Love the Place Where God’s Glory Dwells! (1)

[Psalm 26]

Pastor Tommy Tenney said in his book “God’s Perspective”: “Public worship is not about how many people have come to the gathering, but about how much God’s presence was there.” I think that is a meaningful statement. However, somehow it seems we want, more than God’s presence, what Pastor Tommy Tenney called a “microwave-style ultra-easy revival.” It’s like putting a bag of popcorn into a microwave to make the kernels pop quickly. It’s a simple, fast, low-effort, easy method. The reason we want this “microwave-style ultra-easy revival” is that our spiritual taste prefers “fast food.” Just as we often eat fast food, we also like “fast food” in our spiritual lives. We want worship to be quick and simple, dislike getting homework for Bible study, complain and grumble when our prayers for our problems aren’t answered quickly, and so on — our spiritual tastes have greatly deteriorated. What is the result? The result is precisely “spiritual arteriosclerosis” (Tenney). Our taste for fast food, short worship, or simple rituals ultimately causes spiritual arteriosclerosis. Why does arteriosclerosis occur? The causes include increased blood cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and lack of exercise. Considering obesity and lack of exercise, this also applies to our spiritual lives. God’s Word pours down like a flood and we seem full, but because we do not obey the Word we have received in our lives, we suffer from spiritual obesity. The problem is lack of spiritual exercise. Receiving God’s Word is not without issue, but the bigger problem is not exercising spiritually after receiving it. Ultimately, spiritual arteriosclerosis distorts and paralyzes our thoughts, just as a blocked cerebral artery causes a stroke. Also, spiritual arteriosclerosis blocks the heart vessels, resulting in angina, myocardial ischemia, or sudden death, preventing our hearts from being transformed into the heart of Christ, and thus making us unable to love our souls. This is the work of Satan. Both “microwave-style ultra-easy revival” and “spiritual arteriosclerosis” are works of Satan. Satan strives to prevent us from offering true worship to God. He blocks our worship, which is like a lifeline, so that we cannot enter God’s glory or experience His presence. A biblical example is Job. Satan first attacked Job’s possessions, including his oxen and sheep, in order to remove Job’s ability to worship God. However, we must see God’s glory in worship. We must experience God’s presence in worship. Therefore, we must dwell in God’s glory and love and long even more for the place where His glory dwells.

Today, in Psalm 26:8, the psalmist David confesses, “I love the house where you dwell, Lord, and the place where your glory resides.” Therefore, under the title “Love the Place Where God’s Glory Dwells!” I want to meditate on how those who love the place where God’s glory dwells behave.

In today’s Scripture, Psalm 26 verses 1 and 11 say that those who love the place where God’s glory dwells walk in integrity:
“I have walked in my integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Judge me, Lord!” (v. 1)
“I will walk in my integrity; redeem me and be gracious to me.” (v. 11)

What does it mean to walk in integrity here? This does not mean that David was perfect or sinless like God. It simply means that at that time, David committed no fault in certain matters and trusted in the Lord faithfully. In other words, he did not conform to the sinful groups of his time (vv. 4, 5; Park Yoon-sun).

In short, David acted sincerely and wholeheartedly [the word “integrity” in verses 1 and 11 comes from the Hebrew tom, meaning sincerity, wholeheartedness, and faithfulness (Park Yoon-sun)]. That is, David, who loved the place where God’s glory dwells, acted sincerely and wholeheartedly.

So, how does a person who acts sincerely and wholeheartedly live out their faith? Focusing on today’s passage, I want to meditate on one point first:

The one who acts sincerely and wholeheartedly trusts God without wavering.

Look at Psalm 26:1:
“I have walked in my integrity; I have not wavered; I have trusted in the Lord. Judge me, Lord!”

When the psalmist David, who loved the place where God’s glory dwells, acted faithfully and wholly, he was surrounded by wicked people. The passage describes these evildoers as “worthless men” (v. 4), “deceitful” (v. 4), “evildoers” (v. 5), “wicked” (v. 5), “sinners” (v. 9), and “murderers” (v. 9). In such a setting full of wicked people, David did not waver but trusted God. Not wavering means he did not doubt God at all in his trust.

If we were in the same situation as David, could we also trust God without wavering? Could we trust God fully without doubt? This is true faith. True faith fully trusts God without wavering.

David possessed a pure faith without any doubt (see James 1:6). Trusting God without doubting, David prayed in faith: “Judge me, Lord!” (Psalm 26:1). He sought God’s judgment. Between his own innocence and the wicked who opposed him, he asked God to judge rightly.

David also prayed: “Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind” (v. 2). Here, “test” means to look deeply into the heart, and “try” means to refine by fire as metal is purified (Park Yoon-sun). This indicates that David accepted being tested and shaken by trials to see if there were impurities in his faith character.

David used his difficult and challenging circumstances as an opportunity not only to deeply examine his heart before God but also as a chance for refinement. Therefore, he was even more steadfast in trusting God without wavering.

Here lies the strength of faith: even when surrounded by wicked people in a difficult and painful reality, one trusts God and uses the opportunity to reflect on oneself and refine one’s will and heart. David possessed such steadfast faith.

What about the faith of you and me? Is it as firm as David’s faith? Do we trust God fully without wavering? We should learn to see crises and hardships as opportunities to strengthen our faith, just like David did.

To do this, we need to apply two lessons from David in today’s passage: First, in the midst of crises and hardships, we must deeply examine ourselves through God’s Word. Second, we must take those times as opportunities to discipline our will and heart.

As we deeply examine our hearts during trials and difficulties, we must realize the abundance and seriousness of our sins and offer prayers of repentance to God (Psalm 25:11).

Furthermore, because of these crises and hardships, we should come to understand the Lord’s will rather than our own and obey to fulfill His will.

David received this discipline of the heart in the midst of crises where dark forces surrounded and persecuted him.

Therefore, like David, we too must learn to take crises and hardships as opportunities.

Because of this, we must reveal God’s glory even more in the midst of the crises and hardships we face.

May we, who love the place where God’s glory dwells, become people who shine the light of God’s glory even more brightly in the midst of trials and difficulties.

With a heart longing to experience God’s glory in worship (and in life),

Pastor James Kim
(Feeling even more the need for discipline of the heart)