“I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Someone once told me that heaven will consist of being around God and worshipping Him for eternity. I remember thinking that didn’t sound great at all. Why would I want to go to a heaven like that?

At the time I was a kid who was bored with church. We went every week no matter what. We had to wear uncomfortable clothes and sit in uncomfortable wooden pews for over an hour. Sometimes we stood up and sang slow, dull songs or recited strange words. And for a good part of the time, we listened to some guy drone on and on about things I didn’t understand. This is a child’s experience of church (and unfortunately, some adults experience it this way too.)

All of that was categorized in my mind as “worshipping God”. So boring, monotonous, confusing, and uncomfortable.

So when I heard heaven would be an eternity spent worshipping God in His temple, I was appalled.

But as I got to know God, I started to understand the difference between the rituals we humans have wrapped around worship and actual worship. God doesn’t care what I’m wearing or what I’m sitting on while I praise Him. He doesn’t ask me to sing songs that I can’t relate to. None of that matters.

God just wants my heart to be open to experience all that He is and to revel in it. And He is BEAUTIFUL. Imagine the most beautiful scene you have ever seen, smelled, felt, tasted… experienced. Imagine the satisfaction of learning something new and doing it well in an innovative way. Imagine the most deeply you have ever loved or been loved. Then multiply those feelings by a thousand. God is more beautiful, more lovely, good, awesome, wonderful than anything I can imagine. To be in His presence will feel better, happier, more joyous, more satisfying than anything I have yet known.

That’s why, in today’s verse, the Psalmist is asking for one wish, and his fantasy is to sit and gaze at God’s beauty for all of his days.

Dear God,

Thank you for showing me glimpses of your amazing beauty. I look forward to being in your presence, gazing at your beauty, and experiencing your amazing goodness for all eternity!