A place for the Lord

 This week's verses are Psalm 132:1-5:

O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,
and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
He said, “I will not enter my own home,
or get into my bed.
I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place for the Powerful One of Jacob.”

 These verses talk about King David's determination to build a temple for God. There are arguments for and against having a permanent temple in a fixed location, at least compared to the spontaneity of a movable tabernacle. But what counts here isn't the form the temple took, but the state of David's heart. For better or for worse, he was determined to make sure his connection with God was not lost.

David said, "I will not enter my own home, or get into my own bed, or allow myself to even sleep, until I find a place for God." In other words, he wanted to make sure first that God had a place, and then take care of living life, taking care of business, even if it meant putting obvious necessities on hold. (The disadvantages of a fixed temple basically stem from God's people prioritizing their home, getting comfortable, and falling asleep in their faith, so maybe David was onto something here.)

In old villages, hundreds of years old, the church is often in a place of prominence. It's usually the highest place in town, the most sturdy building, the most ornately decorated. Part of that is practicality. When brigands and Saracens would sweep through town for a little "rape and pillage" tourism, the church often doubled as a communal safe room. But part of it too is honor. To previous generations, God was important, even critical, to their quality of life. To neglect God was to invite disaster.

But here David has established the greatest kingdom Israel has ever seen. There is no disaster in sight. It would be easy for him to lose himself in statecraft, politics, tending to his extended family and his harem, and other kingly pastimes. Instead, he wants to make extra sure that God doesn't slip away in the night amidst the noise of downtown Jerusalem.

Very few of us are probably kings and heads of state, or even billionaires or warlords. Maybe even none of us! Still, these verses can speak to us because we all rule over a kingdom of sorts. We have authority over our money, and our time, and our priorities in life. Are we so eager to make a place for God that we won't even consider settling down, kicking off our shoes and relaxing, until we know where that will be?

Success and failure can both eat up all of our time and money. Maybe we have to work two jobs to keep food on the table. Or maybe we have one job that uses all of our waking hours to great profit. Or maybe we have an overwhelming social schedule, or young children, or who knows what? If we don't make a place for God in our lives, days or weeks or months can go by without us knowing his company. If he slipped out the door and moved on, would we know?

Sunday church doesn't count as a place for God on its own. It's not magic. Several times in Israel's history, they had a thriving temple but no faith. God complains viciously about them, even though they had a nice formal place set aside to be a temple. If there's a place for God in a building, but no place for God in your heart, you're missing the point. Given all of David's strenuous efforts to ensure that God had an ornate building, it's clear that there was already a place in his heart.

So that's something you can think about this week: do you have a place for God? And is it something you would work strenuously to preserve? And if not, why not?