Psalm 26:8 Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells.

        

    Years ago when I first started taking kids to All-District Band events at Eastern Illinois University, the concerts were held in a gym. They were building a fine arts facility. The gym we used wasn’t a particularly nice gym. I confess I always had a negative reaction. It always seemed kind of dumpy to me. But when I look back, I don’t remember the students acting as though they felt the same way. They were so excited to be there! They had auditioned and been selected and were thrilled to perform. That gym was transformed for them for awhile.

    David was the king. He lived in what passed for a palace. It wasn’t Versailles, but was better than anything anyone else lived in. He was used to the best of everything. But when he went to the house of the Lord, (when he went to church, let’s say), he went to a tent. This was not a tent that was designed with human comfort in mind. No amenities were included that would have been attractive to the average person. It didn’t even have a roof! But what it did have was what drew David there. It was the place where God lived, where His glory dwelt. 

    Of course they understood that God was too big for a tent. He was everywhere. But that second part was unique. That tent was the place where God’s glory dwelt. He showed up there in a special way. David had known times with God while he had been tending sheep. He had encountered and prayed to God while he was on the battlefield. But this was different. 

    I fear that too many of us have made church about us. We have a list of what we like; a longer one of what we don’t like. We have preferences for everything and nothing. We like this kind of music and certainly not THAT! We have time standards for how long the pastor ought to preach, and a list of go and no-go subjects that ought to be covered in an acceptable sermon. If we do this too much, we will lose sight of what we should be coming for. To worship God. To encounter Him in the place where His glory dwells.

    David’s focus was not on the place, not on his comfort, not on himself. His focus was on God. He was the king. He could have had his own religious service brought to him in his palace. He could have ordered exactly the kind of service he wanted. He was the king. He could change it at will. In fact, he could have just said, “I will encounter God in nature. I don’t have to go to some tent to meet with God.” He was the king. But he didn’t do that. He went to church and was so busy looking up at God that he seemed not to even notice all about him that might not have been to his liking.

    As long as we act like we are the king or queen, we will never encounter God in the way He wants us to. True, God is everywhere. But His glory is not equally present everywhere. For that, we are likely going to need to go to church.

 

blessings,

Pastor Russ