I will Dwell
Hebrew is yashab—to sit, to remain, to stay, to dwell, to abide.
David is only describing something that he does, after spending all of the previous verses in the Psalm describing what God has done for him. It is only because the Lord is his shepherd, that that he can dwell with the Lord.
What does it mean to dwell in the house of the Lord?
The pinnacle of this worship in David’s life probably took place when he and the whole house of Israel brought the Ark of the Lord to the city of Jerusalem.
David wrote a Psalm for this special occasion, concluding in (1 Chronicles 16:34-36). O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 35 Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name, And glory in Your praise.” 36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting.” As he’s considering the goodness and lovingkindness of the Lord following him all the days of his life, he can’t help but think of the Lord’s salvation, and presence of the Lord.
To be continually in the Lord’s presence, as close as he could get to the Lord was his life’s aim. Psalm 27:4, “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.” Psalm 26:8, O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells.
Abide
In the New Testament, Jesus uses the Greek word for abide (menon) (menown), meaning to abide, remain, stay with to describes how we, as disciples, are to remain in him (John 15:5)
5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
The vine is Jesus, and we, His disciples are the branches. Jesus gives an immediate example of how to tell in your own life, whether you are abiding with Him. If you are abiding with Jesus, you will bear much fruit. Abiding with Jesus means that we have a connection to Him. We abide in Him, and He abides in us.
8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
It’s the abiding in Him, the being near to Him, the dwelling in His house, as David calls it, that causes us to bear much fruit. And the result of all of this is that God is glorified.
House of the Lord
For David, dwelling in the house of the Lord means being in the Lord’s presence–enjoying being in relationship with God, and being near God’s presence dwelling in the Tabernacle in Jerusalem.
Now and Later
David literally says dwell with the Lord to the length of days; to the end of his life.
To the end of my days.
Going deeper in our relationship with God is our life’s goal, and holding on to our faith, whatever comes. (Hebrews 3:14 Mathew 24:12-13 Rev 2:10). As followers of God, we are sometimes called to lay down our lives for our faith, but more often we are required by God to remain faithful to Him until the end of our lives.
Forever.
So, if you live for God to the end of your days, then it’s automatic that you will live with Him forever. If a Christian is truly heavenly minded, then they are all about the Father’s business, which means doing good while they are here on Earth. We are to occupy until He comes. We are to go about doing good. We are to do the work of the Father.
Our Hope of Heaven is an anchor—something that keeps us firm in times of trouble, spurs us on to further action and keeps us going. Hebrews 6:10-19.
It’s our diligence in following God’s plan, as we serve and minister to each other—fellow believers—that gives us full assurance of hope until the end, and keeps us from getting flabby and sluggish in our faith. Jesus has taken our hope of heaven and reward and anchored our soul to it within the Heavenly Holy of Holies, where God dwells, and our anchor holds behind the veil. We have strong encouragement to hold fast to our hope in him. And it is by living our lives for Him that we lay hold of that hope, by trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So, we can say with confidence, I will be in God’s presence forever, I will abide in Jesus’ love forever, and say with David “ I will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever”