Psalm 84:1-12

How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The bird also has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; the early rain also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Behold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!^[1]

This psalm is one written by the sons of Korah and is a psalm of longing for the worship of the temple. It is a lament written out of the obstacles they encountered as they tried to get to the temple. The tribe of Levi was responsible for serving before the Lord in the temple and because of it’s size various families had their assigned times they were to serve. The sons of Korah lived on the other side of the Jordan and it is thought that at the time they were to serve the river had swollen to the point it was impossible to pass. This psalm is then written out of their massive disappointment not just because they were unable to fulfill their assignment but also because of the value they attached to serving in the temple.

It is hard to miss the stark difference that exists between the longing they expressed in their day and the ambivalence at best and total disinterest at worst that is expressed in our day. Something has gone terribly wrong that most people who go to church cannot claim to wanting so desperately to be in the house of the Lord that they would gladly serve as a doorkeeper or an usher. But the longing is not just to be in the temple of the Lord, it is even more of a longing to be in the presence of the Lord. Perhaps the problem lays in the realization that many do not feel they are in the presence of the Lord when they enter His house, and perhaps do not know what it means to get in His presence in their personal times of devotion. The expression of the psalmist should remind us that in the presence of the Lord “is the fullness of joy; in [His] right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps. 16:11). May we all discover this joy and pleasure for ourselves.

Dear Lord, we confess that we have made so many things in our lives of higher priority that dwelling in Your presence. We confess that we have no real basis with which to truly appreciate the sentiments expressed in this psalm. But we want to share in the longing they express. We want to have an experience with the Lord that will fill us with longing and joy for even more. So, draw us closer so we reorder our priorities and our hearts and flesh sing for joy. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ps 84:1–12.