DWELLING PLACES

I have been meditating in Psalms 84 for a few weeks now. That and Psalm 42, about thirsting for God's waterbrooks. I want to share an insight that has come to me often in the last so many years as I struggle to relate redemptively to others who rub me the wrong way or who I feel are very wrong in their behavior. Know any of those people? It may be your (sweet most of the time) husband, or friends in your church, business and social circle. This insight has caused me to be able to see them from God's perspective and respond more like God responds to me with all my inadequacies.


"How deeply loved are Your dwelling-places! You are such an outrageous Lover.
My soul yearns, yes, faints with intense longing for your courtroom encounters. There you and I can dance until my soul feels comforted and safe again."


In King David's time, "dwelling places" were most likely thought to be Jerusalem and the Temple. But Jesus, You arranged for Your presence to move into me, not just in locations or buildings. Can I really say, "How deeply loved are Your dwelling places" and know that You are referring to me? It is even more difficult to able to see that others I don't agree with in practice and theology are hearing the same message that I am hearing, "How deeply loved you are, for You are My dwelling-place."

How deeply loved are all those Temples You dwell in! How blessed we all are to be the object of Your affection! How wonderful to be able to run to You when we become aware of just how messed up we are.

If this world turns against me, as it did Christ, You will hold me and fulfill Your covenant of grace in me. After all Father, it was Your idea to create me in Your image. It was Your idea to redeem me and come to live in me, knowing what a mess I am.

"When can I come and appear before God?", askes David in Psalm 42. The answer is, any time our hearts long for fresh encounters with the Lover of our soul.

I am a gift to this world because You have chosen to make Your dwelling place in me. So are all the others You have put Your love upon. Remind me when I am tempted to dishonor another You love. Make me an open heaven, so that Father's will can show up on earth as it does in Heaven. We desperately need to have more heavenly encounters.

So, encounter me in such a way, as to encounter the world with the impact that You desire to have at any given moment.