Love For God's House

by L.M. Ross, Aberdeen, Scotland | Category: Meditations In The Psalms | Nov 1990

"LORD, I love the habitation of Thy house ..." exclaimed David in his 26th Psalm - but why should a man love God's house? A brief consideration of the Psalms confirms that David and others were filled with a warm appreciation of God as God, and also as God in the setting of His house. The house without God is nothing and David's delight in and love for the habitation of God's house was this, that it was "the place where Thy glory dwelleth". God was there!

Glory

It is in Psalm 27 that David declares that the one thing he desires is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. What an ambition! "One thing". The Lord Jesus gently reminded Martha "troubled about many things" that "one thing is needful". Her sister had experienced the blessing of this "one thing" and John writing in his epistle perhaps describes it as "fellowship.. .with. . Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). Our personal relationship with the Lord is a vital "one thing" for today. To the young ruler, the Lord revealed the one thing which was lacking in his life and which was hindering him in his desire to be a disciple. Paul had learned the lesson which the young man seems not to have learned: "one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind... I press on" (Phil. 3:13-14). In Psalm 49, we are counselled, "Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased... his glory shall not descend after him". Material prosperity, unwisely valued and regarded, can

be such a hindrance to a disciple seeking to serve God. The glory of God's house is referred to in the following Psalm: "Out of Zion... God hath shined forth" (Psalm 50:2). Was it not a desire for the glory of God's house to be evidently seen that exercised David's heart (2 Sam. 7:2)? Material blessing had not dulled his perception and appreciation of spiritual truth! So, this personal love for the Lord (Luke 10:41,42), this singleness of purpose in the disciple life (Luke 18:22) and this ability to relegate the things which are behind to their proper place (Phil. 3:13,14), are essential experiences if a disciple is going to say, like David, "one thing have I asked of the LORD". But it is one thing to ask and quite another to "seek after" (Psalm 27:4). David, however, knew from experience that those who seek the Lord will not want for any good thing (Ps. 34:10).

Psalm 63 also reflects David's experience of seeking God. The psalmist's thirsting soul and longing flesh of verse 1 are satisfied in verse 5,

because he has looked upon God in the sanctuary - even though he was in the wilderness! Perhaps, it is when we are denied a thing, that we begin to value it properly, though this is not a reason of course, for us to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:25)! The word "seek" of verse 1 in this psalm is related to the word the "dayspring" of Job 38:12; this was no passive experience, but a definite exercise involving rising in the early dawn to seek God. Separated from friends the psalmist may have been, but not from God who is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27). From this psalm we learn that David's appreciation of God is related to the sanctuary - the place set apart. Such a spirit of seeking is not out of place today; indeed it is increasingly important in a world which seems to rush on at such a fast pace. All too easily we may deny ourselves the opportunity to wait quietly on the Lord for strength.

Glory and Beauty

David perceives that in the house of the Lord he can behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in His temple. Of course, the beauty and glory of the Lord can be appreciated apart from the house. David himself says that the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19), but he also appreciates the aspect of God's glory and beauty associated with His house. It seems important that disciples today also share something of David's vision, for to do otherwise is to miss much in the service of God. May it be that the beauty of the Lord our God will indeed be upon us (Ps. 90:17) as we serve in His house. May we also share something of David's declared intention, which complements his prayer of Psalm 27, "and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever" (Ps. 23:6). By the Lord's goodness and mercy, it can be so!

Glory, Beauty ... Joy and Praise

Glory and beauty, then, are associated with God's house and provide good reasons for a man to love that house. The psalmist also links joy and praise with the house. In Psalm 42 the writer remembers the better days when he joined with others to keep holyday or festival. He longs for a return to such times - his whole being is longing for God in the context of appearing before Him (v.2). This relates to Exodus 34:23 and Psalm 84:7 and is a definite coming together, with others, before God - coming to the place of His Name. So, in the 43rd Psalm he cries "send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me: let them bring me unto Thy holy hill.. unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy". The joy of the house of God is God Himself. The Lord Jesus desired that His joy might be in the disciples and that their joy might be full (John 15). This personal experiencing of His joy is something we all should strive after so that, knowing it, we may in full measure appreciate that house over which He is Son (Heb. 3).

God's light and truth lead the disciple to God's altar and thus to God, and how privileged we are who live in a day when God's spiritual house composed of believers in churches of God is in visible existence, thus enabling disciples to share the experience of the psalmist in walking in the house of God (Ps. 55:14).

The opening words of Psalm 65 highlight praise linked with Zion. "Praise waiteth for Thee, 0 God, in Zion". In Psalm 63 David said "my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips", and while this can be the experience of the individual at any time, is there not a particular blessing in praising God, with others, according to His revealed will? So David in Psalm 65 reflects on the blessings of the man who is chosen and caused to approach God. What spiritual satisfaction he knows in the courts of the Lord! God's house is a place of goodness, he says it is also a place of holiness. Such terms may remind us of Ephesians 1 where Paul rejoices in the blessings of those described as chosen, holy and without blemish, adopted as sons. What we are, of course, should be seen in our lives!

Psalm 122 continues on this theme, for there David remembers the glad-

ness he knew when others said to him "let us go unto the house of the LORD". The point is again emphasized that, whilst an individual may very appropriately engage in worship to God at any time (and what a spiritually rewarding exercise this can be!), the worship of the house of God is for a people. Oh that we could capture something of the joy of the people of that day in their desire to give thanks unto the name of the Lord (v.4). What kind of folk were they? Those whose feet were standing within the gates of Jerusalem (v.2)? The wise counsel of Solomon was to "guard your steps when you go to the house of God" (Eccles. 5:1 NIV) - it's not just anyone who may engage in such spiritual service, rather it is those who have become obedient from the heart to that pattern of teaching whereunto they were delivered (Rom. 6:17). Those then, whose feet stand within the gates, those who have gained their access to that place, perceive Jerusalem builded as a city that is compact together! Over the years we have been taught the delightful truth of fellowship from the phrase "compact together", relating it to the coupling of the tabernacle curtains (Exodus 26). Jerusalem was a place where, in the ideal, fellowship was sweet. Sweet fellowship comes when two or more who are agreed walk together (Amos 3:3), with the added requirement in spiritual service that such fellowship is also with the Father and with His Son. So it's good if the companions of Psalm 122, verse 8 are also the brethren; those who, having first been yoked to Christ, are yoked together in spiritual service.

Psalm 122 then, is a picture of fellowship in divine service - genuine souls who love God encouraging another to join with them to go to the place with which their lives have become identified, there to give thanks to the Lord and be a testimony to others; also acknowledging the authority and rule of that place (v.5) and praying for its peace (v.6). The whole commendable attitude of the psalmist concludes the psalm: "For the sake of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good". Here is a man who longs for the prosperity of God's house, and is willing to work that it might be accomplished. Like another, far removed from the place of God's choice, he might have said, "If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning" (Ps. 137:5).

Conclusion

No unregenerate man can truly love God's house, but a man "born from above" has the ability to perceive such virtues as have been referred to in relation to the house of God - reason enough to serve God there. But there is an additional reason. It is recorded of the perfect Man that "the zeal of Thine house shall eat Me up" (Ps. 69:9; John 2:17). He ever is our example, and it was He Himself who, over the space of forty days, taught His apostles things concerning the service of God's house (Acts 1). Why then, should not any child of God love God's house?

L.M. Ross, Aberdeen, Scotland | Nov 1990
Meditations In The Psalms