Let Me Stay!

<p>As they made their way toward their car, Zander escaped his mother&rsquo;s arms and made a mad dash back toward the church doors. He didn&rsquo;t want to leave! His mom ran after him and tried to lovingly wrangle her son so they could depart. When his mother finally scooped four-year-old Zander back into her embrace, he sobbed and reached longingly over her shoulder and toward the church as they walked away.</p> <p>Zander may merely have enjoyed playing with friends at church, but his enthusiasm is a picture of David&rsquo;s desire to worship God. Though he might have asked God to thwart his enemies for his own comfort and security, David wanted peace to prevail so that he could instead &ldquo;gaze on the beauty of the <smallcaps>Lord</smallcaps> and to seek him in his temple&rdquo; (Psalm 27:4). His heart&rsquo;s desire was to be with God&mdash;wherever He was&mdash;and to enjoy His presence. Israel&rsquo;s greatest king and military hero intended to use peacetime to &ldquo;sing and make music to the <smallcaps>Lord</smallcaps>&rdquo; (v. 6).</p> <p>We can freely worship God anywhere, for He now dwells within us through faith in the person of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 3:16). May we yearn to spend our days in His presence and to gather corporately to worship Him with other believers. In God&mdash;not the walls of a building&mdash;we find our safety and our greatest joy.</p>