Psalm 27:4–5
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.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
For Latter-day Saints, the holiest site on earth is the temple of God, the house of the Lord. It is by definition and dedication a holy place, the setting for God’s presence, the earthly structure that allows us heavenly experience. Truly it has been said that all roads in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ lead to the temple, and the temple leads us into eternity. It truly is, in every describable way, a stunningly beautiful place where we can “behold the beauty of the Lord.” It is not insignificant that the two greatest—two of the otherwise very, very few—acts of anger recorded about Jesus were in response to the desecration of the temple, His “Father’s house,”85 the place where God descends to man and man ascends to God.
The temple is especially a blessing to us “in the time of trouble.” When a difficult moment comes or an important decision faces us, we instinctively go to the temple. We find peace there and we find answers. It is the setting for tranquillity, purity, and revelation. The tangled complexities of life fall away and the path we should walk or the action we should take—or just the safety and peace we desperately seek—becomes clear. The temple truly is a rock upon which God sets us when the winds and the waves are strongest.
As a practical matter we cannot be in the temple always, and we don’t really go there to “hide.” After our allotted time in its sacred precincts, we willingly leave and reenter life to face the issues of mortality. But in our hearts we can cherish this experience and cling to the wish that, if we could, we would “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.” That experience will add to the beauty and joy we can find in every other setting and circumstance.
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