Day 59 — The House of the LORD
Jesus came to us and God’s presence now dwelt with His people who are “a temple of the Holy Spirit”
Day 59 — The House of the LORD
Psalm 23:6 — “…in the house of the LORD…”
When David says, “I will dwell in the house of the LORD,” he’s not just talking about a place.
In the Bible, the “House of the LORD” was the place where God made His presence known. First there was Eden, then the tabernacle—where God dwelt among His people. Then came the temple in Jerusalem. All those places were a visible reminder that the God of heaven chose to dwell among His people.
But Solomon understood something. After building the magnificent house for God, he asked, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth?”….“Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).
The house wasn’t important because God could be contained inside it. It was important because God made His presence known there.
And then Jesus was born.
“The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The word for “dwelt” is the Greek word for tabernacle. John literally wrote that God “tabernacled” with His creation when He arrived.
The God who revealed His presence in the tabernacle and temple came near in the person of Jesus. God’s presence was no longer associated primarily with a building.
Jesus came to us and God’s presence now dwelt with His people who are “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19).
Think about the movement. God dwelt in the garden, then He dwelt in the tabernacle. Next, God revealed His presence in the temple. Then, Christ came and dwelt among us. And now, through the Holy Spirit, God dwells in His people.
The story has always been about God with us.
So when David says, “I will dwell in the house of the LORD,” he is expressing something deeper than a desire to spend eternity inside a particular place. He is longing for the presence of the God who has pursued him all his life.
That makes these final words of Psalm 23 even more meaningful. David isn’t looking to escape from life. He’s yearning for the presence of God.
That’s what every believer is longing for—not just a better place, but the presence of the One who makes that place our home.
Tomorrow, we will come to the final word of the 23rd Psalm. And it may be the most important word of all.
