Dwelling in the House of God

A few verses from Psalm 84 I've been thinking about:

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
...
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
(v. 4-5, 10)

As some of you know, I've had an unusual living situation the last few weeks since coming here to Tucson. I decided beforehand that I didn't want a normal "apartment," that I hoped to find a situation where I could live very simply and cheaply, perhaps sleep in a church or something. I have a locker at the rec center, where I can keep my clothes and take showers; a kitchen in my office building; and a TA cubicle with some space for things. I've been sleeping in various places, friends' houses, outside, inside, etc. As of next week, I finally have a stable place to sleep, at the Catholic student center (I'm renting a room there for $100/month).

This experience has caused me to think about some different things in a new light. First, it really struck me that we are blessed when we dwell in the house of the Lord. It doesn't say, "Blessed are they who have really nice apartments" or "Blessed are they who have big houses in Rock Creek" (or some much fancier place). It also doesn't say, "Blessed are those who sleep in homeless shelters and are drunk all the time and leech off society." Rather, dwelling with the Lord, living with Jesus, is what makes us blessed. I do believe that God has blessed my living situation the last few weeks and will continue to do so, in that I'm able to spend less on myself and have greater joy giving to the church ministering to the poor and the lost around the world. But living richly or poorly in itself is nothing--living in the presence of God is what matters.

The other interesting thing is that right after it says, "Blessed are those who dwell in your house," it says, "Blessed are those...who have set their hearts on pilgrimage." The first image is of stability, dwelling in a house. The second is of wandering, a nomadic, pilgrim lifestyle. If we are to dwell in the stability and safety of God's house, it may take us through the desert, up mountains and across valleys. God's house was a tabernacle built for moving, for pilgrimage. So we may settle down for a while in a particular place, but if we want true stability, a true dwelling-place, we will always be ready to pick up everything and go where the Lord takes us--just like Matthew the tax-collector, who, when Jesus called him, "got up, left everything and followed him" (Luke 5:28). And ultimately, we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth, and our true dwelling place is with God in heaven. So we can't get too attached or too concerned with our houses or things we have here--they're tools only, having no value apart from the way God can use them to bless others and ourselves, and reflect the character of Jesus in our lives.

I just want to pray that God would be giving us all a desire to dwell in His house, to abide with Him, live with Him and rest in Him. May the bed that brings us rest be the Lord Jesus Himself. (That has special meaning to me, as it's been some time since I've slept in a bed.) And may we always be willing, whenever He calls us, to get up, leave everything and follow Him if His house starts moving and bringing us out of our familiar surroundings. May the pillar of fire lead us through the desert and into the promised land, the New Jerusalem, where our inheritance lies, "an inheritance that can never spoil, perish or fade" (1 Pet. 1:4). That's a treasure worth chasing after, staying put for, traveling to the ends of the world for, giving up everything for.

May Jesus be your dwelling place today, and may you have the joy of dwelling in His house forever.