Thought for the Week

Ultimate Destiny

Psalm 23v6 “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Are there places that you love to go to? Maybe it is a hill or mountain with fantastic views, or beside a river with its fresh flowing waters, an armchair by the fire, or maybe it is someone’s house or company. We can feel a sense of peace and refreshment in such places.

The Psalms often refer to how precious it is to be in the “House of the Lord”. To be in someone’s house implies privilege, welcome and belonging.

In this Psalm, he does look for just a visit there, as when Jacob visited Bethel (which means “House of the Lord”), or the people of Israel visited the tabernacle or temple for special festivals. He is looking forward to dwelling in the house of the Lord continually and forever. This is his ultimate destination with no plans to move back out.

This is looking beyond our sense of the presence of the Lord today to eternity. The beauty of eternity is not that it goes on forever, but that we get to be in the Lord’s presence for ever. In the context of the rest of the Psalm, this is a place where we will no longer have enemies around us, we will no longer face the valley of the shadow of death, we will no longer need protection from evil, for these will all be no more. “For the old order of things has passed away,” Revelation 21v4.

It is this knowledge of what lies ahead that enables us to endure our present difficulties. As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 4v17 “Our … momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes … on what is unseen.” What a hope and a future we have. All praise and thanks to God. May the Lord keep our eyes firmly fixed on our eternal glory of being with our Lord and Christ forever.

With love and blessing,

Roland