Psalm 27, verse 4 says "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; 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 enquire in his temple." This wonderful bit of Scripture has been memorized, quoted, and sung for as long as I can remember. It was written by David, a man after God's own heart and the future king of Israel, at a time when he was just a shepherd boy expressing his heart-felt desire to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
As the youngest in his family it would have fallen to him to take care of the sheep so David spent a lot of time in the meadow, surrounded by his quietly grazing flock, playing his harp, and communing with the Spirit of God. We see a picture of this in the first verse of this Psalm. Verse 1 is a happy, cavalier attitude, praising the Lord without a care in the world. "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
So what is David's motivation for his devotion to the the Lord's House? Let's look at verse 2: "When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh..." Yikes! Like many of us, when confronted by hard trials and troubled times, David runs off like a scared rabbit to the safest place he knows: the House of the Lord. It is a lesson he learned well.
"For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy." Psalm 61:3.
"Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress." Psalm 71:3.
He came to trust in the Lord's protection in a very real way and it bolstered his confidence in a very real way too. He believed the Good Shepherd would be with him as he struck down a lion and a bear. He knew the Lord of Hosts would be with him as he brought down Goliath, the biggest, baddest champion the Philistines had. And he was absolutely convinced that the Lord our Banner had been with him when the song was sung "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." (I Sam 18:7)
It is not a bad thing to want security and protection and it is ok to anticipate God's provision. It is a part of God's nature to protect and provide; shown in His redemptive names, Jehovah-Jirah, the Lord my Provider (Psalm 23:1), Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts (1 Sam 1:3), and Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord, my Banner (Psalm 23:5).
Not long ago our family suffered the loss of a young niece and a few weeks later two others friend followed her into the presence of God. In times like these it feels as though the enemy truly has fallen upon us to eat up our flesh. In times like these we need that provision, that protection. In times like these we desire to dwell in the house of the Lord.
We are His children, as Jesus said in Matthew 23:37 "How often I've ached to embrace your (Jerusalem's) children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me." We are even told we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom in Matt 18:3.
Like children we expect security, but we also want independence. As Christians, we sometimes act like teenagers and most of us know what that means. Like the bumper sticker says, "hire a teenager while they still know everything." There is an anonymous quote (erroneously attributed to Mark Twain): "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years." Even though His "yoke is easy" and His "burden is light" we can still bristle at being yoked and burdened. Experience will teach us that Jehovah will be with us, as it did with David, and as we realize this we begin taking down lions, bears, giants, and armies.
As in life, Christians are not meant to stay children forever. "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (pebble), and upon this rock (boulder) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matt 16:18. Gates don't fall on anyone to eat up their flesh. They just stand there and wait to get stormed.
But until we become gate-storming adult Christians, we must grow up and like teenagers, we think we know what is good for us, and want to be left to our own devices. We tend to want to just lounge around singing God's praises (of course I could just be talking about myself). At least that's what we want until the enemy comes ravening at our meadow. Then we, like the man after God's own heart, are quick to say "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life…"
