Importance of Choosing the Right Dwelling Place

Psalm 120:5

Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

It is believed that David did not actually travel to Mesech or Kedar, nor did he live among their people.  Mesech was often mentioned with Tubal, Gog and Magog.  The people of these lands were regarded as barbarians.  The Kedarenes were a people who lived in tents, moving from land to land looking for new pastures.  It is believed that David was using mention of these people to paint a picture of the types of his own people that he was living with.  His intention was to highlight the danger of becoming engaged in a society that is known to be ignorant, idolatrous and barbaric.

David's warning is one that we should pay attention to.  We have to be especially attentive when we are being severely challenged by our circumstances.  We must learn to guard against being both short sighted and wrong sighted.  We must be extremely careful not to make our dwelling place in a lost world, looking toward that world for answers instead of seeking the favor of Our Lord.  We must exert a level of supernatural attentiveness.  If we do not, we will end up making many decisions in the darkness instead of in the light.

Why would we ever turn to the darkness of the world instead of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ?  It is not because the knowledge of the fullness of living in the light is not known to us.  It is because we are spending so much more time in the world than we are in the arms of Our Savior.  

Let us turn away from all the darkness that the world is offering.  Let us, instead, run to Our Lord and seek the treasures of the eternal light that He is holding for us.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with escape from the darkness that this world offers us.  We rejoice in knowing that we have the favor of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We cry out to You, Our Lord, for Your peace and Your holiness.  We pray that You will strengthen us to overcome the evil that surrounds us.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit guide us in setting aside time to spend with our blessed Savior.  May we become vessels of light to the world around us as we surrender to the Light of the World.  We ask all these things in the name of our refuge from the world, Jesus Christ.