“How lovely is your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts!” Ps 84:1
The temple of the Lord is “amiable”- lovely and there are deep mysteries behind it, which are only visible and evident to the righteous curious mind that wishes to fellowship and commune with his maker i.e. the one who longs to be in his presence. In Psalm 27:4, the Psalmist expressed his singular desire that he would like to seek after: dwelling in God’s house. Not some days but all the days of his life.
“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock”. Ps 27:4-5
The reasons behind this desperate search are two-fold.
TO BEHOLD GOD’S BEAUTY:
This is a selfless service before the Lord: the act of worship, fellowship, devotion and adoration. This is the service that gives, offers and responds to God in sacrificial love and not for the purpose of receiving from God.
TO INQUIRE IN HIS TEMPLE:
This is the act of meditation on the conflicting ideas about God, His word and works. It can also be a way of seeking solace when troubles assail.
These were his utmost desire because of his love for God’s house as he expressed also in another place:
“LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth”. Psalm 26: 8
Dwelling in God’s house is seen as blessedness and a great privilege. It is God that chose us. It is not any man’s making: not by might nor by power but by the spirit of the Lord. When God draws a man into his presence, he satisfies him with the goodness, which alone is found in God’s house.
“Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple”. Ps 65:4
One of the secrets in the house of God that is alone known to those who are of a pure heart and delight in God’s presence is the river of pleasures. That is what brings God’s goodness to bear upon the lives of men. It genders satisfaction.
“They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light”. Ps 36:8-9
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day”. Ps 46:4-5
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