For many years one of my favorite parts of the Bible was Psalm 27. I would read this Psalm in the Celestial Room of the LDS temple every single time I went. As someone who faced family opposition when joining the LDS Church, David’s words of confidence in God in the midst of loss stirred my heart. I felt that all of that loss and sacrifice was worth it just to be present in God’s temple.

¹The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

² When the wicked advance against me
    to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
    who will stumble and fall.
³ Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.
⁵ For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted
    above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
    I will sing and make music to the Lord.

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
    be merciful to me and answer me.
⁸ My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, I will seek.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
    God my Savior.
¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the Lord will receive me.
¹¹ Teach me your way, Lord;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.
¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    spouting malicious accusations.

¹³ I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord

Since leaving the LDS Church, I’ve reflected a lot on David’s longing plea: “One thing have I asked of the Lord… that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord” (v.4). For years, I believed that being in the temple was the closest I could come to God. But I’ve come to realize that the temple was never the treasure itself. The true thing I was longing for—was God Himself.

For David, the tabernacle was the meeting place between heaven and earth—the closest anyone could come to God’s presence. But the goal was never the building itself; it was God Himself. His longing is first and foremost “to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.” David’s focus was not on the building, but on the God whose presence dwelt there.

This reminds me of a parable sometimes told in LDS circles of a pearl merchant.

A merchant man seeking precious jewels found at last the perfect pearl. He had the finest craftsman carve a superb jewel box and line it with blue velvet. He put his pearl of great price on display so others could share his treasure. He watched as people came to see it. Soon he turned away in sorrow. It was the box they admired, not the pearl.

The people became more focused on the box than on the pearl itself.

Psalm 27 invites us to reflect on whether we have done the same with the temple, the churches we attend, or with religious rituals more broadly. The temple, the ceremonies—they are the box, designed to help us focus on the pearl. The pearl is God Himself, the object of worship, the beauty David longed to behold. True satisfaction and joy come only from knowing, valuing, and worshiping the pearl itself.

In David’s day, the place to do that was the temple. It was the place where heaven met earth. It wasn’t perfect. Only the high priest God enter the holy of holies once a year. But it was still the place that God had placed his name and glory.

But with Jesus Christ, heaven met earth bodily in human form. And through Christ’s death on the cross, the veil has been torn. We now have unmitigated access to God through the Holy Spirit. We can “dwell in the house of the Lord” all day long in prayer, Scripture, and the fellowship of His people. We can experience his presence and contemplate his beauty wherever we are.

We can also look forward to the day when there will be no box at all. In Revelation 21:22, John the revelation sees a day when there will be no temple becuase God himself will be fully present: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” In that day, we will see God face to face, and the longing that Psalm 27 expresses so deeply will be fulfilled eternally

So my question for you and for me is: in what ways are we admiring the box rather than treasuring the pearl? If we have let the external trappings of religious observance, rituals, or sacred places take our eyes off God, then Psalm 27 calls us to fix our eyes on the beauty of the Lord and once again be filled with a longing to be with him.