dwelling with Him

 1How lovely is your dwelling place,
   O LORD of hosts!
2My soul longs, yes, faints
   for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
   to the living God.

 3Even the sparrow finds a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
    my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
   ever singing your praise!
                         Selah

 5Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
   in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6As they go through the Valley of Baca
   they make it a place of springs;
   the early rain also covers it with pools.
7They go from strength to strength;
   each one appears before God in Zion.

 8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
   give ear, O God of Jacob!
                         Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
   look on the face of your anointed!

 10For a day in your courts is better
   than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
   the LORD bestows favor and honor.

 No good thing does he withhold
   from those who walk uprightly.
12O LORD of hosts,
   blessed is the one who trusts in you!

- Psalm 84

A dwelling is a sacred place of refuge, and comfort and strength, or at least it should be.  This week floods have devastated the dwelling places of many of the members of our church.  As I prepared to come into the office this morning (Wednesday), it struck me at how devastating this event has been.  The safety and security of the home has been taken away by what insurance deems, “an act of God.”

 The sons of Korah can teach us something very special though.  Our hearts are ultimately not to yearn for our earthly dwelling places, but for the dwelling place of God.  There our hearts may sing joy and praises to the living God (vv. 2, 4).  There His people are blessed (vv. 4, 5) There alone will they find strength eternal (v.7).  There will they find grace and glory, where no good thing is withheld from those who are righteous (v. 11).

In times such as these, and in all others, let use pray to the Lord God of hosts, that we would find a place in His dwelling, close to the throne of God. Let us find our strength and blessing, our glory and the grace of God in His courts, never forgetting that this place is not our home, and we are just a passin’ through.