OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY JANUARY 29TH, 2024.
THEME: WHAT IS GOD'S TEMPLE? VI
MEMORISE:
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Psalm 22:3
READ: 2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;
14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.
MESSAGE
The temple of God is much more than all I have discussed in this series so far. In fact, if I want to call God's temple any particular name, I will probably call it the house of praise and power.
In our Bible reading for today, you will discover why David said:
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Psalm 122:1
The temple is a house of praise. Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of Israel, and we saw a manifestation of this in our Bible reading today. The temple is also the house of thanksgiving because our Bible reading passage today also says that they were thanking God too and not just praising Him (2 Chronicles 5:13). In fact, David says in Psalm 100:4 that you should enter God's gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. As praise and thanksgiving go on, His glory fills the temple powerfully. So, when you go into the temple, you are actually going into God's glory. That glory rubs off on you, and everywhere you go after that, you just begin to experience supernatural goodness and mercy.
God's temple is also a house where goodness and mercy abound. In Psalm 23:6, the Bible says:
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.
There is a song I love so much, and it goes thus:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life (2x).
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and I will feast at the table set for me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days,
all the days of my life (2x)."
Beloved, I encourage you to sing this song prophetically, and if you do not know the song, you can just speak the words into your life. You must, however, go beyond merely singing or speaking the words, you must live it. Dwelling in the house of the Lord precedes feasting at the table set before you. Whether the enemy likes it or not, when you are in the house of the Lord praising: and thanking Him, a table will be set before you, , and nothing can tamper with it!
KEY POINT
The benefits of being in God's temple are far too great to be missed.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: LEVITICUS 5-7
AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 18: PRAISE TO THE LORD THE ALMIGHTY
1 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is
your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear;
now to his temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.
2 Praise to the Lord, above
all things so wondrously reigning;
sheltering you under his wings,
and so gently sustaining!
Have you not seen all
that is needful has been
sent by his gracious ordaining?
3 Praise to the Lord, who will
prosper your work and defend you;
surely his goodness and mercy
shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriends you.
4 Praise to the Lord! O let all
that is in me adore him!
All that has life and breath,
come now with praises before him.
Let the Amen sound
from his people again;
gladly forever adore him