Day 48 with David: There is no better place to be than the Lord’s House.

“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.

#100dayswithdavid