Dwelling in the House of the LORD

I love Psalm 27!  You’re probably going to hear me say that often ‘cause my favorite book is the Psalms!  Recognize any of these lines?

• “The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?”
• “Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me.”
• “Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a level path…”
• “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Great stuff!  The other day, I was particularly struck by verse 4:

“One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall 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 meditate in His temple.” 

I believe this is another aspect of a life in Jesus’ Name.  I looked up the Hebrew word “dwell” in my Logos Bible software (although Kris is studying Hebrew, at this point he could only tell me how to pronounce it…I am so proud of him!).  This word means settle or remain, implying a long period of time. J. Vernon McGee (one of my husband’s fav commentaries") says that dwelling with the LORD means we have access to Him through Jesus!   Imagine my delight when I found out that the word “beauty” in this verse means “delightfulness”!  Finally, I looked up the word “meditate” which means inspect, investigate or inquire.  What does all this mean?  Let me put it in words we can really understand:

“One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:  That I may settle and remain in the house of the LORD, having access to Him because of what Jesus did for me, all the days of my life, To behold the delightfulness of the LORD and to seek/investigate Him in His temple.” 

Now I know this is Paula’s paraphrase, but I am only inserting meanings from the original Hebrew into the verse to make it more understandable.  It is a tool I learned when I was training in Precept.  Isn’t this a great picture of what it means to live in Jesus’ Name…I love God’s word!!!!!

The next 2 verses in Psalm 27 give us the reason why we should do what verse 4 above says:

“For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.  And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.”  

You know how I know this is the why behind these verses?  Because of the simple word, “For” which begins verse 5!  Every version I checked begins with the word “For”.  This is also something I learned in Precept…look for words of conclusion like: for, therefore, then, etc.  That indicates that whatever comes after the “for” will give you the why or a conclusion to what you have been reading.  It will probably tell you some life application that you can make, so watch for these words.

I don’t know about you but I want God to “hide me” and “lift me up on a rock” when I am going through a time of trouble.  But in order for God to do this I need to be doing what verse 4 tells me do!  It’s a promise with a condition…live in Jesus’ Name (as we have talked about) and be hidden or protected by God!  Amen and amen!!