The great return to intimacy
Psalm 84:1-2 “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Heavens Armies. I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord”.
I love how The Passion Translation writes verse 2; “Deep within me are these lovesick longings, desires and daydreams of living in union with you”.
As I read psalm 84 this morning I felt the Lord was asking ‘where is the bride’s passion for me? Are you still longing for me like you used to? Are you still burning with desire for me like when I first touched you? Are you fainting with longing to enter my courts? Are you lovesick for me? Are you daydreaming about me?’ If we are totally honest most of us are daydreaming more often about lunch than the Lord!
But I believe this is the place He is bringing the bride back to. I believe we are about to see a great returning of the bride to intimacy … to him! I believe He is going to consume even our daydreams. No longer will we be daydreaming about the weekend’s lay in but about getting on our knees to worship. I believe He is moving our hearts back to a place where we MUST have Him!Where we can’t function unless we’ve had his kiss and his embrace and heard his whisper of “I love you” in our ear.
Psalm 84 goes on to say;
Verse 10 (TPT) “for just one day of intimacy with you is like a thousand days of joy rolled into one! I’d rather stand at the threshold in front of the Gate Beautiful, ready to go in and worship my God, than to live without you in the most beautiful palace of the wicked”.
The message translation says it this way; “one day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek Island beaches. I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honoured as a guest in the palace of sin”.
This place of worship and intimacy with the Lord should be our greatest desire! Are we more excited about and motivated by our summer holiday on the beach or by our time with God? I’m not saying there is anything wrong with a holiday … that’s a blessing! But, I feel like He’s re-wiring our hearts to re-prioritise His presence.
Are you looking at your unsaved friends who have more material goods than you and a big house and longing for your turn? Or, do you have the eyes to see that just a moment with your king is far more valuable?! Let’s get back to waiting at his gates ready to worship.
Some may be thinking ‘I want this but how do I get to this place?’ I wholeheartedly believe it is He who loves us into this place. What He asks of us is that we sacrifice our time … that we give Him the time to love us. Start with ten minutes, just sit with him, let him speak to you and touch your heart. Then spend twenty minutes, then half an hour. Soon you will be addicted to his presence and will be wasting hours on Him and will have to drag yourself away. Once you come back to this place you will remember that there is no other place you’d rather be than in His beautiful love.