Lovely Places

The psalms tell how sweet it is to be in God’s house, declaring that places where God is are lovely places.

“How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Psalm 84:1,2

“How blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You.” Psalm 84:4

There are many places to enjoy the sheer delight of being there. There are beautiful mountain trails, gorgeous beaches, wonderful lakeside places, magnificent well known landmarks and so on. And we can just as much enjoy sitting in our favourite chair in the familiar comfort of home, or visiting loved ones.

Yet there are even more special places to be. These are the places where God has put His presence. When we are where God is that is the loveliest of all.

King David expressed how wonderful it is to be in God’s presence, saying there is nowhere else he would rather be.

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that I seek; to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4

You are invited into God’s presence and can go there any time of day or night, when ever you choose. As God’s child, having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, you are welcome to go to God at any time.

I recall waking in the middle of the night as a young child, wanting the comfort of my parents. I would toddle into their room and wake my mother who would let me into bed. I was comforted by being close to my parents. Similarly we can come to God at any time and He is always there for us.

“Let us draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

“Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.” Psalm 71:3

“In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12

“Brothers we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus” Hebrews 10:19

We see in the Bible times when people of God enjoyed time in God’s special places. Isaiah tells of a wonderful vision he had while in the Temple.

“I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.” Isaiah 6:1

Joshua, as assistant to Moses, would linger in the tent set up to worship God. No wonder he was God’s choice to replace Moses.

“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.” Exodus 33:11

King David talked of the delight of going to God’s house and he cried to the Lord never to lock him out of God’s presence.

“I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

“Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11

Note too that the conclusion to the best loved of all the psalms, the Good Shepherd psalm, talks of the blessedness of being in God’s House forever.

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6

There is no lovelier place than God’s presence. The best place for you to be is where God is. Before planning your escape to some delightful place of natural beauty, be sure you are regularly entering God’s presence, and being where He is.

Of course, that doesn’t mean going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It means coming into the courts of the Lord, coming boldly to the throne of Grace, bringing yourself into the place where your Heavenly Father waits to meet you.

You do that by prayer and by stilling your heart and waiting on God. You do that by worshipping God and putting aside all the distracting things that draw your heart and mind back to your earthly troubles.

You can do it in church and among fellow believers, but you can do it in a prison cell, as Paul and Silas did in Macedonia.

“About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25

As you prioritise being in God’s presence, joining with fellow believers who enter God’s presence, learning to worship God will all your heart, learning to find personal time to come before God’s throne with prayer and praise, you will quickly discover there is no lovelier place than being where God is.

And since God is with you and the Holy Spirit lives inside you, you will discover you can be in God’s presence all the time, and that the world is full of Lovely Places.