Going to the House of the Lord

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good.” -Psalm 122:1, 9. “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.” –Psalm 27:4. “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.” Psalm 84:10. “And daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” -Acts 5:42 (KJV).

Going to the house of the Lord—for worship, praise, prayer, learning, listening, being challenged in the Christian life, in quietness and meditation knowing that God is God, enjoying Christian fellowship! When it comes time to go to church, are you like the psalmist who exulted “I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord”?

Each cited scripture above exclaims with what gladness the writers considered going to the house of the Lord and what a privilege for the worshiper. Even a lowly task, that of a doorkeeper, one who greeted people when they came to worship and bade them farewell when they left worship to go from the temple or sanctuary or place of worship into the work-a-day life, even a doorkeeper is better than considering wealthy dwellings of wickedness. And when the early Christians met to worship, even with the threat of being jailed and persecuted a very real possibility, they 'daily in the temple and in every house’ did not cease to meet, to teach and to preach Jesus Christ.

What has happened in our modern age to take away the love for and the help from assembling ourselves together at the house of the Lord? What has occurred to harden our hearts and remove our zeal for the church? I have heard many excuses as I’ve tried to encourage persons to renew their faithfulness to the Lord and as the writer of Hebrews 10:25 admonishes: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as we see the day approaching.” Some of the excuses offered for non-attendance are: “I work on Sunday—or I work hard during the week and I must sleep-in, rest, on Sundays.” Another is, “I can worship as well at home or wherever I am on the Lord’s day; I don’t have to go to church to worship.” There are those who say, “I don’t like to associate with those ‘hypocrites’ at church.” Still others claim, “I can hear good sermons on television or radio; it’s not necessary for me to go to church.” And the excuses go on. A person must develop his/her own commitment to the Lord that includes a love and longing for fellowship with other Christians in the house of the Lord, the church. For me, this is vital and necessary. I pray that, if going to the church is not a regular and necessary part of your spiritual life, you will pray about it until you, like the psalmist, can exclaim: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord!” On this Lord’s day, I can hardly wait to get to church and worship!