- araratchurch
- May 2, 2022
- 3 min read
“When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.””
Psalms 27:8 NKJV
I had an uncle who loved to make houses for bluebirds. He also made sure they had good food to eat. When he would return to his property after having been gone for a while, as he approached where he lived, he would see the bluebirds gathering and then flying along, accompanying him to his house. They wanted to be near him because they knew he took care of them.
Animals instinctively know who is taking care of them and they respond by coming near, sometimes making a nuisance of themselves.
I’ve always found it somewhat humorous the way in which the Apostle Paul approached the intellectuals at the Areopagus (they were always seeking some “new” knowledge). After looking at all of their memorials to their host of deities he pointed out that they had an altar dedicated to “THE UNKNOWN GOD.” He jumped at this opportunity to convince them concerning the Lord. He described how the Lord had actually ordered all things in such a way that He would be sought out:
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
Acts 17:26-28 NKJV
The Lord wants to make Himself known to us; but that can only happen when we respond to His invitation to come to Him. Sadly, many people don’t recognize that He is the One Who is our source. They pursue the created rather than the Creator.
In the Bible we see the Lord repeatedly mourning the fact that His people would not respond to Him; they would not seek for Him. Here is one of those many sad commentaries:
“The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.”
Isaiah 1:3 NKJV
In this scripture, the Lord is pointing out the tragic truth that although animals know who cares for them, coming when their keeper calls, His people would not come to Him.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David telling the Lord that he wants to seek Him; he wants to answer the Lord’s invitation to be known. The theme of David’s thirst and desire for the Lord can be found many times throughout the book of Psalms. Yes, he desired the Lord with a passion.
“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.”
Psalms 63:1 NKJV
The Lord wants to have intimate fellowship with us. He desires to be the focus of our pursuits and the object of our passion. And, for those who do seek Him, He will respond by lavishing all that He has, and all that He is, on them.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Seek the Lord and He will make Himself known to you.
- araratchurch
- May 1, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 11, 2022
“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells.”
Psalms 26:8 NKJV
From the time I was six years old, until I was 22 years of age, I spent my life in the same house. It was a little house, still standing not far from downtown Atlanta. When I have the occasion to be in that area, I like to drive in front of it and pause for a moment looking at it. Now, there are a lot of houses around, and we may look at different ones for different reasons—curiosity, admiration, etc.—but what makes that humble little house special to me? What makes that house special to me is who lived there and what happened there. It was from that very house that my father and mother launched out with basically no money and three children in tow to start what would be called the Gospel Harvester Chapel. Additionally, so many other memories were written in that house that looking at it brings a tsunami of emotions sweeping over my soul. Yes, I loved that house, and still hold its memory dear, because of who was in there: my family.
When Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, they were met there by two interesting people. One of those people was a very old woman who had lived for decades in the house of the Lord:
“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”
Luke 2:36-38 NLT
Here, we had a woman, a prophetess, who had lived in the Temple for probably about 60 years. We may marvel at that kind of devotion to the House of the Lord. But—the devotion to the House of the Lord is not about the building per se; it is about what the House contains: the Presence of the Lord. As a matter of fact, some very beautiful edifices, called by the Lord’s name, feel very cold, inhospitable, and empty, because His Presence is not there.
For most of us—our lives happen in the midst of a very noisy, chaotic world. And, whereas most of us will never pursue a “monastic” lifestyle, we still should and must pursue what makes the House of the Lord precious: His Presence.
Jesus Christ, God made flesh, was and is the Temple of God not built with human hands. He holds the Presence of God in a way that we can experience and never have to leave. He serves as an “adapter” Who makes the Presence of God approachable for us and sustainable in us.
So, although we may not be able to renounce all other endeavors to cloister ourselves inside an edifice, we can cloister ourselves in Jesus Christ, the true Temple of God. Additionally, consider what a privilege it is that—by way of the Holy Spirit—we are extensions of the Temple of God.
In our portion from Psalms today we see David talking of his love for the House of the Lord. Now, just as my childhood house is special because of what it represents to me, David loved the House of the Lord because of what it represented to him: the Lord’s Presence. Indeed, David extolled the greatness of the House of the Lord in many places. Here are a couple more of my favorites:
“One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: 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.”
Psalms 27:4 NKJV
“Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.”
Psalms 65:4 NKJV
I love to look at beautiful churches of all sorts, from the greatest Gothic cathedrals, to the humble clapboard churches once peppering the countryside. But, what makes them of interest to me, what makes me love them, is what they represent: the Presence of the Lord. After all, there is no better place to be than in the Lord’s Presence. Thank God—through Jesus Christ—we never have to leave His house. And—when this life is done—we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever!
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
There is no better place to be than the Lord’s House.
Day 47 w/David-We must be ready and willing for the Lord to examine our hearts no matter the method.
- araratchurch
- Apr 30, 2022
- 4 min read
“Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.”
Psalms 26:2 NKJV
Hezekiah was a good man. As a matter fact, he was probably one of the best kings Judah ever had. However, there was one problem. After the Lord had healed Hezekiah and the kingdom had been delivered out of the hands of Sennacherib, he made a mistake, a big mistake, concerning the Babylonians. You see, the king of Babylon—having heard of the miraculous way in which Hezekiah was healed as well as the sign given in the land of Judah (the sun going back on the sun dial)—sent a gift to Hezekiah along with some ambassadors.
“At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.”
Isaiah 39:1-2 NKJV
Hezekiah was so impressed and flattered that the king of Babylon would wish him well that he showed off all his treasures (actually, the Lord’s treasures) to these people who did not worship the Lord. In saying that he showed ALL that was in his house, we might imagine that he even showed them the Ark of the Covenant! This was a huge mistake his descendants would later pay for by being taken to Babylon along with all the treasures of Judah.
“Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’””
Isaiah 39:5-7 NKJV
But how could this happen? How could someone who has done so many good things, fail so miserably to keep holy, the things belonging to the Lord? The following scripture (part of a summation of the works of Hezekiah) gives us some insight into what happened:
“However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”
II Chronicles 32:31 NKJV
You see, God did not speak in advance to Hezekiah as to what he should do when the Babylonian envoy came. The purpose was in order that the full contents of Hezekiah‘s heart might be revealed. And sure enough, what was revealed was a heart given to flattery, easily impressed by the overtures of others, leading him to want to further impress them by flaunting all the riches of the house of the Lord.
Now, when we hear of the Lord searching our heart, and prayers to that effect, we might suppose that always involves the Lord just looking and seeing what is going on in us (which He certainly can do). But many times, the Lord will use a trial, a test, to reveal the full contents of a person’s heart. Consider this Instruction from the Apostle Peter:
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT
In our portion from Psalms today we see that David—in presenting his case before the Lord concerning his enemies—is inviting the Lord to examine his heart. He felt that such an examination would benefit his case; and so it may have been. We know that David was a man who wanted God‘s will; He sought after the heart of God. As a matter of fact, we see David inviting God’s examination many times throughout the psalms. Here is one of my favorites:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalms 139:23-24 NKJV
But now consider this: one time, the full contents of David’s heart were examined when—instead of going to battle—he stayed at home. And—while on a roof—the attention of his idle mind is caught by a very beautiful woman, bathing.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
We must be ready and willing for the Lord to examine our hearts no matter the method He chooses to use.