this is Your house (2)

We dedicate this temple to You Lord
Let Your glory fill this sanctuary
Be enthroned on the praises of Your people
Lord we agree, in unity.

This is Your house, Father come and dwell
This is Your house, a holy house of prayer
Where the lost and the lonely, bring their burdens and their cares
This is Your house, this is Your house, come and dwell.

Holy Spirit overflow this place
Decorate our walls with grace and mercy
Let healing and redemption, find searching souls
Lord have Your way, we humbly pray.

This is Your house, Father come and dwell
This is Your house, a holy house of prayer
Where the lost and the lonely, bring their burdens and their cares
This is Your house, this is Your house, come and dwell.

...

i have a lot of thoughts lately on this phrase, and God brought me from meanings to meanings during my moments of pondering. what comes into mind when one says, "This is your house"? this first post of this promised series is not actually the first thing God revealed few nights ago but then again what would be a better place to start than the song itself?

honestly, asking God to actually come and dwell in a place sounds a bit silly to me. God is omnipresent and is never limited to time nor space, yet we always pray and ask Him to "come and dwell", or "come and fill this place", when as a matter of fact He is already present with us. the Holy Spirit is within us the moment we invited Him in, and also, didn't He promised us Himself this?

"For where two or three come together in My Name, there am I with them"
(Matthew 18:20)

I believe He is even here in my crammy little mess of an apartment as i am typing this down at the very moment. KD said the other day how he was enlightened of this very matter of the omnipresence of God and there is no such thing really as entering His presence, which ironically we always sing about. yet another contradiction i failed to understand and chose to simply believe in.

if you ask me why sometimes the presence of the Lord feels like some kind of electrocution (often makes you shake :p), grand and overwhelming all possible senses, being me, i say, isn't it up to God? it's His sovereignty. that description fits more as the exhibition of God's glory just like when it came down to the temple Solomon built, where priests could not perform their tasks, Israelites knelt with their faces to the ground, could do nothing but worshipping and praising the Lord (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). and i daresay even such glory is probably only equivalent to God throwing a wink at us. imagine the full extent of such glory! unimaginable, isn't it?

anyway, if that is the case, why are we singing this song? what's the point asking if God's already here?

personally... i think it is more about the dedication, surrendering whatever it is we have, in this case, the temple aka our church building, to God. it's the same concept with child dedication, just like Hannah dedicated Samuel to God (thank you Kak Iwan for sharing this~). it is putting things into God's hand, for Him to use whichever way He likes, trusting Him, believing that He knows best what to do with it. otherwise our shiny new building will not be much different from other architecture, mere bricks and plaster and tiles. no God. no purpose. no life.

therefore, with God indwelling in the church (both literally and metaphorically), when amazing things happens, we know and people will see that it is God, not us, who made it happen. because it is His temple. it is His house. it is His.

Let Your glory fill this sanctuary~

Lord, this is Your house.