I Kings 8 (selected verses)

8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. ² All the people of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the festival …  ³ And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. ⁴ So they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.   … ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

¹² Then Solomon said,

“The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
¹³ I have built you an exalted house,
a place for you to dwell in forever.”

¹⁴ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ ¹⁷ My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to consider building a house for my name; ¹⁹ nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has upheld the promise that he made; for I have risen in the place of my father David; I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.       

Where does God live?

Where can we keenly sense the presence of God ?

Is there something special about “the house of the Lord”?

King Solomon was commanded to build the Temple as a house for the Lord. Over the years, people flocked to the Temple for special times of praise and worship. And as people went to God’s house, they seemed to sense

God’s presence.

Psalm 84

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
² My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

³ Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
⁴ Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. Selah

⁵ Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.^[a]
6 As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
⁹ Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.

¹⁰ For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
¹² O Lord of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you.

Prayer

God, let me find shelter in Your house. Let me sense Your presence as I make time to worship You. Let me trust in You and thus find my happiness. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.