BY THE REV. D. MACFARLANE, DINGWALL.
Preached on Sabbath, 25th March, 1917.
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion ; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me ; he shall set me on a rock.”—PSALM xxvii. 4, 5.
THE Psalmist here expresses his great desire to be in the house of the Lord ; and so do all the Lord’s people.
In addressing you from the words of our text, we shall notice—
I.—The house of the Lord ;
II.—The Psalmist’s desire to be in that house ; and
III.—The good he expected to find there.
I.—The house of the Lord means the place where God is worshipped. The first place of worship was the tabernacle erected in the wilderness after the people of Israel had been brought out of Egypt. After that the temple built by Solomon was the place of public worship. In New Testament times the place of worship is the Church. The Church has been often called, in Scotland, “the Kirk.” The word, “kirk,” is the contraction of a word in Greek for “the house of the Lord.” The word is “kuriioikos,” a compound word, of which the first part, “kurios,” means “the Lord,” and the second part, “oikos,” means “a house,” the whole word therefore meaning “the house of the Lord.” The house of the Lord is a solemn place, for the Lord Himself dwells there. There were two compartments in the tabernacle and in the temple—“the holy place” and “the most holy place.” In the former the Lord’s servants conducted worship ; into the latter none could enter but the high priest alone, and that only once a year—the Lord Himself had His throne there. We read in Scripture that “justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne” (Psalm lxxix. 14). Justice means the law, and judgment, the Gospel. The law, which consisted of the ten commandments, was put in the Ark, and the covering of the Ark is called the mercy-seat or the propitiatory, upon which God sat as the God of salvation. The law breathed out curses upon its transgressors, but Christ’s propitiation, which was the covering of the Ark, proclaimed mercy and blessing to all that believed in Him. In New Testament times, where two or three are met together in the name of Christ for worship, is “the house of the Lord.” Some hold that unless God is worshipped in a consecrated building, the worship is not acceptable to Him ; but, as already stated, Christ, the Head of the Church, says that where two or three are met together in His name, He is there in the midst of them, even although they might be met together in the open field.
In the Highlands of Scotland large congregations met in the open field for public worship, especially on Communion occasions, and found that the Lord was with them. They were, even there, in “the house of the Lord.” Jacob, on his way to Padan-aram, as he could not finish his journey in one day, rested in a certain place when night came upon him, and the Lord revealed Himself to him graciously in a dream, so that, when he awoke, he called that place “the house of God and the gate of heaven.” It is the Lord’s presence with His people that consecrates the place of worship, and not the words of men. This much at present on the first head.
II.—His desire to dwell in the house of the Lord. He was often driven far away from the house of the Lord by enemies, but they could not deprive him of the desire to be there. His desire was not that of the sluggard who makes no effort to gratify his desire, for he says, “I seek to obtain,” that is, he endeavoured to satisfy his desire by coming to the Lord’s house. There are many who make little or no endeavour to attend the public means of grace. They make an excuse of the least thing for their absence from the Lord’s house, but where there is a true desire, there is an effort made to be there. Before their conversion the Lord’s people were not often seen in the Lord’s house, but after the Lord had changed them by His grace, nothing could keep them from being there except sickness, or other restraints of providence, and some of them had to travel long distances to hear the Gospel preached. Some travelled from Strathconon to Redcastle, over 20 miles, to hear the Rev. John Kennedy preach the Gospel, and others who had the Psalmist’s desire travelled long distances to the house of the Lord. And when the Lord will revive His work in our land, it shall be so also; they will not make a long distance to travel an excuse for absence. They will, like the Psalmist, reckon this as the “one thing.” The Psalmist needed and desired many things, but he made this the one thing he desired—he put this thing before every other thing. The Lord’s people consider the worship of God more precious than any worldly matter. The soul comes first, and then the body. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other (necessary) things shall be added unto you.” The Psalmist desired not only to come occasionally to the house of the Lord, but to make his dwelling of it—to dwell there as a member of God’s family. “The servant does not abide in the house always, but the son does,” and as this is true of the Son of God, it is true also of all God’s children. Although it is the Lord’s house, it is their house also, in which they were born again, and in which they are nursed, nourished and built up till they attain to a perfect man in Christ. We said it was their house. A stranger coming to a place meets a boy going home from school, and when they come near the boy’s home, he asks the boy, “What house is that?” The boy answers, “That is our house”; although it is
his father’s house, he calls it “our house”; it is the children’s house also. If you are a child of God, you may call the house of the Lord your house.
How long did the Psalmist desire to dwell in the house of the Lord? All the days of his life. He desired to have a long lease of it. Some will have a lease of a dwelling-house for a year or some years, but the Psalmist had a perpetual lease, a life-long lease, all the days of his life. Why not longer? Because, at the end of his life on earth, he was to remove to the house not made with hands—eternal in the heavens—where he was to be for ever. We are all to leave the house of the Lord on earth, yea, to leave the world. Where are we going? Is it to the house not made with hands in heaven, or to the dungeon of hell, from which we cannot escape? “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm ix. 17). As Christ went to heaven to prepare a place for His people, He prepares them for that place, and it is in this world that He does this. If we expect to go to heaven, we must be prepared for it during our time on earth. There was a gentleman who had a half-witted man as his servant, who was commonly called a fool, but this fool was wiser in one thing than his master. He was absent from his master’s house for a few days, and when he returned his master was not at home. He asked some one where was his master, and was told that he had died and gone to heaven. The fool said that he did not believe that he went to heaven. He was asked what was his reason for saying that. He answered, that he saw his master often going on a journey from home, and that before he started for the journey he spent several days in preparing for the journey, but that he never saw him preparing for heaven. “Prepare to meet thy God.” We must be prepared, delivered from sin in its guilt and depravity—we must be made perfectly holy, “for without holiness no man can see the Lord.” Many die to be lost. It is to be feared that many who were killed in the present War are lost in eternity. We feel much concerned about our young men at the front, especially in these days when the enemy is making an extreme effort to defeat our Army in France, and unless the Lord interpose in mercy to defend our men, the enemy may succeed, and if he shall succeed, we are provoking the Lord so much by our sins that the enemy may be permitted to come to our very doors. Instead of humbling ourselves and repenting, we are getting bolder in sin, despising law and Gospel, so that without repentance it is not at all improbable the field of battle may be nearer hand than it is now.
III.—What did he expect in “the house of the Lord”?
(1) He expected to see the Lord Himself. What is the house of the Lord to you who are His children, unless you see the Lord of the house there? If you do not see Him, it is not because He is not in His house. You may go to a house to see the master of the house, and you may be told when you arrive at the house that
the person you desire to see is not at home. But the Lord is never absent from His house ; He is always there, sitting on the mercy-seat. The Psalmist desired to see the beauty of the Lord. There is the beauty of holiness, with which His being and attributes are clothed, wherein dwells, as in a fountain, the fulness of holiness, out of which all the holiness communicated to believers flows.
There is a beauty also in His Word which is preached in His house, and in everything connected with His service when conducted as He prescribed. The worship that is not conducted according to the rule of God’s Word, is ugly in the sight of the Lord and in the sight of those whose eyes have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit. In Isaiah (xi. 10) it is said that “in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gentiles seek ; and his rest shall be glorious.” His rest here means the Church. “The Lord hath chosen Zion ; he hath desired it for his habitation : This is my rest for ever ; here will I dwell, for I have desired it” (Psalm cxxxii. 13, 14).
There is a beauty in His people, which He puts upon them. What made the face of Moses shine with brightness when he came down from the Mount? It was his communion with the Lord on the Mount for forty days. His face shone so brightly that the people of Israel could not look at him. His appearance spoke to their conscience, and rebuked them for setting up idolatry during his absence. If we were favoured with fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, we also would shine with beauty. This fellowship may be had through the word of the Gospel, and the change which it effects as a means would be ours. As the Apostle Paul states : “But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. iii. 18).
(2) The Psalmist had many perplexities which none but God could solve, and he expected, on making enquiry in the house of the Lord, that the Lord would solve his difficulties. “And to enquire in his temple.” There was a place in the temple where the high priest enquired of the Lord, by the ephod, as to the path of duty when they were in perplexity as to what they ought to do. For instance, before engaging in war, they first enquired of the Lord concerning their duty of doing so or not. When the high priest consulted Him on that subject, He told him what they ought to do. Our ephod now for making enquiry is the Word of God. All duties are expressly told in the Bible, and our High Priest makes the enquiry and gives the answer, for He knows the mind of the Father. Are you in perplexity about the salvation of your soul? Go to the house of the Lord, and you will get your perplexities solved, as many of the Lord’s people in the past got their difficulties removed there. You make enquiry
not only for your own case but for the cases concerning the salvation of your friends and relatives, and for your fellow-creatures in general. You may be in perplexity as to what is to become of the Lord’s cause in your own day. Is it to be trampled under the feet of the Germans, which they are determined to do, if they gain the victory in the present War? But whatever may become of the men of this generation, the Lord will keep up His own cause, and will never permit His enemies to extinguish the light of the Gospel. “The Lord reigneth” and overruleth every event that occurs, in His holy providence. Many think that this War is the “Armageddon,” and it looks more like it every day. The most of the nations of Europe are engaged in it, and more nations are likely to join. America is preparing for it. If it is the “Armageddon,” idolatry shall be destroyed, and all other errors, and then a glorious revival of religion shall begin and go on apace, till the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God, and men shall learn war no more for a thousand years. There shall be no ploughing on Sabbath, as wicked men now propose. It is remarkable that the motor plough—sent to Dingwall to plough on Sabbath as on other days—has broken down, and was sent back to Inverness for mending. This, we believe, was in answer to the prayers of the Lord’s people. However weak you are, you may fight on your knees, and overcome the enemy. This reminds me of a godly tenant farmer and his proprietor, who was a cruel man. The proprietor came one day to him in a rage, and threatened to take the farm from him. He scolded the good man, and threatened to thrash him. The farmer said that he would fight him on his knees. The proprietor felt greatly insulted, and told someone of his neighbours the great insult he got from this man, that—he said he would fight him on his knees. The man to whom he told this said that he did not understand what the good man meant by fighting him on his knees, and explained to him that he meant to pray against him, and that, if he did so, he might lose his estate and all the goods he had on it. The proprietor got afraid, and soon returned to the farmer, and apologised for what he said to him. He was kind to him afterwards. “The prayer of the righteous man availeth much” to open the doors of heaven. In answer to Elijah’s prayer the windows of heaven were closed, so that no rain fell on that part of the earth for over three years; and at his request in prayer the windows of heaven were opened, and rain fell freely to water the earth and make it fruitful. It is time for the oppressors of God’s people to cease their evil work when the oppressed begin to fight them on their knees.
(3) He expected that in the time of danger the Lord would hide him in His pavilion. He did this to His people many a time in the past, and He is still the same. Alexander Peden was pursued by enemies in the time of persecution. On his way, fleeing from them, he saw a small cave and entered it, and as soon as he entered the cave, a spider began to weave a net at the mouth
of the cave, and one of his persecutors said that he might be in that cave. Another called his attention to the spider’s net, and said that no man entered that cave that day, so they passed on, and left Peden in the hiding-place which God prepared for him. Another day they were pursuing Peden, who, when they were getting near him, cried to the Almighty, “Throw Thy cloak around poor Sandy,” and immediately a heavy mist covered the hills, so that the enemies could not see where he went. These are instances of what the Psalmist said in the time of trouble: “He shall hide me in his pavilion, and in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.” If we as a nation turned to the Lord with repentance, and cried to Him mightily in prayer, He would hide us, and baffle our enemies, and hide us from the wrath of our cruel enemies. Without striking a blow by the sword, the Lord terrified the Midianites, so that Gideon and his army soon gained the victory over their enemies. Many in our day discard the providence of God, and think that they can gain the victory by their own inventions. The Psalmist says further, “He shall set me upon a rock.” A rock is a firm place to stand on. Christ is the rock upon which He builds His Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In any danger His people are safe on that rock, and the rock that supports them falls upon their enemies, and breaks them in pieces.
(4) He expected and resolved to sing praises and to offer sacrifices of joy. “Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy—I will sing, yea I will sing praises unto the Lord.” When the Lord’s people are mournful they shall give sacrifices of sorrow with groans, and sighs, and tears, but when they draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation, they shall offer sacrifices of joy and praise unto the Lord. Every time they are made happy they sing His praise. They do so not only at stated times of worship, but on other occasions they will sing and pay their vows unto the Lord.
What have you to say from experience about the house of the Lord? Is it your chief desire to be in that house? Look into the past. Have you found any spiritual good there? Can you say with the psalmist “I remember the days of old,” when the Lord made you happy in His house of prayer, or with Job, when he remembered the months past “when the Lord’s candle shined on his head”? These are questions we ought to ponder upon to ascertain whether we are God’s children or not, and we should not be going forward to death and eternity at a peradventure. The Psalmist on his way to eternity desired of the Lord a token for good, and we should do the same. May the Lord add His blessing! Amen.
ART thou trimming thy slimy carcass, while thy soul is dropping into hell? What is this but to be painting the door when the house is on fire?—Gurnall.