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.
—Psalm 27:4
Here we have man’s response to God’s desire to dwell in us. When the desire of God toward us begins to rule our lives and hearts, our desire is fixed on one thing, and that is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives, to behold the beauty of the Lord, to worship Him in the beauty of holiness, and then to inquire in His temple and to learn what He meant when He said, “I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.…I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them” (Ezekiel 36:36–37).
The more we realize the desire of God’s love to put His rest in our hearts, and the more we desire to dwell every day in His temple and to behold His beauty, the more the Spirit of intercession will grow upon us, to claim all that God has promised in His new covenant. Whether we think of our church or country, of our home or school, of people close to us or far away; whether we think of the saved and all their needs or the unsaved and their danger, the thought that God is longing to find His home in the hearts of men if we only “inquire” of Him will rouse us entirely. All the thoughts of our feebleness and unworthiness will be swallowed up in the wonderful assurance that He has said of human hearts, “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it” (Psalm 132:14).
As we see by faith how indispensable God has made fervent, intense, persistent prayer as the condition of His purpose being fulfilled, we will be drawn to give up our lives to a closer walk with God, to an unceasing waiting upon Him, and to a testimony to our fellow man of what God will do in them and in us.
Isn’t this divine partnership wonderful beyond all thought, in which God commits the fulfillment of His desires to our keeping? We should be ashamed that we have largely failed to realize it!
Our Father in heaven, we ask that You would give the Spirit of grace and supplication to Your people, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.