12th. May. 2022. Daily Devotion.
1 How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young – a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Psalm 84:1-5
The writer of this psalm is eager to be in the temple of God, and we get the sense that, for some reason, it’s out of reach. In ancient Israel, the temple was the place where the believer could be renewed in faith and reconnected with God. It was God’s dwelling place among his people.
This psalm reminds us of our need for a home with God. We all need holy places; we all need to be home with God.
But God doesn’t dwell in a temple building any longer. In John 2:19-22 Jesus indicates that his own body is God’s temple. In Jesus, of course, God came to be with us, to dwell among us (Matthew 1:23; John 1:14).
After Jesus ascended to heaven, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ followers turned us into God’s temple also. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19-20. God dwells in us and among us. We are the temple of God.
God’s people are in the temple-building business. On the solid rock of Jesus, we are building a home to which anyone can come to find God. That is our mission, to be the dwelling place of God.
God’s temple is found in the hearts and lives of his transformed people. So, by his Spirit, we are never far from the presence of God. Thea Leunk.
Lord, thank you for living in us and making your home with us. By your Spirit in us, help us to draw others to you, that they may become your dwelling place too. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Guide and direct your Church, O Lord, that in essentials we may preserve our unity, in non-essentials we may live in liberty and diversity and, in all things we may exist in love and charity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Rupertus Meldenius (1582-1651)
God of all, whose love welcomes each person, in a world where many feel they have no place, help us to remember that you offer a place for all, that no one is excluded from your love and that each has a home in your kingdom of justice and peace. When we are tempted to think ourselves more important than others, remind us of the special place you hold for people who are poor, weary, and dispossessed, and for those who are neglected, reviled or unjustly treated. Help us to share in your righteous anger against all that harms our sisters and brothers, to rejoice in your all-encompassing love and to see in our neighbour the face of Christ, who makes us one. Amen.
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass-through things temporal that we lose not our hold on things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Common Worship