Psalm 23 is familiar to us, but perhaps we have not noticed what is stressed at its end. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever” (v. 6). We know that this Psalm starts with the green pastures and continues through the paths of righteousness and the battlefield, until the Psalmist eventually comes to the point where he dwells in the house of the Lord forever. The goal of this whole Psalm is that of dwelling in the house of the Lord.
Now let us read more verses in the Psalms noticing the relationship of the speaker to God’s house. “LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor (glory) dwelleth” (26:8).
“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 inquire in his temple” (27:4).
“They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light” (36:8-9).
“How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them” (84:1-3, 5). “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” (84:10).
Besides these verses in the Psalms, we need to read some verses from the Prophets. “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple” (Isa. 6:1).
“The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin” (Jer. 1:1).
“The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him” (Ezek. 1:3).
“And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” (Zech. 7:3-5).
We must also read a verse from 2 Samuel, “And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod” (6:14). All of us know that an ephod is a special robe for the priest. But here, David the king was girded with this priestly robe.
Now, let us look at the New Testament. “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth” (Luke 1:5).
“There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:36-37).
“Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers....As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:1-3).
“I John, your brother and joint partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in spirit....” (Rev. 1:9-10).