Let me stay!

One thing I ask from the Lord . . . that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. — Psalm 27:4

As they made their way toward their car, Zander escaped his mother’s arms and made a mad dash back toward the church doors. He didn’t want to leave! His mom ran after him and tried to lovingly wrangle her son so they could depart. When his mother finally scooped four-year-old Zander back into her embrace, he sobbed and reached longingly over her shoulder toward the church as they walked away.

Zander may merely have enjoyed playing with friends at church, but his enthusiasm is a picture of David’s desire to worship God. Though he might have asked God to thwart his enemies for his own comfort and security, David wanted peace to prevail so that he could instead “gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). His heart’s desire was to be with God—wherever He was—and to enjoy His presence. Israel’s greatest king and military hero intended to use peacetime to “sing and make music to the Lord” (v. 6).

We can freely worship God anywhere, for He now dwells within us through faith in the person of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 3:17). May we yearn to spend our days in His presence and to gather corporately to worship Him with other believers. In God we find our safety and our greatest joy. — Kirsten Holmberg

When have you experienced a passionate yearning to worship God? What keeps you from experiencing that more frequently?

Father, You’re my delight and my joy. I long to worship You without distraction or interruption.