May we truly seek above all to dwell in the Lord’s courts

King David was certainly not a perfect man. Yet, he deeply loved the Lord. His entire life was built upon the foundation of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There are plenty of Scriptures that reveal his incredible love for God and how life for him was all about abiding with the Lord.

It says in Psalm 84: For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

David makes it clear he is not interested in fame or fortune. Only to be with God. Only to be in His presence. For in God is our hope and our strength. Jesus is the hope of glory, not man, and nothing else. And so David cries out to God that even if he must a doorkeeper then that is fine, as long as he is in the court of God and not dwelling in the tent of the wicked. This of course connects with Psalm 1 which says: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

David, who wrote the beloved Psalm 23, makes it clear all that is truly important is for us to know the Lord, to walk with the Lord and to dwell in His courts, thus His Presence. This is the crux of the matter of John 15 when Jesus said “abide in Me, and I in you”.

So often we have to ask this question, why do we serve the Lord? Is it to be blessed, to become known by others, to maybe be seen as someone with status or power or influence? For David it was simply about being with God, even if he has to be a doorkeeper. Remember, this was a king, but for him his crown didn’t mean much. He just wanted to be with God. He was willing to be nothing as long as he was with the Lord.

What then is the motivation or the intent of our ministry? Will we be fine if God says to us to be a doorkeeper in His court? Problem is, so many in churches these days want more, because the Self has not been crucified, and so they will even dwell in the tents of the wicked for greater fame or fortune, thus betraying the love of the Lord. John the Baptist after all said he must decrease so that He increases (John 3:30). This should also be our heart’s desire – more of God and less of us.

Also consider Psalm 51. David wrote this after his sin with Bathsheba and his confrontation by a prophet of God for his error. He writes in verse 10 and 11: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me ….

This is true repentance. David was absolute mortified of how he had betrayed God’s love. He was deeply remorseful, and so his cry was that God’s presence will not be removed from him. He was terrified that God’s Spirit will completely depart from him as the Spirit departed from Saul (1 Samuel 16:14). For David it was all about God’s Presence in his life, and he knew his sins endangered his walk with God. David saw what happened to the previous king when Saul sought his own will and way, thus departing from the courts of the Lord. David knew the dangers of rebellion against God, for he witnessed Saul’s downfall when the Spirit left the previous king. After all, Samuel the prophet wrote in 1 Samuel 15: For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

So David came before God and cried for mercy. There is nothing more terrible when God’s presence departs from us, just as it departed from the Temple in Ezekiel 10. Our hearts must never rebellion against God or His ways, for me must always seek His ways and will.

Do we have the same outlook regarding sin and iniquity as David? Do we truly consider how it negatively impacts our walk and relationship with God? Do we consider how this affects our walk with the Holy Spirit, and how when we dwell in the tent of the wicked we cast a shadow over our presence in the courts of the Lord, and our walk with the Spirit of God?

David was very much mindful of these things. It was because his heart was turned towards God. It was all about God and his relationship with the Great I Am. Do we truly have such a relationship? Are we mindful of the Lord’s presence and the importance and the privileged of dwelling in His courts? Is it truly our cry that the Lord must not take His Presence from us? This is after all the reality of “Revelations 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

Revelations 2 connects directly with Psalm 51, for David repented lest the lampstand – God’s light – was removed from his life. In God there is no darkness, but the reality is the longer we dwell in the tent of the wicked, the greater the darkness in our own heart and mind. And such darkness blinds us to the light, and it leads as astray and therefore away from God’s court and God’s Truth. May we continue to serve the Lord with a contrite heart, for David declares in “Psalm 34:18: The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit”.

May we thus remain humble in our walk with God, always seeking Him above all else. May we only seek His Presence as servants of the Great I Am, thus disciples willing to serve, to yield, to submit and to love. And may we truly seek His courts above all else for there is nothing greater than to walk in His Presence, to abide, and to be loved by Divinity. May we seek His light, His Truth, His Will and continue to abide with a heart that is full of repentance and which is always contrite.