God opens the majestic concluding chapter of the Book of Isaiah by proclaiming: “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me?”  In other words, we human beings cannot build a “place” to hold God, in which we might locate and fellowship with him. He cannot be contained by our buildings — whether it be the Temple on the mount in Jerusalem, or any of our contemporary worship centers.  Where then can we meet God?  He tells us in the next verse:

God continues in verse 2, “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” God teaches us here that although we cannot construct a building where we can meet Him, there is indeed a place where we can connect with Him.  But it is not about a physical “location” per se; it is about the kind of HEART of a person that God will meet!

The Lord says in :2 that He will engage with the person who is “humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”  Interestingly enough, “Humble & contrite” is virtually a restatement of the first two Beatitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The “humble” are those who are “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3) and who recognize their desperate need for God; the “contrite” are “those who mourn” their sins and those of others (Matthew 5:4).

If you are truly interested in meeting God, you need to hear the lesson He is trying to teach us here.  He will not meet with you just because you come to a certain “place.”  He meets with you if you have a certain kind of heart: humble, and repentant.  The good news is, that can be any place you are!