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The House Of The Lord


One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. (Psalm 27:4-5)

         Some people have accused me of being too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. I generally respond that the reality might be that they are too earthly or worldly minded to be any heavenly good. To me, that seems the worse charge, but I do know some people who long for heaven not because it lets us be with God in a more profound way, but because they want to escape from their situation. I understand. I have thought the same thing many times. But I don’t think that’s the attitude that David is suggesting here. He wasn’t escaping from life. To him, the house of the Lord wasn’t somewhere out there. It was the tabernacle.
          I was going to say that it’s different from today, but I’m not sure it is. There have always been people who looked for excuses to not go to church, to not rely on the Lord, to not obey what He commands. Again, I understand, I tend to like to sing along with Frank Sinatra, too… “I did it myy way.” It’s the same as it was.
          How much different we should be. How different if we loved God, or loved one another enough that we couldn’t wait to be in Church. This is an area for struggle for me at the moment, because Dad isn’t well enough for me to leave him all morning on Sunday. I miss church. I miss the people who are the Church. Those who make excuses to not have to deal with the people, in my opinion, are missing the boat. It’s not that the people in the house of the Lord are perfect. That idea is a joke, but even if they’re not perfect. Since I’m not either, I’m right at home.

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