LET ME STAY!

As they made their way toward their car, Zander escaped his mother’s arms and made a mad dash back toward the church doors. He didn’t want to leave! His mom ran after him and tried to lovingly wrangle her son so they could depart. When his mother finally scooped four-year-old Zander back into her embrace, he sobbed and reached longingly over her shoulder toward the church as they walked away.

Zander may merely have enjoyed playing with friends at church, but his enthusiasm is a picture of David’s desire to worship God. Though he might have asked God to thwart his enemies for his own comfort and security, David wanted peace to prevail so that he could instead “gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). His heart’s desire was to be with God—wherever He was—and to enjoy His presence. Israel’s greatest king and military hero intended to use peacetime to “sing and make music to the Lord” (v. 6).

We can freely worship God anywhere, for He now dwells within us through faith in the person of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 3:17). May we yearn to spend our days in His presence and to gather corporately to worship Him with other believers. In God we find our safety and our greatest joy.

Read: Psalm 27:1-6 (NIV)

1 The Lord is my light^s and my salvation^t—

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold^u of my life—

of whom shall I be afraid?^v

2 When the wicked advance against me

to devour^a me,

it is my enemies and my foes

who will stumble and fall.^w

3 Though an army besiege me,

my heart will not fear;^x

though war break out against me,

even then I will be confident.^y

4 One thing^z I ask from the Lord,

this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,^a

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble^b

he will keep me safe^c in his dwelling;

he will hide me^d in the shelter of his sacred tent

and set me high upon a rock.^e

6 Then my head will be exalted^f

above the enemies who surround me;^g

at his sacred tent I will sacrifice^h with shouts of joy;ⁱ

I will sing^j and make music^k to the Lord. 

INSIGHT

1. When have you experienced a passionate yearning to worship God?
2. What keeps you from experiencing that more frequently?

Pursued by powerful enemies, David chose to focus on God rather than his difficult circumstances. David speaks of Him as his light as he navigates life’s challenges, guiding him safely into His presence and goodness (Psalm 27:1). God is also his salvation, delivering him from danger and death, and his stronghold, providing a strong fortified place for his security and stability (vv. 1–6, 13; see 23:6; 43:3–4). With these provisions from God, David confidently declares, “Whom shall I fear?” (27:1). Because being in God’s presence gives him such confidence and security, David wants to be found in His presence above all else—to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of [his] life” (v. 4). In another psalm, David writes of God leading him to a place of protection and provision: “The Lord is my shepherd . . . . I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (23:1, 6).

PRAYER

Father, You’re my delight and my joy. I long to worship You without distraction or interruption. In Jesus Holy and precious name, I pray. Amen!!

Read: Psalm 27:1-6 (NIV)  | Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 11:1-19