A Homesick Heart

Imagine you’ve been away on a long, grueling trip or camping expedition. Now imagine what things you can’t wait to get back to at home. What things would you just be dying to return to? Your own bed? Home cooking? A pet? Friends? Shower? A different set of clothes? A sofa or easy chair? Musical instrument? Computer? I think it just so happens to be that Dorothy was right in The Wizard of Oz, there truly is no place like home.

Some places just feel good because they’re comfortable or they allow us to be ourselves. For many of us, that place is “Home.” Our home is not just a place where we can trot around in a ratty shirt and worn out shorts, it is also a place where caring, tenderness, and nurture take place. It’s a place of love. It’s a place where we can be ourselves. It is comfortable.

The idea that “Home” is where real safety and comfort is found is true not only in a human dimension, but is absolutely true in a spiritual dimension. The human heart is designed not only to find comfort and peace in familiar surroundings, but to find it ultimately in the presence of God.

We read in Psalm 84 that real contentment, real joy, real safety is found in God’s dwelling place. Some might say, “But where is God’s dwelling place?”

It is important to understand that in the Old Testament, God’s dwelling place was in the Temple. God’s temple was constructed in order to create a place where God’s people could come and worship Him. God’s temple was a place of worship. The writer of Psalm 84 says that he longs to be in God’s temple, that his soul yearns for God’s dwelling place, that better is one day in God’s temple than a thousand days elsewhere. When he wrote these things down, was it because he thought the temple was a cool place? Was it because he liked the architecture of the temple? Was it just simply for the fact that he liked being indoors more than being outdoors? No, no, no! The writer of the psalm used these words because he realized that real life, real contentment, real joy was found in the temple because that is where God dwelt. For the writer, God’s temple was “Home.” He longed to be “home” so that he could bring his worship to the Lord.

But what about for us? We can’t go to the temple. What are we to do? The answer is the same as that of the psalmist: Worship. Psalm 84:4 says, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house, they are ever praising You.” This is really what life is about, ever praising and worshipping God! That is the key to finding our home. That is the key to finding life, joy, peace, safety, contentment, etc.

Maybe you’ve been on a long, grueling journey. Maybe you’ve been trying to find “home” in a lot of different ways and in a lot of different places. If that is you, then it’s time to journey home. For “blessed are those who dwell in your house, they are ever praising you.”