Living Stream Ministry

II. THE ENJOYMENT OF CHRIST LEADING THE PSALMIST
TO THE ENJOYMENT OF GOD IN THE HOUSE OF GOD

The enjoyment of Christ leads the psalmist to another state of enjoyment—the enjoyment of God in the house of God (Psa. 25—41). God Himself is enjoyable, and His dwelling place is also enjoyable. Psalm 27:4 says, "One thing I have asked from Jehovah;/That do I seek:/To dwell in the house of Jehovah/All the days of my life,/To behold the loveliness of Jehovah,/And to inquire in His temple." The one thing that David asked from God and sought was to dwell in the house of God to behold His beauty. Psalm 27:4 shows us that our God is a lovable person with a lovely dwelling. Psalm 36 also tells us that we can be abundantly satisfied with the fatness, the abundance, of God’s house (v. 8).

A. The Universal God Being Located
in His House—His Dwelling Place

The universal God is located in His house—His dwelling place. The Scriptures reveal that God is located! Outside of Christ, we cannot find God (Col. 2:9). Christ is God’s location, and the address of God is just one word—Christ. Christ is the street address and the city of God. If we say, "O God, where are You?" He will say, "I am in Christ." If we come to Christ, we will meet God. Whenever we call, "Lord Jesus," we have the sensation that God is present with us.

The revelation of God’s house, His dwelling place, is not that simple. In the Old Testament time, God had His residence in the heavens (1 Kings 8:30b, 39a, 43a), and He also had a "retreat place" on Mount Zion in the center of Jerusalem in Palestine (Psa. 76:2b; 135:21; Isa. 8:18). In the center of Jerusalem, there was a temple, which could be considered as God’s retreat place. A number of rich people have a residence and a retreat place. The residence is quite common, whereas the retreat place is very particular. If the weather is too hot or too cold, a person will go to his retreat place. The temple on Mount Zion within Jerusalem was God’s retreat place.

It seems that our God did not feel satisfied with remaining in the heavens, so He came down to His temple on Mount Zion to have a retreat. He desired to leave the millions of angels in the heavens and come down to earth to stay with human beings for awhile. The end of Exodus tells us that when the tabernacle was raised up, the glory of God filled the tabernacle (40:33-35). Later, when Solomon built the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the temple (1 Kings 8:10-11). God was very happy when the tabernacle and temple were built. When a rich man gets his retreat place prepared, he is happy to go there. This retreat place may be a little smaller than his residence, but that smaller place is more pleasant to him. God felt pleasant when He came down to stay in the temple in Jerusalem.

(Life-Study of Psalms, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee)