How can we behold the beauty of the Lord (Psalm 27:4)?

But that which would give me power and freshness in all these things would be this — dwelling in the house of the Lord. Dwelling there; there I am sustained, qualified, fitted for Him. I have divine ability, divine power, divine rest, divine freshness. I can face the storms here. What is the effect of these storms? They only bring out the power of this rest, the rest that we have in the place where God delights to manifest Himself to us. That is heaven now, not heaven only when I die. It is heaven now; and, beloved friends, I ask you, would you not like to know a little more of Him before you die? Would you not like to be a little more acquainted with that Jesus with whom you are going to spend eternity? Would you not like to say, "I live with Him now, from day to day, in the midst of all the difficulties and trials that belong to this poor world, and through them, I am better acquainted with Him, I know Him now, and I have communion with Him, and joy in Him, in that wonderful place where He is free to come out and receive me, and where I am free to go in?" God can come out in the perfection of His love, and I can go in in the perfection of His righteousness. God dwells there, and I dwell there. Just think of it, that He does not consider anything commensurate with the expression of His own heart in the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ; He regards nothing sufficiently large to express what He thinks of that redemption, except this, that I am to dwell in the house of the Lord! The Lord help us to dwell there, to know it as our home, the resting-place of our souls, our "sweet retreat," where we have true and real communion!

That, then, is the first thing. Now look at the other for a moment. For what purpose are we to dwell there? To get out of the storm? No. Out of difficulties? No. Out of the exercises and trials that we are in here? Not a word about it. What is it, then? Just this, "to behold the beauty of the Lord." Just think of what that is, I go there to behold His beauty. One object fills the vision of my soul there, attracts the affections of my heart there, "His beauty." I love to think of that, beloved friends, for this reason, it is like God to give me a motive in Himself, outside of all the wretched, miserable, selfish things that obtain round about me here. I behold Him, in the place where I dwell.

Now just think what a wonderful thing it is "to behold the beauty of the Lord." It is not merely to escape from the difficulties that are here, the troubles, and exercises, but to go there for His own sake. There is a beauty, there is an excellency, a virtue, an attractiveness, a glory, connected with that place, which I behold, and I never really know what it is until by faith I see it. Beloved friends, a little bit of that would distance all here in the world! A little beholding of the beauty of the blessed One in those wondrous regions would turn the brightest scene on this earth into a poor and contemptible thing to our hearts. You see, we learn everything by contrast. A person who knows what it is to see Christ where He is, is the one who thinks very little of earth. He can turn his back upon it; there is nothing in it that is suitable or congenial to him. He can say, The very scene where God Himself is, is the place where I desire to abide, and where I long to gratify myself.

It is just this that made me turn to this Psalm — "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after." It is undividedness of heart that comes out here. "ONE thing"; what is it? "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life": not merely when I go to heaven. His presence has become the sanctuary of our hearts. Unhindered access has been opened to us. There is no veil now. We may in spirit dwell there now, "to behold the beauty of the Lord." He had not yet been revealed when these words were written; He had not yet assumed the form of a Servant. His face, once more marred than that of any man, is now radiant with the glory of God. We know Him. But no visible form could have been before the Psalmist as he uttered these words. But we know what he spoke of anticipatively. Once we saw no beauty in Him that we should desire Him; but now He is the chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely. How far are our hearts dwelling in His presence, beholding His beauty, and enquiring in His temple, with a deepening entering into His mind?

Indeed, it is clear from this psalm, that the more we learn of God, and the more we meditate upon the manifestations of His love, the more we desire to know of Him. It was so with David, for after telling us what Jehovah was to him, how He had succoured him, and his confidence in view of future dangers, his whole heart flows out in the next verse, as he says, "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." (v. 4.) Little can be done beyond giving an outline of what is here involved; but we earnestly press the reader to ponder upon it until his whole soul is possessed with the desire and purpose which governed and formed the heart of David. Remark, first of all, that he not only had desired this thing of the Lord (which surely was a true beginning), but that it was also the purpose of his heart to follow after it. And what was it that David so ardently longed for? It was to dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of his life, that there he might contemplate the display of His glory and His beauty, and learn His mind, for it was in the temple that Jehovah communicated His thoughts to them that waited upon Him. (Compare Psalm 73:17, etc.) Is not David in this an example to all believers? For to know Christ, and to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, should ever be the supreme object of our hearts. Let us, then, learn that to attain this we must constantly live in spirit where Christ is. Nowhere else can we behold His glory, or hear His voice.

The Apostle Paul could say to Timothy, “Thou hast fully known my … purpose,” as well as teaching, conduct, and faith. Our blessed God has a “purpose;” He has called us according to that purpose. He makes all things work in view of it. Now right desires are not enough; there must be purpose, and purposefulness to say, “I will seek after,” and not only to say it, but to do it. Not as though we were to seek something which is difficult to find, for all is now revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. There might be difficulty in the Psalmist’s day “to behold the beauty of the Lord,” but now it is all seen in its attractive perfection in our blessed Lord; and the Holy Spirit is here to give power to behold the beauty of the Lord. But there must be real purpose of heart.

"Beauty" in this verse apparently has the sense of pleasantness or graciousness. If 1 Chronicles 17 be read, we may see how the graciousness of the Lord was made known to David, and how he "came and sat before the Lord." The verse in Psalm 27 seems to be reminiscent of that. On several occasions too we read of David inquiring of the Lord, and he knew that His temple was the special place for that. To withdraw from the noise and distraction of the world into the quiet of the Divine presence is the way in which the mind of God may be known and His graciousness be realized.

I dwell, then, in the house of the Lord, and I behold His beauty. There is another thing in that verse, "to inquire in his temple." Now, without the slightest pretension to scholarship, I may say that the strict meaning of the Hebrew words is, "to meditate with joy in his temple." That is, I believe, the literal force of those words in the original language. "To meditate with joy." "One thing have I desired, to dwell, to behold, and to meditate with joy."

We may question, if we are living always in the house of God, will we have any time for such activities as gospel work, shepherding, etc., but such things may be maintained while we are in God's house: indeed, everything consistent with the glory of His name has a place there.

But the most important object is to "behold the beauty of the Lord," for this will have the most vital effect on all our service for His sake. Also, when we appreciate His beauty, we shall have questions that can be answered only in His presence. The Lord Jesus, at the age of 12 years was found "in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions?" (Lk 2:46).

Of course it is cast in a Jewish mould, as we find in the words, "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." To "dwell in the house of the Lord" is the desire of the soul. Some are quite satisfied with the thought that they shall be in heaven by-and-by. But do I not want to be there now! The subjective side, too, is what the apostle prays the Ephesian saints might have; "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;" and here we get the same thing in picture as it were. I want to dwell in the house of God all the days of my life. I want to dwell there now, and to have that as the spot from whence I can come out now — that spot on high where I am privileged to dwell with Christ.

And for what, is this desire to dwell there? "That I may behold the beauty of the Lord." Oh, how blessed, to desire to be in heaven for the sake of being with Christ! People often say, "How I wish I was delivered out of this scene of trial and difficulty, out of this world of sin and sorrow!" But if you were at home up there now, you would be able to go calmly through all the storms here. You will never know how to live on earth until you have been up there to learn how. I go there to see Him, to behold His beauty. What a charm it is to get even a little sense of this in our souls! There is such a fearful amount of selfishness in every one of our hearts. We say, "He has paid our debt; He has made our peace with God." Yes, truly, but that is not all. It is far more than that — it is boundless riches. When the two disciples of John followed him, asking, "Where dwellest thou?" He answered, "Come and see." There was not a word said as to the place. There is not a doubt it was a humble spot, but there is not a word said about it one way or the other. It was Himself; alone with Him, they wanted nothing else. It is wonderful what the company of an intimate friend is amid paths of sorrow; and that is what we have. We have His company as we go through this world. He said, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." I do not believe that is by the Holy Ghost; nor do I believe that it is only on the first day of the week. I believe it is the special manifestation of Himself that He gives to His people. He is with them, as in Psalm 23. It is His company, His presence; this alone an light up everything. I want to behold His beauty. That will be our occupation through all eternity. How do you think we shall spend eternity? By being for ever with and beholding the matchless beauty of the Christ. Oh, to begin it now! and thus to find all below distanced to us.

But there is more than this; "And to inquire in his temple." I believe the force of these words is given to us in the word meditation. One reason why things have such little hold over our hearts is, that we meditate on them so little. If there is to be any real appropriation of truth, there must be the sitting down quietly in private, and meditating on it. I am sure God does meet His people wonderfully in a little passing verse or line of scripture; but this is not like meditation; neither will study make up for meditation. It is meditation that forms the affections of the heart.

"Seek." This active verb should provoke interest and desire; it suggests that there is something well worthwhile discovering. In the gift of the Holy Spirit of God we have ability to search out discerningly the precious matters which this seeking has in view, and He, if unhindered, would promote the necessary spiritual impulse in our affections to that end. David in Psalm 27 says "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". At home in the presence of God, delighting in His beauty (His graciousness), would create in the affections still further desires for the knowledge of His mind and glory — desires met as one inquired "of Him in His temple" (New Trans.) Embedded in this word seek is the thought of "worship" and the atmosphere of the Psalm would most surely confirm this! How great the reward for those who truly seek — nearness to God; an increasing sense of His glory and His thoughts of love, resulting in a spirit of intelligent, affectionate worship.

THROUGHOUT the whole of this year we have been occupied with the Name which is above every name, as expressive of the varied glories and excellencies of our blessed Lord and Saviour. It has been our delight to pass from one phase to another of His infinite perfections, and to call attention to Himself as the One in whom all God's thoughts and ways are centred, and as the One, also, who is the abiding and eternal portion of the believer's heart. To be overwhelmed in the contemplation of Christ, like the Queen of Sheba was in the presence of the glory of Solomon, is to anticipate the enjoyment of heaven. But to enter in any measure upon this, we must follow our blessed Lord — and this can only be through death and resurrection morally known — into the holiest; into the place where He dwells. There alone can we, with unveiled face, behold the glory of the Lord, and be changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. As it is His own desire to have His beloved people thus in the intimacy of His own presence, may He beget in all of us that purpose of heart which will lead us to say with the Psalmist, "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."