This Special House

By: Joanne Viola

Psalm 132, the thirteenth Song of Ascents, brings us to look and think about the temple – God’s house.

“What makes God’s house so special is not the building or the architectural style or the materials. What truly counts is the spiritual reality of what happens inside that place – the purity of the pulpit, the fidelity of the ministries, and the sincerity of the hearts. This is what makes God’s house a true place of worship.”
(The Holman Old Testament Commentary, Vol. 12, page 303)

The quote is a powerful reminder of what should be discovered and preserved in our places of worship. In the simplest of places we will often experience the most powerful worship when we come with hearts set on God.

• Purity. “May your priests be clothed in godliness …” (Psalm 132:9a, NLT).  We, too, have been called a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) and should keep ourselves pure. May our prayer be the same as David in Psalm 86, “Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you” (verse 11b, NLT).
• Fidelity. This can be defined as loyalty or faithfulness. “He made a solemn promise to the Lord. He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel. I will not go home, I will not let myself rest … ” (verses 1-5). David remained faithful to the Lord and to his desire to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem. May our prayer be, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, NLT).
• Sincerity. “He made a solemn promise to the Lord. He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel” (verse 2, NLT). David was genuine in his intentions toward God and others. “You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart” (1 Peter 1:22, NLT).

All of this reminds me that we each are a temple, and house the Spirit of God in our lives:

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16, NKJV)

We must be careful in how we relate to one another for we each are a temple; and corporately, the body of believers is the temple of God. May our lives be pure, loyal, and sincere to God and those around us.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash