There is a very slight change of rendering of the first clause, which greatly increases its force, and preserves the figure that is obscured by the usual translation. We should read shall dwell safely on,' rather than by, Him.' And the effect of that small change in the preposition is to bring out the thought that God is regarded as the foundation on which His beloved build their house of life, and dwell in security and calm. If we are sons through the Son, we shall build our houses or pitch our tents on that firm ground, and, being founded on the Rock of ages, they will not fall when all created foundations reel to the overthrow of whatever is built on them. It is not companionship only, blessed as that is, that is promised here. We have a larger privilege than dwelling by Him, for if we love His Son, we build on God, and God dwelleth in us and we in Him.'
What spiritual reality underlies the metaphor of dwelling or building on God? The fact of habitual communion.
Note the blessed results of such grounding of our lives on God through such habitual communion. We shall dwell safely.' We may think of that as being objective safety--that is, freedom from peril, or as being subjective that is, freedom from care or fear, or as meaning trustfully,' confidently, as the expression is rendered in Psalm 16:9 (margin), which is for us the ground of Doth these. He who dwells in God trustfully dwells both safely and securely, and none else is free either from danger or from dread.
