How Beloved Is Your Dwelling Place

HOW BELOVED IS YOUR DWELLING PLACE (PSALMS 84)

In Hong Kong this year 2015 the most famous celebrity I have seen up-close is Yang Qian Hua near the Ferris Wheel park near the Central Piers in the summer. She was on a stage doing promotion for a social cause.

Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met? The most famous person I’ve ever met was Muhammad Ali in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur for the world heavyweight title with Joe Bugner. It was the biggest international event held in Malaysia up to then, a year after Ali won the heavyweight division for the second time. I was a teenager at that time and the Hilton Hotel was less than fifteen minutes walk from my home. All I could remember was the big man, his manager, the hotel, the reporters, the entourage, the fans and the ladies around him. Six years later he retired, and another three years later he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. He was one of the greatest boxers of all time and was also known for his four marriages and other extramarital affairs.

Who is the most famous person you want to meet? What is the person like? What kind of attitude do we need to have when we worship God and come into His presence? How is meeting God different from meeting celebrity? What would you hope to hear, say or do? How would your life be changed or blessed?

The passage has three “blessed,” one at the top, one in the middle, and one to end it.

Call for Calm

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah (Ps 84:1-4)

The psalm begins with awe, adoration and acknowledgement. The psalms begin with an interrogative “how,” which is translated in the Psalms negatively as a “Why?” (Ps 2:1) or a “What?” (Ps 8:4) when it is the first word of a sentence, but this time it serves as an instruction and an inspiration rather than an interrogation and an injustice; an exclamation rather than a lamentation.

The adjective “lovely” (v 1) is a rare translation; it is usually translated as “beloved” (Deut 33:12, Ps 60:5, 108:6, 127:2) or wellbeloved (Isa 5:1). Lovely is to describe the pleasure and dwelling, but beloved is how precious and delightful - how beloved it is to the person rather than how beautiful the place is in itself. The “dwelling place” (v 1) is plural in Hebrew, so are “lovely” and “Almighty.” The title “Lord Almighty” (vv 1, 3, 8, 12) appears more in this psalm than any psalm in the Bible. Up till now in verse one, we have the passion (how lovely), the place (dwelling place) and the person (Lord Almighty).

Three are three couplets and triplets up to verse 4. Dwelling place, courts and house (v 4) is one set, supposedly for the Lord’s place and residence. Lord Almighty, living God (v 2) and my King and My God (v 3) is His power and rule over us. My soul, my heart, my flesh is one, supposedly for the person and the relationship with us.

Dwelling place (v 1), courts (v 2) and house (v 4)

Lord Almighty (v 1), living God (v 2) and my King and My God (v 3)

My soul, my heart, my flesh (v 2)

The Lord’s place and residence in us. His power and rule over us. His person and relationship with us

The three verbs that begin in verse 2 are for praise. The first word and verb “yearn” in the verse is translated as longeth (Ps 84:2), desire (Job 14:15), greedy (Ps 17:12), but the next verb “faints” is translated as “spent” (Ps 31:10), consume (Ps 37:20), or finish (Gen 2:1) and end (Gen 2:2) in its first occurrences in the Bible. The next verb “cry out” is positive rather than negative, as it is translated as shout (Lev 9:24), rejoice (Deut 32:43), sing out (1 Chron 16:33), shout for joy (Ps 5:11), sing aloud (Ps 51:14), triumph (Ps 92:4). So, “yearn” is sighing, “faints” is succeeding, the “cry out” is singing. One is to enter, exit, enjoy. One is the depth, the second is the duration, and the last is the display.

The psalmist declares his inferiority, incompetency, intensity and impulse in the presence of God. To “yearn” is the passion, to “faint” is the progress, to ‘cry out” is to praise.