Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 132:1-9
Ps 132:1-9
O Lord, remember David and all the hardships he endured. He swore an oath to the Lord and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: "I will not enter my house or go to my bed — I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob." We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar: "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool — arise, O Lord, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy."
1 Cor 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.
Try to imagine all of the excitement of David and then Solomon as they planned the building of the temple of God in Jerusalem. It is hard for us to even grasp the beauty of the walls and the furniture inside being overlaid with gold – not painted with gold colored paint, but actually overlaid with real gold. This was going to be the actual dwelling place of the presence of God on earth! The ark would reside in the section designated as the “Holy of Holies”. This is the house of God.
Today, God lives in us. He lives in the body of Christ, his people, his church. This is his temple on earth today. But even more personal is the fact that he lives in us individually, in our bodies. We need to take care of the bodies he has given us. We are to honor God with our physical bodies. We do this by taking care of ourselves, physically, mentally, emotionally, and by not defacing or destroying our bodies.
The temple of God, built by Solomon, even in all of its glory, needed to be cleaned from time to time, it needed repairs, it needed maintenance to keep it looking in a way that it deserved and that honored God. We must do the same with our physical bodies. It requires self-discipline to be healthy. It requires exercise, eating reasonably healthy foods, in the right amounts and it requires rest for us to be healthy. In doing these things, we honor God with our bodies, his temple.
O Lord, help me remember that what I do physically, with and to my body, is a reflection on you and on your glory. I belong to you, my body belongs to you, my mind and my heart belong to you, so help me always honor you in my life. Thank you for the health that I enjoy. Use me to help others want to serve you and to follow Jesus. Keep me from being judgmental toward others and instead help me be sympathetic toward their needs and with their problems. Thank you most of all for Jesus and for the forgiveness I have in him. In his name I pray.
Robert
