The Blessedness of Dwelling in the House of God
To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
“How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home, 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. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Selah
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping), they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold
from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!”
This psalm is one of the loveliest in the compendium. Written by the sons of Korah, this psalm embodies a yearning for God and His righteousness plus a glorious affirmation of God’s blessings for those who serve Him. But who was Korah? Along with Dathan and Abiram, Korah led a rebellion of 250 Levites against Moses and Aaron and was destroyed in the process. But God has not held Korah’s sins against his descendants, and this division of Levites has continued to serve in the temple.
“How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Although Korah failed to respect the Lord, his descendants are so in love with Him that they can scarcely bear to be separated from the temple and from God’s Presence.
“Even the sparrow has found a home, 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. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Selah (Pause and calmly think on that.)“ The psalmist is so in love with God that he views God’s temple as his only true home, a place of safety and rest, a place where he can continue to praise God.
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping), they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah” When a man or woman is drawing strength from God, they will be single-minded, pursuing God’s Will rather than their own. Even when such people pass through trials so terrible that they are driven to tears, those tears will turn dry ground into well-watered fertile land. Such people may suffer disappointments, but their spiritual strength will steadily increase and eventually they will appear before God in His dwelling place of eternal Zion. The psalmist longs to become such a faithful person.
“O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” One day in God’s Presence far outstrips any number of days without Him. In the psalmist’s culture, doorkeepers are considered very low-level servants. The psalmist would far rather take a humble position in the temple than to have anything to do with the wicked.
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold
from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” These statements are self-explanatory. The sun gives light and shields offer protection. The Lord God is the ultimate Source of light and protection. And what a promise! Incredible!
APPLICATION: My late grandmother was a woman of deep faith, and this was her favorite psalm. That wonderful woman was born to Swedish immigrant parents who lived in very humble circumstances. Grandma didn’t learn to speak or write English until she was in her late teens and came of age during World War I. Grandma and Grandpa survived repeated crop failures on the farm, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Korean War. In 1955 Grandma nearly lost her only child, my father, in a terrible car crash. While Dad was recovering, Grandma helped milk cows and care for farm animals and a large garden. For most of Grandma’s life, she kept free range chickens, only parting with the chickens when she moved into town at age 90.
Grandma was an amazingly positive person, intensely interested in everyone and everything around her. Grandma produced a never-ending flow of baked goods, flowers, canned fruit, and encouraging letters. At age 85 she was driving into town to play the piano at the Senior Citizens Club “to cheer up the old folks.” (Some of the old folks to whom she was referring were decades younger than she was!)
They read the 84th Psalm at Grandma’s funeral, and it was highly appropriate. If ever there was someone who turned valleys of weeping into fertile ground with pools of water, it was my Grandma. Truly, the last verse of this psalm remains as Grandma’s testimony: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!”
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to love You more each day than we did the day before. Help us to love Your Presence so much that we would rather be with You than anywhere else. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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