June 30, 2013
Psalm 84
Why are you here this morning? If you pray, why? If you read the Bible, why? Is it out of duty? You feel you have to do it. And if you don’t, God will be mad at you and bad things may happen to you.
I hope those aren’t the reasons. My hope is that we DESIRE to pray, we DESIRE to read the Word of God, we DESIRE to give, to witness, to serve, to worship . . . I hope it’s a burning desire for you.
This morning I want us to look at what it means to be generous in worship.
Psalm 84 is so rich and powerful in meaning. This is one Psalm which is fully alive and this is one of those passages which has come more alive than before after rereading it, and I wanted you to catch what I caught.
Look at how the psalmist starts the Psalm ~ 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
The psalmist was expressing the attitude we should have for Sunday mornings. Notice he calls God the Lord of Hosts. The NIV uses the phrase Lord Almighty. He’s referring to the powerful God of the heavenly armies. By the way, I want that God on my side. Don’t you?
Now, notice that his soul longs for, literally, he’s pining for God in the same way we long to see the one we love. He not only longs for God, but his soul faints for the courts of the Lord. And when he enters the temple, he sings for joy to the Lord. It gives us the image that he is so spent longing for God that he’s exhausted. He can’t wait to come before God and worship Him.
Is this true of us? Do you long to return here on Sundays or is this just part of your duty? Some people will make any and every excuse why they can’t come to worship. Some claim they don’t believe in organized religion. Or church is boring. The songs are unfamiliar. The sermons are dull or uninspiring. The prayers are meaningless, irrelevant and too long. The people aren’t friendly. And the list could go on, ad nauseum.
On the other hand, there are those who look forward to worship. To them, what we do is exciting. The songs are uplifting. The sermons are inspiring. The prayers bring them closer to God. The people are friendly and inviting. These are people who long and are fainting to get in the doors and worship God.
You see, we come to church to be in the presence of God. We come to meet with God, to present ourselves to Him as we worship. Yet, at the same time I do understand the music, the pastor, the people and more all determine our willingness to come to this place to worship. Yet, the bottom line is to be in a place of worship which aligns with your beliefs and style.
I believe the reason some people have little desire for God’s house on Sunday is because they had little desire for God throughout the week. Not liking the preaching, or music or people is often times a cover up and excuse for not worshiping.
If your heart is longing and pining to be in the presence of God, if you’re looking forward to something happening in worship, if you prepare for it, then I believe it will happen.
You see one of the ways to look at worship is to prepare like orthodox Jews. Because they don’t drive, cook, turn on lights on the Sabbath, they must prepare for it. It all starts in the middle of the week as the family prepares for the next Sabbath. As they prepare, they become more excited about what’s coming up that weekend. It’s a great thought. How many of us are preparing for worship? Do you prepare on Saturday night or Sunday morning?
Yet, when you go on vacation, you prepare for it, don’t you? You plan what you’ll do, where you’ll stay, what the weather will be like; you even plan out the roads you will take to reach your vacation destination. We don’t want to be unprepared.
When you go to work, you check your schedule — you review your plans, when you have a meeting, you want to know what’s going on. The point is, we have certain expectations about life. We also have expectations about worship. Are you here because it’s your duty, or are you here because you want to be here? It then becomes a matter of preparation. So, how have you prepared for today?
Have you asked the Holy Spirit to speak to you?
Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
Have you come to church with a word of encouragement for another person?
Have you come with hopes and expectations that you will meet the Living God?
What were you expecting today?
You see, if we expect nothing, then don’t blame anyone if you don’t get anything out of worship. I truly believe if we expect the Spirit of God to REALLY, REALLY be here, then do you know what, we will experience the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is here.
The psalmist said he would rather be in God’s House than anywhere else. In contemporary terms, he’d rather worship than be at Disney World or Cedar Point. He’d rather worship than be at the golf course, baseball, football game, or a nascar race. He’d rather worship God than be camping, or at home in bed, or reading the Sunday paper, or watching television. He desired to be in God’s house.
Why? Because he knew God, he intimately knew God. When you intimately know someone, don’t you want to be in their presence; and when your not, you long to be in their presence. In the same way, when we intimately know God, we also long to be in His presence.
He now refers to sparrows and swallows. The psalmist envied the sparrows and swallows that made their nests around the temple and lived at the house of God. Listen to his words ~
SLIDE3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
SLIDE
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!
1 SLIDEDo you remember when the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples about sparrows? He said, "Not one of them will fall to the ground without your father's will" {Matt. 10:29}, and, "you are of more value than many sparrows." {Matt 10:31}. In another place Jesus said, "Are not five sparrows sold in the market-place for 2 pennies?" {Luke 12:6}. Jesus recognized that the sparrow was a symbol for insignificance. Sparrows represent those who feel they aren’t worth anything.
The psalmists point is that men or women who feel insignificant can find in God ... a home, a place of warmth and security, a place where life is fulfilled. You may feel terribly useless, but when you come to God, you can find security, peace and purpose.
Have you ever seen swallows in action. If you watch them you’ll get tired. They don’t stop moving. They’re fast and exemplify restless activity. The swallow represents those people who are restless, who are forever looking for something new. They settle down and try something new every week, but it doesn't work. The psalmist says, even the swallow can find a home in God, a place to build a nest and to raise young, a place to dwell in forever.
The only place the restless will ever find rest -- is in God. Jesus spoke of the rest they would find in Matthew 11:28-30, 28SLIDE Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
SLIDE29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
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30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Those aren’t mere words. It isn’t just beautiful language designed to stir your spirit on Sunday mornings, then leave you empty during the week. Those words are designed for life. If you’re restless, this message is for you. God’s speaking to you. God wants to give you rest. You won't find it in circumstances, you won't find it in adventure. These things pale in comparison to what God offers. You’ll find it only, as the Psalmist tells us, "at the altars, of the Lord of hosts, my king and my God."
The psalmist wished he could live that close to the temple, there would be no better place to be than in the house of the Lord. The church is also supposed to be a place of security, a shelter from the storm, place to hide from every evil, a protection from all that can harm, “a place to rest in, to nestle in, to rejoice in.”
But there is one thing these highly privileged birds lacked - they did not know who delivered this kindness. They didn’t know God’s heart, and yet they enjoyed the provisions of His tender care. God thought of everything, yet there was no relationship between them and the great Giver. We however, are able to enjoy fellowship and intimacy with God. We are able to worship and sing with joy to the Lord our God. We may never live in the church, but this is a place that should be a place of security for us and our loved ones.
SLIDEVerse 6 is an interesting verse. We read, “When they walk through the Valley of Baca, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains.”
What is Baca? On their journey to the temple the people would often go through the Valley of Baca, or the valley of weeping and tears.
The Valley of Baca was part of the desert country. The valley was filled with thorns, wild animals, pitfalls, vipers and all sorts of danger. In addition, there were wells of water but they were often far apart and hard to get to. It was nearly impossible to travel this valley without facing extreme hardship and suffering.
Somewhere in our journey, every one of us goes through the valley of Baca. We experience job challenges, marital struggles, family disputes, illnesses, hopes not realized, frustrations, loss and more.
We all experience them in life. For the poet the valley times were endurable because of the Temple times. Hard chapters of life could be handled because there were also the times of refreshment, when a dry and thirsty soul could be refreshed in God’s presence.
And the refreshing springs and pools of blessings are the result of enduring our hardships, sicknesses, trials as one body. As we count on the Lord to be with us, and the prayers and community of the people of God. It happens through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The early rain is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
These men and women are able to turn sorrow into joy by means of the Holy Spirit who fills their lives with pools of blessing, permanent fountains, springs of joy.
Do you know people like that? What wonderful people they are. It’s refreshing to have people who come into our lives and with but a word change our whole outlook. This helps us better experience God's grace until, ultimately, God is revealed, and is made visible through the lives of people like that.
The psalmist sought the presence of God with his heart, spirit, mind and body. He put everything he had and all that he was into seeking and experiencing God.
Let me ask you this — if you’re not experiencing God . . . why not? What’s happening in your life that leads you to not experience Him? Too often we like to throw stones and take the speck out of someone else’s eye, rather than look at the log in our eyes.
So, what can you do to long and faint inbetween worship experiences? Do you actively participate in worship; or do you sit like you’re mad?
When we read the Word of God do you read it with your heart? When the offering plate is passed, do you worship God with your offerings, or do you just tip God? When there is something to do, do you jump in and do it, or do you expect someone else to?
Why do you come to church? Do you come to meet with God as the psalmist did? Folks, we aren’t here to impress or be impressed. We’re here to meet with God, and I know He is here because He promised to be in our midst.
SLIDE
The psalmist said 10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Do you hear that? He would rather spend one day as the gatekeeper of the temple than to spend 1000 days living the good life in the world. There is no other place he would rather be, than worshiping His God.
One day with God is better than a 1,000 living it up. How is your one hour of worship? Is it a highlight or an obligation? Does that one hour go by so fast, that it seems like 5 minutes or does it seem like 1,000 hours?
My greatest desire for us is to see worship like the psalmist is describing. I want us to be excited about Jesus.
Finally, what are you doing to be a blessing to others? Are you a doorkeeper, in essence, a greeter or a bouncer? Is your love of Christ inviting people in or keeping them out? Are you being a blessing to others because you’ve claimed and experienced God’s blessings?
Worship God each and every day. Every day is really the Lord’s day. Sing, pray, read His word, be in fellowship with other believers, always giving thanks and praise with a joyful heart. Try it for one week. No excuses allowed. Simply . . . be a blessing to others. Let Christ’s love and joy be evident in you. So come back next week ready to meet God and to praise Him.
The psalmist ends with ~~
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
