#DailyDevotion What Is The Desire Of Your Heart?
Psalm 27 2When wicked men attack me to tear me in pieces, my enemies and foes will stumble and fall. 3Though an army besieges me, I’m not afraid. Even if a battle is waged against me, I’ll still be confident.
The LORD made certain promises to Israel. If they would but trust Him, one would chase ten, ten would chase a hundred, and a hundred would put a thousand to flight. It was such a promise that gave David the courage to stand up to Goliath. David believed the LORD’s word. David had a word directly from the LORD from Samuel. He would be king. He believed that promise and lived boldly. David could live believing in the promises of the LORD. So when wicked men attacked him, when enemies and foes opposed him, if an army besieged him or a battle was being waged against him, he could still be confident. He had the LORD’s word.
You do not have the same word from the LORD. You are a spiritual Israel. You are destined to be royal kings and priests of the LORD Our God in the New Heavens and New Earth. We have a word from the LORD. For the sake of Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven us. If we believe Jesus is the messiah and put our trust in Him, we have eternal life. He promises to be with us until the end of the age. He will never leave us or forsake us. Nothing and no one can snatch us out of His hand. With such promise we can pray this with David that we’ll still be confident no matter what is happening to us.
4I ask the LORD for one thing – this is what I want: to stay in the LORD’s house as long as I live, and see how delightful the LORD is, and to meditate in His temple.
The LORD, the God of Israel, was David’s first love. That is to say, he loves the LORD more than anything else. If you love someone, you want to be with them all the time and to delight in being with them. The LORD Jesus Christ should be our first love as well. He should be our greatest desire. To be with Him, to dwell in His house and to meditate in His temple for us today is read the scriptures, to gather with other believers who make up His temple, to listen to Jesus’ word being preached, to receive the sacrament and to meditate on all we have read, seen, heard and tasted. It should not be drudge for us to go to church when the saints of God are gathered. While David had battles to fight, enemies of Israel to conquer and a kingdom to rule, his heart was desiring to be with the LORD, where the LORD promised He would be.
5He hides me in His shelter when there’s trouble, keeps me hidden in His tent, and sets me high up on His rock.
The enemies of David could only do so much against him. He was the LORD’s anointed. David knew this and looked to the LORD to be his shelter, tent and rock in times of trouble. As believers in Jesus Christ, you have been anointed with the Holy Spirit. Though many have lost their physical lives, lost house, homes, worldly wealth because of their witness to the faith of Jesus Christ, Jesus always kept them in His shelter and tent. He was and is their Rock. Jesus is your Rock as well. He is your shelter and tent you can take refuge in when the world and all that is in it opposes you. There is only so much this world and the enemies in it can do to us. When we look to Jesus for help, the Father covers us and protects us in the faith to keep us faithful.
Heavenly Father, give us such desire to be in Your word, participate in Your sacraments, and be with Your temple, the Church that we may with confidence know Jesus is our shelter, tent and rock on the day of trouble. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.