Read the Psalm 

As Jesus walked toward the cross, He went to the temple at the beginning of Holy Week:

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, [he said] to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” (Luke 19:45-46)

Pause for moment and imagine the scene. Hear His firm, compassionate, angry, saddened voice quote Isaiah and Jeremiah. As He looked at the temple, He saw that it had become a place that did not prioritize prayer and connection with God as described in Isaiah 56:7: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” He also saw that it had become a place to hide from God and even perpetuate sin as proclaimed in Jeremiah 7:11: “‘has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,’ declares the LORD.” 

It may sound like understatement, but Jesus had a deep passion for people. He came (took on human flesh) that people would “have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus elaborated in John 10:28–30: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” This is no small thing. Jesus describes eternal life as a relational reality that is experienced in the context of fellowship with Him and the Father. We are invited into the divine dance of love. For this, Jesus gave His life and it was His priority. He centered everything in His life around personally connecting with the Father and also extending the invitation of that connection to others. And, of course, His death was the foundation for standing in the grace of God.

It is common for us to live a transactional theology in which we do one thing to get another. For example, we pray a prayer so that God will act in some particular way. Or, we might think that if we do the right thing, we deserve to be rewarded. This is why we may question why bad things happen to good people. However, the invitation of Jesus is to a relational theology in which everything is seen through the lens of relationship with God. We ask prayerful questions like: “God, how are You with me in this?” Or, “Father, what do You see?” Our lives are about dwelling with (or, abiding with) God. He is our home, our dwelling place.

As our lives are shaped by the reality that God is our home, it becomes our priority and also the lens through which we look at life. The grid for making decisions. The filter that we run everything through. Thomas Keating said: “Every human pleasure is meant to be a stepping-stone to knowing God better or to discovering some new aspect of God. Only when that stepping-stone becomes an end in itself – that is, when we overidentify with it – does it distort the divine intention. Everything in the universe is meant to be a reminder of God’s presence.”

What does prioritizing the presence of God look like for you? How are you centering your life around the glorious reality that you are in Christ? That you have access to the God of the universe?

In 2 Corinthians 4:7, the apostle Paul wrote that what we have in Christ is a “treasure in jars of clay.” The treasure is that we have access to God through the Holy Spirit. At the end of 2 Corinthians 3, the treasure is described like this: “now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (vv. 17-18)

David’s passion in Psalm 132 (“I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob”) is matched by His prioritization of a plan to make it happen. While it all unfolded a bit differently than expected (David did not end of building the temple – 1 Chronicles 22), His focus did lead to his son Solomon building it. 

Reflection questions: how are you being invited to prioritize the presence of God in your life? Are there things that distract you or resistances that you experience? What might it look like to deepen in your experience of God’s presence? (in practical terms)

Prayer: Lord, in Your mercy, may I live with a sense of focus on experiencing Your presence. Give me wisdom to know how to structure my life around You. Amen.