October 2 – In His Dwelling (Psalm 27)

“In the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling.”
(Psalm 27:5)

IN WORD:
We tell ourselves frequently that God will keep us safe, and there are numerous scriptural promises that will back that up. But there’s an often neglected element of those promises that we need to emphasize. God will keep us safe in His dwelling.
What does that mean? David surely thought of the tabernacle and the planned temple when he wrote. Are we to view our church buildings — or even the now non-existent temple of Jerusalem — as the locale of God’s safekeeping? We know better, of course. But what does it mean, specifically, to be in God’s dwelling? When can we know He’s keeping us safe?
Dwelling in the house of the Lord is a state of mind and a condition of the heart. Or perhaps it would be better to consider it a state of faith. Our physical location isn’t the key; the overflow of David’s heart in verse 4 is. We are to dwell where God is, and, in New Testament terminology, let Him dwell in us. It is to be an everyday attitude. And we are to have a continual mind-set of awe and inspiration. If we are seeking God with all our hearts; if our desire is to dwell wherever He is, regardless of what it takes to get there; and if we’d just love to gaze upon His beauty; then we are in the safety of His strength. We’ve got nothing — absolutely nothing — to fear.

IN DEED:
That doesn’t mean, of course, that God only keeps us safe when we’re perfect. It doesn’t even mean that He never keeps us safe when we’re recklessly out of His will. In His mercy, He often does. But we can’t be confident in our rebellion. If our hearts are turned away from Him, either in hardness or lukewarmness, we lose our confidence in His shelter.
But the heart that is inclined toward Him, though it may go through hardship and pain, will never go through catastrophe. He will not allow it. Suffering is a part of this world, and He does not eliminate it for us yet. But the presence of the Lord is a safe place. Nothing touches us there without His specific permission. There’s no better place to be.

“I know not the way God leads me, but well do I know my Guide.” -Martin Luther-