a place where they were to dwell, where the tabernacle would be set up and where the sacrifices would be offered and where the people all gathered. The Lord was the one that sought out a place for them. And so when they came into the promised land, Again, it was Shiloh first, and then Jerusalem, and the ark was brought there. Then through David numbering Israel, God was pleased to show David when he appeared for him upon Mount Moriah, the same as the mount where Abraham offered his son, or the substitutionary offering was offered And God showed where the temple should be built there at Jerusalem. And so it is that the Lord appoints the place in the New Testament. We have the seven letters to the churches in Asia. and each one is identified as a place. And we cannot think that it is a chance that the Lord puts a place of worship, a chapel, a church, a gathering of people, a candlestick in a certain place, and it just happens. It is not appointed. It is appointed. And it is one of the provisions of the Church of God that she should have a place. And we know there are brethren, or brethren in this land that do not have their own church building, but they use halls or they use a public building, which in the week it is used for other things. Brother Hamel Hammerstedt, they have worshipped in that way for many years. And God has provided, and during the COVID time, they couldn't use the building that they had been used, a public hall, and yet the Lord provided another hall that they could then go to when they're allowed to do so. And so it is not necessarily one's own building. We're favored to have that here, but It is a place that is appointed. We think of the churches in China and other places where they cannot openly meet together, openly gather together. But it is the desire of those in those countries, sometimes at the peril of their lives, to gather because this is a provision of God that there should be a place. We think of when the children of Israel came out of captivity in Babylon that they had hindrances in rebuilding the temple, the second temple, and instead they went about building their own houses and God visited them touching all that they had because they left the house of God desolate. And here we have the psalmist speaking very much, David speaking of the tabernacle of God, the house, a place for the Lord in contrast to his own place. One of our hymns speaks about loving the gates of Jacob, but much more the place where his people meet for praise and prayer. It is a habitation, and so that is a provision. Until I find out a place for the Lord and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Then we have, secondly in verse 9, a provision of a righteousness. Let thy priest be clothed with righteousness, and thy saints shout for joy. Man by nature has no righteousness of our own. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. It is absolutely vital that the Church of God be provided with a righteousness. In Jeremiah we read, this is the name wherewith he shall be called, the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Lord our righteousness. And this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Church of God, the Lord our righteousness. So righteousness that is pure, holy in God's sight is a provision of the Church of God. God has provided it for his church, his people. In verse 11, we have the provision of, you might say, a lamb. The Lord has sworn in truth unto David he will not turn from him. Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. The seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head. The paschal lamb. that of which when Abraham and Isaac were going up the mount, and Isaac said to his father, my father, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham's answer was, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And so that is Zion or the Church of God's provision provided by God a Lamb, provided a Saviour, a Redeemer, one that should be sacrificed in the place of the people of God, one that should bear the wrath of God, one that should be slain instead of the people of God. That provision is provided by God in His Beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the same as the righteousness is also provided for His Beloved Son. Then fourthly, there is the word in verse 12, if thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne forevermore." And what he's spoken of is the Word of God, His covenant, His testimony. And this is the great gift of the Church of God, is the written Word of God. It was so vital in the Reformation. It is vital in the salvation of souls. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The Lord gave the Word. Great was the company of them that published it. May we always view it as a provision to the Church of God, the Holy Bible, in our own tongue, in a language that we can understand, that is open. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I sin not against thee. Thy words were found, and I did eat them. they were to the joy and rejoicing of my soul. May we ever bless the Lord for his word, the provision of the word of God. In the fifth place, in verse 16, we have the provision of pastors. I will also clothe her priests with salvation, her saints shall shout aloud for joy. The Lord says, I will give you pastors after mine own heart. They shall feed you with knowledge and with understanding. That is another gift, a provision by God to the Church of God. She doesn't have to look around and supply pastors, ministers, servants, elders of her own. God will and does provide them Himself. The sixth is the gospel itself, the gospel of salvation. Again, in verse 16, I will also clothe the priest with salvation. There is a gospel to proclaim. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It is to be declared. It's not our gospel. It's not the messenger's gospel. It is the good news of salvation as set forth by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Preach the word is his commission to us. And so that is the provision to the Church of God. She does have a message. She does have good news of salvation. She does have that which comes from God. And lastly, there is the provision of rest, and that eternal rest. In verse 14, this is my rest forever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it. The Lord Jesus Christ is his people's rest, it is where his glory rests, but it is a rest that is provided. We read in Hebrews, there remaineth therefore a rest unto the people of God. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, with all men most miserable, but there is provided an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, reserved in heaven for you, that are kept by the power of God through faith and through salvation. These are the provisions of the Gospel. I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfy her poor with bread." The Church of God does have provisions. She does have things provided to her by God. What would it be if there was never ever a place where God's people could gather together? They always remain scattered. They always remained in their own homes. They never gathered together. There'd be no need of elders, no need of deacons, no need of ministers, no need of the ordinances, because each one would just be on their own. What would it be if there was never a provision of righteousness? What hope would there be for those who have no righteousness of their own? When the law demands that without the shedding of blood there is no remission, what if there was no lamb? What if there was no provision of the seed of the woman to bruise the serpent's head? What if we had no Bible? What if we just wrote our own thoughts and our own words and decided how we would worship God and what God himself was. And it all came from ourselves. God didn't provide anything, any instruction, any teaching, any knowledge of himself or of us. What would that be? But God has provided his word. What if God gave places to worship and gave his word but didn't give any pastors? We feel that there's something that is a great withholding. We are told to pray the Lord of the harvest, who sent forth labourers into the harvest, and that the Lord would be inquired of to give pastors, that there be those that shepherd flocks. But the Lord has promised this provision. is not left to man to decide the order of the church and the gospel. The message of salvation is God's message. What if there wasn't a message? What if there was no way of deliverance to set before you at all? And what if there was no heaven? If death was the end? Something that that is the case. Paul says we're all men most miserable if in this life only we have hope in Christ. Sometimes we can accentuate the provision that is given to the Church of God by supposing it be taken away. Supposing it was not there. Throughout history, where that has been neglected, it has been taken away. Where the Lord has provided and yet has been despised and not used, He takes it away. He removes candlesticks, He removes His Word, He removes His servants. But here we have a provision and it is a provision that is blessed. I want to look then, secondly, at the blessing upon him. And it's not just blessing, is it? I will abundantly bless her provision. The margin of our Bibles is, or surely bless her provision. Both, I believe, are true. The Lord will surely bless it, and it will be abundantly richly blessed, you won't have the Lord's curse upon it, you'll have His blessing. And one reason why we may say this is because these provisions, they are provided by God, revealed in the Word as we've set before you, and therefore come with the Lord's blessing. There are many that will make laws of their own or devise things of their own heart and expect the Lord to bless them. But the Lord will not bless them. He won't bless just man's ideas and man's ways and idols and their own thoughts. But He will bless what He has provided and what has the authority of Scripture. May remember that. If you and I are walking in a path that does not have the authority of Scripture on it, we cannot expect God's blessing. But where we are walking in that provision and we are in that way that He has provided, we may rightly expect that provision to be blessed. I will abundantly bless her provision. Now, another thing here, it implies that it needs that provision to be blessed. that just the outward providing of it is not enough. If we think of the word with the Thessalonians, the word came unto them, not in word only, but in demonstration of spirit and of power. It needed to be with power, it needed to be blessed. With the church in the wilderness coming up to the promised land, Balak, the king of Moab, called Balaam to curse the children of Israel. And yet God turned the curse into a blessing, much to the rage of the king of Moab. But where the Lord blesses, a people is blessed. And where He curses, then there is a curse. There is a prospering, there is a blessing, where the Lord blesses it, and where it is not, then there is not that prospering, there's not that fruitfulness. In thinking of the Lord's miracles, one of the miracles that He performed was the multiplying of the loaves and the fishes, three loaves and two fishes. He took those and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. You might say there was the provision. The provision was those loaves and fishes. But the disciples, they looked on them and said, but what are these among so many? But when the Lord blessed them, And then he break, then he fed 5,000 men beside women and children, and there were the many baskets left of fragments. They all ate and were filled. What a difference the blessing of the Lord made on that provision. That provision seemed very small in the eyes of those that viewed it. But with the Lord's blessing on it, what a difference it made. What a difference it makes with the Lord's blessing on a church, on His righteousness, on His beloved Son, on the Word, on pastors, on the gospel. in heaven, everything with the Lord's blessing upon it. It makes all the difference. Not only do we need that provision from God, we need the Lord to acknowledge it and follow it with His blessing. Here below there are these ways that we are able to determine that the God of heaven and earth knows us and we know Him. Of His fullness, says the Apostle, have all we received and grace for grace. I will yet be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them, to bless for them all of this provision that the Lord would bless them. If those heathen kings knew what effect it would be to have a curse, how much more should we know what a blessing it is to have a blessing from the Lord? What a difference that that will make. So here we have the promise, God owning it and blessing it, I will abundantly bless her provision. The Church of God, looking forward to the time in which we are now, the provision that we have, the promise here, I will abundantly bless her provision. In the third place, I want to speak of her poor, Zion's poor. I'll satisfy her poor with bread." Now it is true that many of the Lord's dear people have been literally poor. I've no doubt those that partook of the loaves and the fishes and then afterwards followed him over the other side of the sea, because they had been satisfied in that way, were literally poor. But our Lord reproved them and said, You seek me not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labour not for the bread that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life. Yes, the Lord's dear people often are poor in this world's goods and the things of it, but what is spoken of here is spiritually poor. The provision for the Church of God is a spiritual provision. And those that are in the Church of God and made to need this provision are poor. They are in need of this provision. If someone is poor, then in a natural sense, They do not have money to go and buy what they need. They do not have the substance, the things that are in their homes. They do not have perhaps their own homes or own things at all. And yet the word of the gospel, it is a word to those that are poor. And if we think of The Herald in chapter 55 in Isaiah, Isaiah 55, and verse 1. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, or labor for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. And so there's the heralding of the Gospel, and it is to those that are poor, that do not have money, that do not have the means to purchase these things at all. Our Lord in the Beatitudes, He pronounces a blessing on those that are poor in spirit. Blessed, Matthew 5 verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, that is one of the provisions of the gospel, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall attain mercy. And the Lord will have in the Church of God those that feelingly are poor. They feel that their prayers are poor. They feel that their obedience is poor. They feel that their religion is poor. They feel that all that they have is in God's sight, poor, is not worthy of His attention, the publican beat upon his breast, could not look up to heaven, God be merciful to me, a sinner. What a picture of what we are by nature, having nothing to recommend us to God, having no righteousness, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, We have no good works to plead, but what are sprinkled with sin, died with sin, we're full of wounds and bruises and putrefying salts. The picture and the description of those that gather around Christ, why in Christ's day the scribes and the Pharisees that were wise in their own eyes and full of their own goodness, They said, this man receiveth sinners, and eateth and drinketh with them. But the word of God is very clear that those that will be benefited and blessed by the provision of the gospel and through Christ in themselves are poor. And it's painful to feel that, to look within and see nothing but sin and disgrace. to look on our works and to feel utter shame, to look on our prayers and feel that they are so poor, to view ourselves and we're so empty and devoid of anything good, nothing, to recommend us unto God. You know, when Job was very rich, Then he had others seek unto him. He was able to provide for others. When God permitted Satan to take away all that he had, his own servants didn't even want him. They just derided him. He lost all, able to command any reverence or respect. And the poor, the rich have many friends. The poor does not have any. that, blessed be God, they do have one. Spiritually so, they have in the Lord Jesus Christ a friend to those that are poor and those that are needy. How vital it is to have prepared hearts, prepared ground, room for the Lord, a readiness to receive Him. The Lord said, I am come. Not to the righteous, but sinners. To call sinners unto repentance. Not the whole. The physician is not for the whole, but for those that are sick. May we be clear of this? that the characters that are blessed and will be blessed in the Church of God, in their own eyes and to their own feelings, are poor. They do not see any reason why the Lord would bless them, and every reason why he would not bless them. And if it wasn't for the assurances of the gospel and of the word of God or such a word as this, they would have no hope and there'd be no attraction for them in the church of God, the house of God. Spiritually poor, not able to think right thoughts, affections wild, by sin defiled, the corruptions of the heart rising up, worthiness, carnality, deadness, hardness, coldness, all of these things devoid of spiritual blessings, devoid of those things that we had when we were innocent in Adam, But when we fail that we lost, in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. No man can keep alive his own soul. We have nothing of our own. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. I want to look then lastly of her poor being satisfied. Let's just think first of what satisfaction is. If we're satisfied with something, it has fulfilled our expectations. We don't go on looking for something more. We have got what we wanted, we are happy with it, we are pleased with it. When we think of the Apostle Paul, when he had the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet him, and he saw three times that the Lord would take that away. But the Lord said, no, he wouldn't, but he said, my grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. So Paul said, I will much rather than glory in my infirmity, that when I am weak, then am I strong. He was satisfied in what the Lord had provided. You might think too with The Lord in John 6, when he was teaching, except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you. My flesh is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And that is what the people of God are to be satisfied with. My word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. There are many that they weren't satisfied with that. They went away. But when the Lord asked the disciples, Peter answered for them, to whom can we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The very sad thing today, there are many that are gathering with a name of Christ or a name of religion, but they're not satisfied with these provisions. They want to bring in the world and the spirit of the world. And really what we have is entertainment, or we have a religion that just uses our Lord as a person, a good person of example, of charity, of good works, and upholding that, and extolling that aspect of our Lord, instead of the great work of redemption, instead of the great work of saving His people from their sins. of granting His Word graciously. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, the effectual, powerful attendance upon the Word of the Holy Spirit, blessing that Word to the people of God. What is promised here is that the Lord will satisfy her poor with bread. With bread. It doesn't even put her to satisfy her with the provision. She won't say, well, we've got a nice gathering together, we've got a pastor, we've got a message, we've even got righteousness. But he brings it to this, the bread. Satisfy her poor with bread. And that's what we said in John 6, except ye eat the flesh. It is vital that we have a spiritual appetite and that we're satisfied with the bread from heaven. What do you and I feed upon? What does feed our souls? What does feed our persons? Do we meditate upon the Word of God? Do we feed upon it? Remember, our Lord quoted, man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. When we think of the temptation in the Garden of Eden, what was it on? Bread. what could be eaten, what should be eaten, what not. The temptation of our Lord, command these stones that they be made bread. How much hangs upon what our appetite is for and how that appetite is satisfied. Remember here it is, I will satisfy her poor with bread, I will bless her provision, Sometimes when we're ill we might have food on our table, we might eat it, and then we're very sick. We need that food to be blessed, to profit us. We read, the word did not profit them, being not mixed with faith in them that heard it. What a solemn thing. But here for the poor, the poor that are given faith, Their bread is blessed. Remember the mark of the clean beast. They parted the hoof, they chewed the cart. Spiritually, they separated from the world and they went over what they'd received. They had a second benefit from what they'd fed upon. Like the Bereans, they heard the word one week on the Lord's Day. First day of the week with the Apostle Paul. Then they searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. We may ask ourselves, what do we feed upon? What is that which we are satisfied with? Or are we going after other things, other books, things on the internet, family, other things we need to satisfy ourselves. Or has the Lord given us an aching void which the world cannot fill? I will satisfy her poor with bread. How vital we have assurance that we are included here of the poor in the Church of God that are satisfied with bread. We're not left out of this blessing, this blessing on this provision especially. The blessing on the Word of God, to feed upon it, to feed upon Christ, to hang upon Him, His flesh, His blood, Are Paul satisfied? Are we satisfied? Are we, like Naphtali, satisfied and full of the favour of the Lord? You know, when one is satisfied, they've got what they've sought for, got what they want. They're happy, they're content. Godliness with contentment is great gain. May the Lord bless this word to us. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with