About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

David's Desire - Our Desire

Psalm 27:4 reads:

"One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."

David's heartfelt desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord all of the days of his life.  Understanding the meaning of "the house of the Lord' in New Testament terms makes David's desire relevant today.  

In David's day the house of the Lord was the family, or the community, of people belonging to God, which was the Jews.  When the Jewish community existed as God intended it to be, it was the place where all the necessities of one's material and spiritual life were met.  It was central to one's existence.  It was where David beheld God's beauty, heard from Him, and was instructed by Him, especially when he gathered with the community at the temple.   

The New Testament house of the Lord is the community of people belonging to the Lord Jesus.  It is where the believer has been placed alongside of other believers in supportive relationships to form one unified community.  When the Community of Christ, the church, exists as Jesus intended it to exist, the believer finds all that is necessary for life.  It is central to his existence.   

Psalm 27:4 became impactful to me in 1972 when I began to understand and experience what living in Christian community was all about.  It was then that Jesus placed me alongside a few brothers in the Lord.  Some were my age.  Others were older, even twice my age.  Age did not matter.  Cultural or religious background did not matter.  What mattered was that Jesus had placed us together as best friends to function with one another in serving Him. 

Christian community has always been one of the biggest joys in my life.  Being properly fitted into the lives of those to whom Jesus has placed me alongside in His present-day house is where I want to dwell.  It is there I can see Jesus at work, behold His beauty, seek Him, and learn from Him. 

I pray that David's desire is our desire.  I pray that we will view the house of the Lord, not as an organization we have joined or a building in which we gather, but the very dwelling-place of the Spirit of Jesus.  Only when the church exists as a co-operative community of believers belonging to Jesus and to each other will our secular culture behold the beauty of Jesus and be instructed in the ways of our Lord.