A life learnt from David in Psalms 27

 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

David is sure of whom the lord is, he said the Lord is my light and my salvation. How did he became so sure about how God would defend him and how God would grant him victory. Notice David is not praying for protection nor is he seeking wisdom and knowledge from the Lord of what will become.

He is so certain that all things in his life was ordered and he seems to understand why he is going to be a winner man in all these things. This is what David reveals to us as he pens this beautiful Psalm. One thing I have desired, he desired only the Lord. This is so profound, David in his life only lived to fulfil one thing ; that is  to be with the Lord and beholding His Glory.


This was the source of his understanding and wisdom. This is why David was so confident in the face of trouble. All he sees was the beauty of the lord and God's love for him. His eyes were fixed on the one thing he desires so much even in the times of trouble.

He understood that  if he focuses on God the attention of God would melt mountains and levels all the unequal ground. Above all else he understood that God would fight for him because He was a friend and a companion of God and God enjoyed his worship and fellowship.

Our challenge in the 21st century is that we seek what God can do in our lives and yet neglect Him as our Father. We forsake that beautiful relationship of beholding His glory and of staying in His presence. This is what separates  us from David. We are always fearful and when we are in trouble we see defeat and often times we give up and fall by the side.

David shows us three important things which he sums up as the one thing he desires that can help us to live the life of victory in Christ and be able also to empower us to manifest the Glory and grace of God on earth.

1. Dwell in the house of the lord : the word dwell means to stay, to remain and to abide. David demonstrated what Christ would instruct us in the book of John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Dwelling in the house or rather in the Lord is to remain in  Christ, allowing the nature of Christ to operate in your life through faith. Just like Paul who says "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

  Dwelling also implies  to be rooted in Christ, planted in His nature and becoming one with Him. Thus to help us dwell in the lord we must appreciate our divine position in Christ which was evoked by His resurrection to glory.


Remaining in Christ as  alluded by John entails that we need to allow the word to be one with us. Dwelling in Christ is dwelling in His word, staying and planted in the word with practice correspondence of the word. Being one with the word .


Above all else to dwell in Christ is to remain in His love, God is love, the nature of God's being is love so by dwelling in Him we are dwelling in love.  Let the love of God which we are surrounded by be a reflection of your being.

Yes David desired to dwell, to remain and to abide in the house of the lord where he participated in adoration and fellowship. In His presence there is nothing more that seeing His Glorious presence and brilliance light of life.

Notice in this place David  is not seeking after God no he is already with the lord and seeks to spend time with the Lord. This is the type of people God is seeking after, Do you see that when your heart is right you do not seek after the lord, He seeks after you.
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him

2. Behold the beauty of God. This is powerful when you take time to just behold the beauty of God. This was the key for his transformation and greatness, as you behold His glory you surely transform to the form of that Glory. We eventual becomes that which we worship, the art of worship is that one of beholding, admiring and cherishing.

3. To inquire in his temple , take time to converse with the lord, let your worries be known to him. Allow the Spirit of the Lord to share the Father's instructions and guidance.

Genesis 25:22
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb,
And two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels;
and the one people shall be stronger
than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Our challenge still in our Morden church comes in one form, we fail to progress with the revelation of the scripture, the first we hear about enquirer is between a person and God, and in the times of the prophets we now see people going to enquirer from the prophet to hear from God on their behalf.

It's a tragedy to still live in this old way, where people only believes that one person is used of God to hear and to speak with God. David intended to dwell in the house and enquire of the lord in the temple all the days of his life.

Hebrews tells us  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,

This is what David saw before the coming of our lord Jesus. When we take time to talk with God we position ourselves for a revelation, understand and wisdom in the area we discuss with the lord. David longed to fellowship with the lord, he understood what Paul the Apostle would write in relation to fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

   "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen." The communion, fellowship and partnership with the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The secrets of divine life can be seen in the life of David as he teaches us through practice living in the presence of God in the book of Psalms. Desire The lord above everything else, that desire and love for the lord will lead you to dwell in the temple.

As you dwell in His presence you begin to beholding the lovely beauty of the Lord. Admiring the lord's Glory will eventually lead you to start speaking and companioning with Him as you enquire from the Lord.

                

                                                                  Tonderai Goncalo | The Wordnocrate 2020 

It is easy to accept Human effort at the expense of Divine Grace, I have noticed that Humanity is easy to accept half truth and utterly ignore the whole truth that is in-front of it. In Christianity tendency of legalism can easily be seen in most church in various forms.

Legalism and reactions against it are a constant part of religious life. It lies at the center of disputes over the changes Pope Francis is attempting to bring to the Roman Catholic Church. It divides progressive from conservative Protestants, Indeed, it defines the conflict between liberal and conservative forms of many religions.

Legalism can be defined as strict adherence to the letter of the law. Use of the term today normally has a pejorative connotation. A legalists is fixated on law, seems to miss the principle behind the law, or tightens legal obligation beyond what is right, reasonable, or good for people. I would want to further its meaning to the adherence of church traditions, doctrines and Ministries Philosophy in this paper. 

Legalism is a perennial tendency in religion, at least in the three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But so is a reactive anti-legalism.

Speaking of the Christian tradition which I know best, I think it is fair to see a kind of legalism and anti-legalism spiral.

The legalism Coiled  In Religion Eroding Grace

 Luke  Chapter 6 Jesus tangles with the scribes and Pharisees over the proper practice of Sabbath observance. In one incident Jesus gets in trouble for allowing his disciples to glean some grain on the Sabbath. In the second he heals a man in a synagogue on the Sabbath, also evoking resistance.

The command to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy is crucial in Judaism. One aspect of honoring Sabbath is to refrain from any kind of work. The question in these texts is whether Jesus and his disciples were violating Sabbath by “working” in these two ways. Jesus appeals to precedent, to human well-being, and to his own lordship over the Sabbath to defend his actions. His adversaries are not convinced.

Jesus in coming to the earth He came with Grace and Truth, here we encounter the battle between Grace and the Law. In Christ mind the love and goodness of God was above the legal system that governs it. By adhering and becoming legalistic in nature the church, ministry or religion erodes the Gospel of Grace and entangle Humanity back to self effort.

 It is amazing to note that most of the churches that are being planted being Pentecostal or Traditional are bring man back to the Law either by adherence to the Torah or by creating their own Rules embedded in the believers faith policy as ministerial Philosophy.

It is perhaps not coincidental that this kind of prudish legalism has produced a systemically anti-legalistic response among many millions of Christians who were raised in it. I think this explains a lot of the spirit of ex-Southern Baptist and ex-evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity. Where legalism dominated, many, many, Christians want a religion of grace, mercy, and freedom.

On the other side some scholars would want to argue that sometimes demands and boundaries are needed. Given human nature, sometimes we need someone to tell us where the limits are, and what we are not allowed to do, not just where the freedom is and how forgiving God is.

It is imperative to know that Legalism kills by squeezing the life out of us. But a reactive anti-legalism can kill by not keeping us away from actions that can ruin our lives – and that of others another source  which is closely related to the traditional church.

It is true that Legalism is natural and humanistic easy to adjust and adopt. Carnal and both oppressive moreover rendering powerless the work that Jesus did on the cross by forcing on human efforts and human rules to bring righteous living.

Online Source.