The House of the Lord

Psalm 27:4“The one thing I ask of the Lord-the thing I seek most-is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his Temple“

The theme of the house of God is prominent in the book of Psalms. Various phrases are used such as:

“The house of the LORD” occurs seven times,

“The LORD’s house”once

“The house of the LORD our God.”once

“The house of God,”three times

“The house of my God,”once

“The house of our God.”once

“Thy house” mentioned eleven times,

Making a total of at least 25 explicit references to the house of the Lord in the book of Psalms alone.

Many of these passages refer, of course, to the actual temple in Jerusalem.

On the other hand, since it was in the temple’s holy place that the Shekinah glory dwelled and where the high priest met once each year with God on behalf of the people, there naturally follows a personal metaphorical application with the house of the Lord referring to the spiritual presence of the Lord in the life of each believer.

The psalmist expresses as his highest desire in Psalm 27that of continually dwelling in God’s presence all the days of his life.

A number of the other references express the same holy desire, and the New Testament response is that, indeed in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

It is wonderful to “live in the house of the LORD forever,” but that is not all we can look forward to. The glorious concluding assurance of the 23rd Psalm is even greater as we see in verse 6“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue meall the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever“.