For scripture reading, we turn to Psalm 27 and read that Psalm together. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. My head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud. Be gracious to me and answer me. You have said, seek ye my face. My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek. Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger. Oh, you who have been my help, cast me not off, forsake me not, oh God of my salvation. For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. Let's pray. Our Lord and our Father, open our hearts now to hear your word and Be with him who preaches, who brings your word to us. May he be filled with your spirit, and may we too be filled with the spirit as we receive your word. We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. Our text is verses four through six. One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord. If you were given just one wish, anything you want, anything at all, and it would be given to you, What would you ask for? I trust that you would have higher aspirations than asking for a huge sum of money or a nicer, bigger house or a better job, but what would you ask for? Maybe you would need to consider. consider for a while that question. Just one request, what would it be? Perhaps David considered it for a while too, but the answer he gave in our text is an example to us. It's really every Christian's answer. One thing, he says, one thing. asked or requested. One thing have I requested, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Let's consider this text under the theme, just one request, dwelling in his house, in God's house. First of all, secondly, with a joyful security, not afraid of our enemies all around us, and in the third place, seeking it single-mindedly. Now, when we hear house of the Lord, we might think going to church, gathering for public worship. That's how and when we go to the house of the Lord, and that's not wrong. David would think of the tabernacle, We think of going to church, that's not wrong, but there's more yet than that. It's wonderful, it's wonderful when going to church is truly going to the house of the Lord for us, and that's as it should be. But one can go to the house of the Lord, and one could go to church, rather, and not enter the house of the Lord. There's some that do, maybe many, maybe some of us go to the house of the Lord or go to rather to church and we don't go to the house of the Lord. And one can be in the house of the Lord when they're not in church, beyond church, even every day. David's desire is that he's in the house of the Lord, that he dwells in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. So what is being in the house of the Lord? I suppose it can be defined different ways, but we'll try this for a definition. Being in the house of the Lord is a figurative, poetic way of referring to the spiritual experience or the spiritual place, the spiritual experience of being in the presence of God as Father, very conscious that He is there, that we are with Him, that He's present with us, joyfully aware that he is lovingly attentive to us, that he cares, that he's glad we're there. And sharing, he's sharing with us all of his grace in Jesus Christ, in that place, in that house of the Lord. The spiritual experience of being in the presence of God, joyfully aware that He is lovingly attentive to us and sharing with us there all of His grace in Jesus Christ. Think of David visiting the tabernacle, for example. When he would go to the tabernacle, that's what it was for him. That's what it was like. You imagine going to the tabernacle and not aware of God's presence. God dwelt there. among his people. He showed himself there. And so when David would go to the tabernacle, he'd be aware, very aware, that God is present there. God was attentive to him. And God was sharing with him, through the blood, which pointed to Jesus Christ, God was sharing with him his blessings of grace. But that's true now for us in an even more powerful, intimate way. Jesus has come, as we well know. Jesus has come, shed his blood once and for all, for all his people, for all their sins, washed those sins away so that we can come into the presence of God. to give us the right even to enter the most holy place. The most holy place. And then he's called, he's called us to draw near and to enter it with confidence. Maybe we can think of it as like, it's kind of like a child would enter his father's earthly house. like a child. That's the idea of the text two, of a house, a home, entering or living, dwelling in God's house. It's seen very clearly in those words, house of the Lord. Or verse five and six use the word tent, place of residence. And so there's that idea of a house. We can think of a place where a family live. A place where a father lives with his children. A loving father lives with his adoring children. It's a place where the father reveals his heart. He opens up. He shows himself to his children, demonstrating his love. Demonstrating his love by listening to them, being really present Sometimes I can fail at doing that. You're there, but you're not really there. Maybe some of the fathers can relate. But a father, a good father, at his best, listens to his children, is fully present, and he talks to them. He talks to them maybe about what he's done for them or what he's doing for them and how to live as his children, how to walk in this world as his children. And that's a good picture. That's a picture of God dwelling with us. Now think of God as the father. God is our father and we go to him in his house We live with him there where he reveals his love, where he listens to us, he's attentive. And we talk with him and he talks to us, what he's done for us, how to live as his children in this present world. That's really our experience when we come to church. That is, after all, primarily, and in the first place, how we dwell in the house of the Lord. That's why it's good to have two worship services and attend both of them. That's why we shouldn't do what is very common today, sit at home and say, there I can worship God, let the church meet, but I won't, I'll stay away. Because primarily, how we enter and dwell in the house of the Lord is through attending church. But now attending by faith, attending alert and aware, aware of his presence. You think of that? I'm sure you do. But think of that more when you come to church. Come here aware God is here. God is in this place. What an awesome thought. And if you come to worship, aware that God is in this place. You'll come reverently and you'll come joyfully, excited to be here. Aware of his loving attentiveness. He listens while we worship him, lovingly attentive to us. He listens to our prayers and to our songs. He receives our offerings that we offer to him. Come to church aware that he will share his grace with us in Jesus Christ, revealing his heart like a father, like a good father, revealing his heart to us, especially in the preaching. There's where we hear the heart of God and what he has to say to us. So we're not satisfied with just being in church, are we? We want to dwell in the house of the Lord here in church. But also that's something that we can enjoy throughout the week. If church is that important to us worship is so important to us, then, and we worship God, we enter God's house when we come to church, then the rest of the week, too, we can enter the house of the Lord. That's the relationship between public worship and private worship. We need public worship so that we can effectively engage in private worship and entering God's house throughout the week, having devotions. When you read the word, think, God's talking to me here, privately, on my own, with my family, or personally. When we pray, be aware, I'm just entering God's house now in prayer, and He's attentive to my prayer, and He hears, and He's concerned, and He'll answer. And when we sing together, in devotions as a family, or all alone, driving down the road, perhaps, you think, I'm entering God's house, and he hears. Anywhere, anytime, you can enter the house of the Lord. Even as I said, in your car while driving down the road just for a few moments without taking your eyes off the road, you can enter God's house. Mowing the lawn, folding laundry, in a hospital room far away from church, you can enter the house of the Lord. just for a moment, even if it be just for a moment, breathe a prayer, enter God's house, breathe a prayer to Him, know He's heard, and resume living your life. It can be just for a moment, but it can also be a life-changing, impactful, life-changing moment. As you cry out to Him in an hour of great great need, and he listens, and he changes. He changes your life, or he saves you from some harm or other. Usually this is done intentionally, but even sometimes it's a surprise, such as when Jacob fell asleep, and he woke up, he fell asleep, remember, on that rock, and he saw that vision, of the angels going up and down the ladder. And he woke up and he said, he called the place Bethel, which means house of the Lord. And he said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I didn't know it. I wasn't aware of it. I wasn't conscious that he is in this place. But David requests. that he might stay there all the days of his life. That is, go to the house of the Lord so frequently that it's as if there's no interruption, there's no ceasing. Stay in communion with him. Never have a time where, like the prodigal, he strays from his father's house. one thing he desires. Don't you too? We'll desire it even more when we remember that it's in the house of the Lord, David tells us, that we see the beauty of the Lord. We see the beauty of the Lord. One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. Now, what does this mean, to see or to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord? We can't see God, not literally, not with our natural, earthly, fleshly eyes. Especially, we could talk about how David did this in the tabernacle, but especially now for New Testament saints, especially for us, how do we take this verse? How do we see God, let alone the beauty of God? It's by the eyes of our soul. the eyes of our soul, whereby, by those eyes of the soul, we can see spiritual realities just as sure, or dare I say, more sure than we see natural things with our natural eyes. That's Hebrews 11, verse 27. Hebrews 11. Talking about Moses, it says, by faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king. Notice that ties in with our text. We'll come to that presently. Not being afraid, no fear once you've seen God. Not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. He saw God. who is invisible, and that's by faith, by the eyes of the soul. The creeds tell us, the scriptures tell us that God gives us faith and God, as it were, implants new faculties, new eyes of the soul to see Him, to see heavenly things, to see spiritual things, see the beauty of God with those those eyes. Don't close your eyes, so to speak. Look with your eyes wide open and see the beauty of God when you enter His house. In a word, the beauty of the Lord is Jesus. The beauty of the Lord is Jesus. The person and work of Jesus Christ, especially to have it laid out for us in the preaching, to have it laid out, set out before our eyes, as it were, in the preaching. That's the calling of the one who preaches, to set out Jesus Christ to us. I've seen, maybe you've seen that too, I've seen in pulpits the words inscribed in a little plaque or something so that the preacher can see it. It says, sir, we would see Jesus. Show us Jesus. And that's meant to tell the preacher that he's supposed to be showing Jesus to the people, demonstrating him so that they can see him. And that's what we say every Sunday, isn't it? We would, we wish to see Jesus. That's the beauty of the Lord. And it's especially Jesus on his cross. You know, the Christian is a very, very strange person if you think of it. But what to him is more beautiful than the cross? A torture device, a device of death, a device associated with death, but to us, associated with life. Even better than seeing Jesus dying on a cross, we see an empty cross, testifying that Jesus has accomplished what he set out to do. He's finished the work of redeeming us, redeeming his people. He's cleansed us and made us new through his own blood and through his own work. And through that cross, you must see everything. You have to see everything through the cross. All the beauties of the Lord then come into focus. If you've seen the cross of Jesus Christ, the empty cross of Jesus Christ, then all the beauties of the Lord come into focus. The loving kindness of God, the steadfast loving kindness of God, the fact that God answers our prayers, the fact that that we're forgiven of all our sins. Nothing can stand against us anymore. The fact that we're born again, we're regenerated, and now we're filled with a new life and new obedience to God. We have eternal life. We could go on and on. The beauties of the Lord gaze on them. Look intently on them, behold them, they're yours. See those beauties of the Lord. And then let them lead you to inquire in his temple. That means to meditate. David adds that to behold the beauties of the Lord, to see, to gaze upon those and to inquire in his temple. Contemplate them thoughtfully. Reflect on the wonders that belong to him. Consider the goodness of God. Think on how much he really loves you. Make it personal. He loves me. He loves me. And contemplate what that empty cross means to you, not to somebody else. We can do that too. But faith is not only that he saved others, but that he saved me also. Contemplate that through the word, in prayer, through song. That's our one request. that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to see, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. And that's our security too. When I began to work on this passage, I originally began to just work on verse four and intended to preach only on verse four, But I have to say something yet of how verse four ties in with the rest of the psalm. It brings out the psalm that does that our dwelling in God's house gives us security from our enemies. That's how we read it. Verses five and six say, for he will hide me in his shelter, in his in his house. In the day of trouble, he will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. And look at how the psalm begins already in verse one. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Fearing was on his mind and he Sets that aside, but it was on his mind. The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Again, just for an example, look at verse 12. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me and they breathe out violence. Enemies and fear is on his mind. That's what he's talking about in verse five when he mentions the day of trouble. Now shall my head be lifted up, he says, above my enemies. We too live in a hostile world. A hostile world to Christians. And it's becoming more so. I don't need to say that or explain that, elaborate on that to you. We recognize that. There's spiritual powers in addition, spiritual powers that are set on our destruction. Enemies, Satan, his demons. And then we have an enemy within us, our spiritual, our own fallen, sinful nature. We have enemies. You could say, very rightly, we're surrounded by enemies all the time. But when, beloved, when you've been with God, when you've really been with God, in his house, beholding his beauty, contemplating his wonders, something changes in you. It's different. Before there were enemies and they were all around and they were rising up and they were causing you to fear and now you're not afraid of them. The sense of foreboding, evaporates, the sense of anxiety dissipates. God doesn't promise to remove all trouble and all enemies, and he doesn't. He doesn't promise that, and he doesn't do it. But they can't do you real harm. They can't make you afraid. That's the real harm. make you afraid so that then you don't trust in God, so you sin against Him. Your enemies cannot do that when God takes you into His house. David puts it this way, not literally, but very real nevertheless. He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble. That's what he does to our souls. He hides our souls. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me up upon a rock up high above my enemies surrounding me. If you are in his house, if you've been in the house of the Lord, then they can threaten to kill you. They can even take it that far. I will kill you, they say, but somehow it isn't the same. You simply answer without fear and with confidence. You will, if that happens. My home is heaven. I'm going to live in Father's house forevermore. The same house that I lived in with a taste of that life. Now, in this world, dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, I'll dwell in that house of the Lord forever. I've been with my God. I dwell in his house. I've seen his beauty. I've contemplated his wonders to me. Of whom shall I be afraid? Even surrounded by enemies all around me, I dwell in a place that they can't see, they can't even imagine. I dwell in a place that lifts me up, that lifts up my soul and hides my soul there. Instead of fear, you'll say, sing. The Christian really is strange, isn't he? Instead of fear, you'll sing with shouts of joy, the text says. Sing and make melody to the Lord, the text says. And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord like Paul and Silas did in prison. put in prison by enemies. Who knows what's going to happen next? And yet they were singing at midnight with joy because they dwelled in the house of the Lord. Nothing else can move you to sing while being surrounded by enemies, except dwelling in the house of the Lord. You see now? You see, now David's right, isn't he? He's right. That's our one request. You had some time to think about it, but wouldn't you agree with David? Wouldn't you agree? Say it with him then in your heart. One thing have I asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, then don't just go to church. Go to God's house. Dwell in God's house there. Don't just go through the motions and family devotions and personal private devotions. Don't just go through the motions, but see his beauty. Dwell with God in his house, truly, by faith. Then make that your one request. You notice the verse says, one thing have I asked of the Lord. That's very important. It's very important that we do that. because only the Lord can grant it. We can't, with our strength and with our might, with our spiritual activity or any other way, barge into God's house. God must grant that. God must draw us. God must take us in. You need him, his strength, his grace. so that you can enter his house. Then make that your chief prayer, your main petition, your one request. Maybe you use different words than this text, but that's fundamentally the request that you'll say. Lord, let me enter your house, dwell in your house when I worship you. Let me dwell in your house all the days of my life. Let me dwell close with you in communion, personal, intimate, communion. And to do that, then prepare. Repent of sin. If you're holding on to sin, repent. You can't live two lives and have one request. One request means one life. And be ready to see the beauty of the Lord. That's, too, how you prepare Realize that these are spiritual things, and so be ready to look for them, be ready to see them by faith. Open your eyes, so to speak, and get ready. Put on your church clothes. You get dressed up to come to church at least somewhat, well, put on the robes of the righteousness of Christ. and enter God's house. Go by faith and dwell there and praise God. Will you with me? Praise God. Praise God with shouts of joy for the great, great blessing of having the great privilege of dwelling in his house. Amen. Our Father, we give thanks to you for your word. We give thanks to you for our attentiveness, even that is your gift. And we pray that we may truly enter the house of our God. Oh Lord, we're so weak, we're so sinful. We do that with such weakness. but bless the strength you've given us and make us stronger that we may enter your house fully and be amazed by the beauty anew of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and put them to heart, contemplate them deeply, that we may have no fear when the enemies appear. We may have no fear, but rest. with quiet confidence in you, our God and our Savior. In Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen.