I’m coming to the end of a few days of retreat at the wonderful Glasshampton Monastery. I’ve been spending time in silence, in reading and prayer, and have found it easy here to find inner stillness in God’s presence; simply to be aware of being me and of being loved by God.
So as I prepare to leave here and return to the city and to the pressure to be busy, it’s not surprising that out of these psalms, it’s 27:4 that stands out.
One thing I asked of the LORD,
that I will seek after:
to live in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in his temple.
This isn’t about a temptation to hide from the realities of everyday life. The Psalm is attributed to David, and the first three verses set it in the face of his enemies, even an army coming against him.
I’ll pray these words as I drive down the rutted track from the Monastery and along the M5 to home. And I have every intention of seeking after this one thing in the coming days. After all, the LORD is God of the housing estate and High Street as much as of the Monastery and the woodland. Isn’t he?
Nick Watson 