God of Contact
Psa
11:4
The LORD is in his
holy temple
At
first sight, in the context of the Psalm, this seems a strange reference.
David immediately follows it by, “the LORD
is on his heavenly throne” indicating that the Lord's
position is actually in heaven so the ‘temple' he refers to is also
in heaven. We need to understand what David means by ‘temple'.
At
the time of writing, the Temple of God on earth had not been built
– that was the task of Solomon, David's son. References to temples
in the Old Testament, before this time, largely referred to buildings
where pagan deities were supposed to dwell, e.g. Judges 9:4, the temple
of Baal-Berith, or Judges 16:23,26 which refers to the temple of Dagon.
So, in the world's terms, a temple was a place where you went to worship
a deity. However, in 1 Sam 1:9 & 3:3 the word ‘temple' is used
of the tabernacle that God had instructed Israel in the wilderness
to build, “a sanctuary for me, and I will
dwell among them” (Ex 25:8). David had had it in mind
to build a house for the Lord (2 Sam 7:2) but the Lord had said that
his offspring would build it (2 Sam 7:12,13). David understood that
the tabernacle or temple was the place of meeting with God, the place
of contact with God, that the Lord had established.
Yet
now we find David referring to God dwelling in a ‘heavenly temple',
a dwelling in heaven. Habakkuk was later to say, “But
the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before
him.” (Hab 2:20) which was simply an instruction to beware,
to the idol worshippers, meaning that God is in His dwelling, the
place of contact with mankind, and so they had better pay attention
to Him, because He was in their midst.
We
have noted above that the tabernacle or temple was to be seen as a
place of God's dwelling in the midst of His people. It isn't just
a distant dwelling place in another galaxy; it is a dwelling place
where His people may find Him. That is the point being made. If we
want to find a particular person, we go to their home, their address.
For the people of Israel, they gathered at the tent of meeting, the
tabernacle (Ex 33:7), to find the Lord. Here is a significant point.
Where
was God? Here is a question that has haunted people through the ages.
Where is God? For the people of Israel in the desert and later in
the Land, if they had a doubt it was answered for them by going to
the Temple. When the Tabernacle and the Temple were completed, at
both times, as we've seen in previous meditations, the glory of the
Lord filled them both (Ex 40:33-35, 1 Kings 8:10,11). This was
His way of saying, I am here. Again and again throughout Scripture,
we see that God is intent on making contact with the people of the
world, with those who would respond to Him and become His people.
In
the New Testament, the apostle John came to understand a further aspect
of this as he records Jesus speaking of his own body as a temple (Jn
2:19-22). This makes Mt 24:1 all the more ironic – the temple of God
(Jesus) walking away from the glorious temple buildings built by Herod
but now no longer containing the presence of God! The writer to the
Hebrews links these things, speaking of the earthly tabernacle (Heb
9:1,2) and the heavenly one (9:24). Both are places of contact with
God. The latter one we have contact with today by means of His own
Holy Spirit and one day we will go to be with Him in His heavenly
dwelling and there live with Him for eternity. The primary point that
is being made here, and in which we should rejoice, is that God had
made contact with man and wishes to maintain that contact. How wonderful!
Response:
Thank the Lord that He has 'made contact' with YOU. Don't
take it for granted! Remind yourself as you thank Him in prayer that
He initiated that contact, He drew you and brought you to a place
of surrender when He saved you and put His Holy Spirit in you. Thank
Him that you are His temple today.