Psalm 132.3-5 3 “I will not enter my house or get into my
bed, 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5 until I
find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” (ESV)
I do know what
this is about so I don’t want to be accused of taking it out of context; but
sometimes you’ll read a passage one way all of your life, and then you read it and it seems to be saying something completely different – y’ever experience that?
I look at King David differently now than I did a few
years back when I first became acquainted with him. I understand he was God’s
man, anointed to be king over Israel. I know he was a fierce and skilled
warrior. I know he was an able administrator of people and projects. I know he
consulted God when no one else seemed to think it was all that necessary. But
I recognize today that like the rest of us, David had a hole in his heart he
was trying desperately to fill. Listen to this:
And Hiram king of
Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also masons and carpenters to
build a house for him. And David knew that the Lord had established him as king
over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people
Israel. And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons
and daughters. (1 Chronicles 14.1-3 ESV) A palace? Wives? Children? What
more could a guy want?
And then it was recorded: David built houses for himself
in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a
tent for it. (1 Chronicles 15.1 ESV) David built houses for himself and pitched
a tent for God. He wanted God close. But he was restless in his passion for the
closeness of God.
What if you and I were to say: “I will not enter my house or get into my bed, 4 I will not give sleep
to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5 until I find a place for the Lord, a
dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”? Where would we put Him? A
modern religious group has a number of temples spread across our land – is God
in each one of those or does He travel to various ones when the mood strikes?
David wanted God close to him so he pitched a tent but
even then, that wouldn’t do. David longed for the presence of God – something that
an Ark or a Tabernacle could never supply. And what David wanted, he never got.
But the Apostle Paul said this: Do you
not know that you are God's temple
and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If
anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy,
and you are that temple. (1 Cor.
3.16-17 emphasis added) The one thing David wanted he never got – but what he
wanted is for every believer today: the
presence of God within.
It is high time I celebrated the presence of God within
me and my church family across the globe like David did: singing, dancing, and
making an utter fool of myself. What David never got, I have. But he sure
longed for it and I often take it for granted. The only place God has ever
desired to be is on the throne of our hearts and that is worth expending every
bit of life-energy to achieve.
Lord Jesus, take the throne of my heart and rule and
reign from there. Let me surrender and live in Your peace – obeying Your will
without a care. Amen.
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