Loving and Respecting God’s Sanctuary

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” –Psalm 122:1.
“Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth”--Psalm 26:8

I cannot remember a time when I did not like to go to the House of the Lord. One of my earliest memories of my little country church, Choestoe, is going to sleep on a blanket on the pew beside my mother and hearing singing and preaching as I drifted off. I felt so loved, safe and secure, even though that pew was hard despite the warm blanket. My sleeping in church then probably meant that my parents could worship without having to keep their young child quiet and not disturbing other worshipers. But even then, began my life-long love and respect for the sanctuary of the Lord.

Early in my life, a good Sunday School teacher led her “card class” to memorize Psalm 122:1. She taught us that God is everywhere (a hard concept for a child to grasp), but because we draw strength from God and from each other in church, He provided a tabernacle, a temple, a church building in which people can meet and worship God. And so was formed the good habit of going to the house of the Lord.

I sit in the beautiful sanctuary of our church building on Sunday morning and bring my thoughts to focus on God and the things of God. The atmosphere is one of worship. The altar, the cross over the baptistery, the architectural design, the pews on which believers are seated, the pulpit from which the Word will be read and preached, the choir loft filled with praise-givers, the organ and the piano, all these are different from and set apart from other buildings I enter during the week. The church sanctuary is a place where I can meet God. It is not the only place I meet Him, but it is a special place, a dedicated place, a set-apart place. I have made some effort to go to the sanctuary of God. I have prayed about and anticipated meeting Him there. Indeed, with the Psalmist of old, I can declare with certainty: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord!” There the honor of the Lord is manifested. There I can deliberately meet God and He can speak to me. As Isaiah of old when he saw the Lord high and lifted up in the temple, I can declare: “Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isa. 6:5b). It is also the place where I hear God’s call to service and I respond, “Here am I; send me!”
(Isa. 6:8b). Oh! Neglect not worshiping together in the Lord’s house!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, February 27, 2010