Dwelling in the House of the Lord Forever (Psalm 23 Devotional)
“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” - Psalm 23:6
My family has a place on a big lake in the mountains of Maryland. It is a large lake with a long, winding shoreline. Once I was driving the boat with friends at night and was pretty far from home. As I was driving back home, I could see in the distance a wall of fog that I knew I would have to drive through. Scared, I drove into it. In seconds I was engulfed in the dense fog, only able to see a few feet in front of me. And on top of that, because of the fog and stillness of the water, it felt like the boat was not moving at all. But I knew we were moving and were in danger of crashing.
After a while, I started hitting waves, and in dread, I thought, ‘There’s another boat out here.’ If we collided, it would mean disaster. Soon, though, I realized that I was hitting my own waves, and I was driving in circles. What should have been a 15-minute trip was now almost an hour of high tension. I could not figure out how to get home.
Then I looked up. Above me was a clear, starry sky. I realized the answer. I found the North star. Then I figured the direction I needed to go and found another bright star pointing in that direction. I drove my boat, looking ahead to make sure I was not going to crash into anything, but also looking up all the time to make sure I was on the right course. We made it out of that fog bank and were overjoyed and relieved.
The promise of an afterlife and knowing we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever is one of the single most clarifying concepts a person can have.
It puts most everything in perspective. Knowing our destination gives our journey direction.
Without a known destination, our journey is merely wandering in the fog.
Knowing that there is an afterlife does many things. It steals away the sting of death, puts suffering in perspective, and understands pleasure and beauty as a foreshadowing of things to come. It magnifies the importance of love and relationships and puts intensity into evangelism. It also reminds us, in all decisions, that we will one day stand before a Holy God answering for every thought and deed.
That perspective gives clarity to our decisions. Sometimes, complex decisions become much easier when we start with the end in mind. We can often gain wisdom when we ask the question, ‘what would my 75-year-old self say to me in this circumstance’. It is sometimes like doing a maze backward. It helps to see where we want to end up.
But in life, difficult circumstances can often make our way unclear - it can feel like driving into a bank of fog. We know there are dangers out there, but we cannot see them.
As someone who believes in the God of the universe Who gives wisdom to those who ask and help to those in need - remembering that all who hope in Jesus will one day dwell in the house of God forever, digging into the riches of God’s word, and turning to Him with our need throughout our journey through life, is like looking up out of the fog and seeing stars that can point us toward home. After all, God alone has the ultimate perspective, He desires our best, and He has done the ultimate thing to guarantee our good future through His Son. When we are in the fog of life, we can stop… and look up to Him.
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.
Questions for Thought
Is there a circumstance in your life that makes the future seem unclear?
If you could ask your 75-year-old self what advice they would give you, what do you think they would say?
How does your perception of that circumstance change in light of the truth of our eternity with God - that one day soon, we will be in the house of the Lord forever?
