Dwelling
This summer, our church has been going through the Psalms, and we were challenged to read one Psalm each day, and each sermon was on the Psalm for that Sunday. I don’t always follow directions well, so I may not have kept up like we were told. However, my experience in the Psalms is one that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
I spent the month of June in Psalm 23. To be completely honest, I spent the first 15 days of June on Psalm 23:1 – “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…” You might wonder how I could spend 15 days on 9 words, but I did. God knew I needed to chew on that sentence for a while, and He showed me in so many ways that while I still want, He is the Provider for what I need. Eventually, I was given permission to move on, but those 15 days were transformational for me.
The next 15 days of June, I took a little more of the chapter at a time, but I still kept going on Psalm 23. Eventually, I reached verse 6: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
The word “dwell” has been stuck in my mind for a while. We read about God initially dwelling the temple in 1 Kings 8. God’s presence filled the temple, and the people could no longer enter because God’s presence consumed the space. He made the temple His home. It was His!
I think about the idea of dwelling as being at home. If I were to go to someone else’s house, I would ring the bell and wait to be let inside. I would ask if I should take off my shoes and where I should go. I would ask about what to do and pay attention to others around me so I knew what was expected.
But when I’m in my own house, I open the door and walk in. I take off my shoes and put on my sweatpants. I sit on my couch, and I make myself comfortable so I can enjoy the space for its intended purpose. I am at home.
Going back to God’s house… God is content in His own home. He sets the standard for what is acceptable and unacceptable. But God invites us into His space and to dwell in His space with Him. He wants us to be content with Him. He doesn’t want us to ring the bell, he wants us to open the door and walk in. He doesn’t want us to ask where to sit, He wants us to sit next to Him. God wants us with Him, in His presence, next to Him, telling Him everything about our day and listening to what He has to say. He wants us to be at home in His presence.
We have to be mindful that even in our own homes, bad things happen – pipes break, things need to be fixed, the carpet gets stained. In our lives, we will continue to have bad things happen – people die, disease consumes our bodies, sin happens. However, we can remember that we can be home, we can be content in God’s presence.
“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever…” I’m a little nerdy in my thought process, but I wonder about the tense of the verb “shall dwell”. Is it a future tense verb – meaning that it will happen some day; or is it a perfect tense verb – meaning it is currently happening and will continue to happen? Can I live in God’s house now, or do I have to wait? Can I be content with God now, or is that for someday in the future? Unfortunately, Hebrew verbs don’t work quite the same as English verbs, but I made the determination for myself that my forever started a long time ago, and I can choose to be content in God’s presence right now and into eternity.
Those who know me know that this has been and will be a life-long struggle for me. Being content is incredibly hard for me as I am constantly seeking the next thing, the next task, the next challenge... But those 30 days in Psalm 23 reminded me that the only place I can truly be content is in God’s presence. When I dwell in His presence, I am home!
Amanda Edin
Executive Assistant