Day 5 of 30

Today’s Readings:

(Click here to print the reading plan)

Today’s Devotional Thought from Pastor Stern:

“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: / That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of the Lord / And to meditate in His temple.” (Psalms 27:4 NASB)

If you could make one request of the Lord, what would it be? During this national crisis, I imagine that most of us would ask for an end to COVID-19 or restoration of the American economy. But David asks for only “one thing,” and it’s not what we might expect. So notice three aspects of this “one thing.”

First, notice that David wants to dwell “in the house of the Lord” all the days of his life.

In other words, he never wants to leave God’s home, which reminds me of a young child playing at her friend’s house. When her mother comes to pick her up, she says, “Please mom—I want to stay longer. I love it here! Can we have a sleepover?” And this is exactly how David was at the Tabernacle where God’s holy presence dwelt with his people.

But of course, we no longer worship at the Tabernacle or the Temple as New Testament believers. Our worship isn’t tied to one building or one city. However, our deepest desire should also be for the holy presence of God in the New Heavens and New Earth—the New Jerusalem. And thankfully, we get a dim foretaste of this reality in the assembled worship of the local church every Lord’s Day. And it’s one of the reasons this season of COVID-19 is so hard. We can’t gather with other believers in public worship as a foretaste of our heavenly occupation; but we long for it!

Second, notice that David wants to behold “the beauty of the Lord.”

David isn’t simply looking forward to spending his life in God’s house; he also wants to gaze at the beauty of God. But what is this beauty? Stephen Charnock, a 17th century English Puritan, says that God’s beauty is his holiness. He writes, “Power is his hand and arm, omniscience his eye, mercy his bowels [i.e. heart], eternity his duration, his holiness is his beauty” (Works of Stephen Charnock). That’s why the Psalmist says, “O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalms 96:9 KJV). So our longing as believers should be for the beauty of God’s holiness. In other words, we're like desert nomads who thought muddy puddles were spectacular until we saw the ocean for the first time.

Finally, notice that David wants “to meditate” in the temple of the Lord.

Perhaps you’ve had the privilege of spending time alone at places like the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You’ll walk past countless paintings without feeling anything. But suddenly, you’re captivated by a certain work. Maybe it’s the eyes, the mouth, or something else. But you stop, find a chair, and just meditate on the painting until you lose track of time. This is what I think David is describing; he’s in the house of God gazing at the beauty of God. And he wants nothing more than to meditate on his beauty forever.

So rather than meditating on our problems during this national crisis, let us meditate on the beauty of God’s holiness. Then our prayer becomes the same as David:

You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! (Psalms 27:8-9 ESV)

Ways to Pray:

Father, I don’t simply want to see your gifts in my life; I want to see your beauty! Let my heart be fixed on you. Don’t let me be content with the light of the moon when I can gaze at the radiant beauty of your holiness through the eyes of faith!
Forgive me for meditating on the threat of COVID-19 more than I meditate on your beauty. Draw my gaze to you, so that I can point others to you as well.
Please end the spread of coronavirus so that I can worship in person with the Body of Christ every Lord’s Day! I long for this foretaste of heaven to come!

Bonus Devotional Thought from Jonathan Hatt (Hope’s pastoral intern):

Vindicate me, LORD, because I have lived with integrity and have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Test me, LORD, and try me; examine my and mind. For your faithful love guides me, and I live by your truth (Psalm 26:1-3, CSB).

Look at David's heart in these verses:

David's life is a reflection of the goodness that the LORD has shown him.
Because of his own integrity, David seeks vindication from the LORD. This righteousness isn't some inherent righteousness within David himself. How do we know this?
David longs for vindication because of the covenant God has kept with him (v.3)

During our time of isolation, it can be tempting to take a mental or spiritual break. There's so much going on in the world. I have my job (if I still have one) to worry about, right? How does this psalm speak to our situation right now?

Remember that king David did not have a boring life. We could give a fairly long list of psalms where David calls out to God for his own life. Even look at vv. 8-9, and you can see that there is certainly trouble in his life right then and there. But in the midst of this chaos, David cries out for deliverance because of his own integrity. Um, David you seem to be forgetting a little something called "free grace."

But that's the thing about this psalm: David is wholly dependent upon God's covenant faithfulness here; he needs God's grace right then and there.

You might be struggling today in your Christian walk (I know I sure can be). Why pray when my 401k needs to be taken care of? Why read Scripture when I need to hear the latest podcast finally explaining COVID-19 for all of us? Why fellowship with people close to you (on Zoom or Skype obviously) when it's easier to share Facebook articles about all of this?

Where our distress is, there will our heart be also. Here's our hope in this psalm today: God's faithful love (steadfast love in ESV) has not changed. Jesus has still been raised from the dead. We can refocus our minds back on this truth and let it be our guide on how we live (just like David in v.3). Let's reset our priorities back to God's promises to us in the midst of this chaos.

Ways to Pray:

Make my life and thoughts into a reflection of the Gospel
May God's faithful love guide what I worry about, what I listen to, and what I post today.
Adoration: Father, you are the one who keeps my feet on level ground (v. 12), who has shown faithful love through your Son Jesus.
Confession: Forgive me for not walking and reflecting the truth of this faithful love you have shown me.
Thanksgiving: Thank you, Father, that this time of uncertainty can remind us of your faithfulness
Supplication: May each of us strive in living the integrity that the Gospel brings to our lives.