Recently I was reflecting on Psalm 90, which opens with the declaration: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations” (Ps. 90:1, ESV). The NLT version says, “Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!” Take a moment to just read the verse and reflect—what comes to mind?
I don’t own a house—in Asia, I rent, and when back in the UK, I am blessed to have some wonderful friends who allow me to treat their homes as my own. As I read this verse, I realised that, if I’m honest, not owning a home bothered me. The thought of owning a home conjured up thoughts of security and belonging, and I was drawn to that. I also realise that home ownership means significant responsibilities and, given my lack of practical skills, unleashing me on DIY would likely be a danger to myself and others! However, the challenging aspects of homeownership did not jump to mind at the time I was reading Psalm 90. I think God was challenging me again to ask where my true home is. Though my mind wandered to the question of a physical home, this verse reminded me that whether or not I own a physical home, Scripture says that ultimately the Lord himself is my home—and that is true for all Christ-followers.
I found it interesting to learn that Psalm 90 is the only prayer of Moses found in the Psalms. Moses knew well the history of his ancestors, the descendants of Abraham. Already aged 75, Abraham was called out on a journey that involved leaving home and everything familiar (Genesis 12:1-3) with the promise that God would bless his descendants. He stepped out in faith despite the apparent impossibility of God’s promises. Since that time, Abraham’s descendants experienced times of moving and times of staying. Moses had first-hand experience of their once stable home of Egypt having become a place of slavery and the need to leave Egypt quickly. Moses was likely writing this Psalm while in the wilderness—wandering around on the way to a promised land where the people would one day build homes and settle down. Yet Moses recognises that for each generation, their true home was the Lord himself. He had been their home in Abraham’s journey of faith, in famine, in plenty, in their slavery, in their release, in their wandering, and He would be their home when they established themselves in Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. Even though it is likely that at the time of writing this, Israel was facing God’s punishment for their rebellion and Moses was pleading with God to relent (Psalm 90:11-13), Moses still understood that no tent or building was their ultimate home—God was. As followers of Christ, God is always our place of belonging and security. Jesus left His heavenly home to save us, and as a result, in Him we are truly “home.” It is in Christ that we find our identity, belonging, purpose, and security. Passages such as Ephesians 1:3-14 remind us that, in Jesus, God has already blessed us with all we need. He has chosen and adopted us, not unwillingly, but joyfully and in love (Eph. 1:4-5). In other words, when we are in Christ, we belong! Also, in Christ, we are redeemed, forgiven, and have a guaranteed inheritance (Eph. 1:7, 13-14)—now that is security! No matter how much the world is changing, whatever fears we may have for the next generation, God reminds us that He has been the home of generations before us, He is our home, and He will be the home of the generations to come that follow Him.
Let’s not place our security in bricks and mortar. Let’s not find our belonging in an address. Instead, let’s remember that ultimately God is our home, and this gives us the unshakable foundation we need as the world changes from generation to generation.
By Jude M
