THE DESIRE FOR THE HOUSE OF GOD
We have pointed out that the genuine speaking of God was in the Holy of Holies in the temple. Psalm 27:4 expresses the deep aspiration of God’s people with respect to the house of God. This verse says, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." How the psalmist desired to remain in the house of God to behold the Lord!
A similar longing is conveyed in Psalm 84. In verse 2 the psalmist says, "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord." In verse 10 he goes on to say, "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Here we see that the aspiration for the house of God was so strong that the psalmist desired even to be in the courts of the Lord. He was happy simply to be a doorkeeper in the house of God.
Psalms 36 and 23 also express a deep desire for the house of the Lord. In Psalm 36:8 the writer says that God’s people "shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house." It is in the house of the Lord that they are made to drink of the river of God’s pleasures. Furthermore, it is in the house that they enjoy the fountain of life and see light in the light of God (v. 9). Psalm 23 concludes with the words, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (v. 6). In Old Testament times the godly ones aspired to be in the temple where God’s presence was.
Such an aspiration repels evil. Simply the desire to be in the presence of God in the house of the Lord repels divisiveness and all the negative things it includes. This desire causes us to be godly, holy, and, eventually, to be one with the children of God.
As the children of Israel were chanting Psalm 133 on the way up to Mount Zion, surely it would have been impossible for them to hate or despise one another. Psalm 133 is a psalm of oneness. This oneness includes all positive attributes and virtues. By keeping the oneness we spontaneously enjoy all these attributes and virtues. Furthermore, we have God’s presence.
(The Genuine Ground of Oneness, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
