"A Place Near The Altar"
Ps. 84:1-9
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 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. 8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob. Selah 9 Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one. 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
Intro:
The 84th psalm is a psalm of worship. It is evident the writer’s heart is filled with worship. He is clearly in a mood of worship. He expresses a yearning, a craving to draw near to the Lord in worship.
I find a few things here instructional for our worship.
We need an attraction to the place of worship. Wherever that is, it is the most sacred place on earth.
We need a passion for the presence of God. Our need to be nearer to God must consume us. Tozer called it the pursuit of God.
Having been strengthened by our encounter with God we make a positive contribution to the world in which we live.
Attraction, passion and contribution are elements of true worship.
Delight in God’s House
How lovely is your dwelling place
In the Old Testament the house of worship was the center of the religious life of Israel. To draw close to the Lord they literally had to physically go to the temple. That is not to say that they could not pray or know Him elsewhere. Nor is it to say He did not reveal Himself to them in other places and in other circumstances for He certainly did. But they were not allowed to offer sacrifices at home or in the fields. When they were estranged from the land of Israel and the temple in Jerusalem they felt distant from God Himself. So for the most part when they wanted to get close to the Lord in a special way they had to go to Jerusalem and to the temple. So the psalmist speaks glowingly of the temple - the dwelling place of God - the place of worship, made precious by time spent in worship.
This is not true in the New Testament. God is not housed in a building, nor confined to a single location. He is worshiped throughout all the earth. Jesus said, "a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. . . . Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (Jn. 4:21-24) In the New Testament the believer’s body and heart becomes God’s temple and the residence of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Cor. 6:19-20) Peter tells us, . . . you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 2:5)
It is a wonderful truth that God makes His home in us. What a beautiful thought that God Himself chooses to live within the hearts of His worshipers. If the sight of the temple in the Old Testament was cause for excitement how much more thrilling it should be for us to know that God indwells the believer. That we are the habitation of God in the earth! We ought to get a thrill out of that!
Desire For God’s Presence
2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God
The psalmist expresses a tremendous desire to be in the Lord’s presence. He yearns to be in the Lord’s presence so much that it seems even his soul grows weaker from the absence. From deep within his heart, and even the body itself, seemed to rise a call for more of God. His whole being was desperate for God. How he longed to be in the place of worship. How badly he wanted to be in the place where God’s presence could be felt.
He looks about and takes note of the simple creatures around him, and he envies their privilege. 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 The birds have even built their nests near the altar. They have the privilege of the nearness of God’s presence all day, every day. Oh that in us would be such an eagerness to live in the presence of God - so much that we would envy a starling in the church’s eves!
Some people look at priests and nuns within their cloisters and monasteries with envy. They think to themselves, "Oh for a quiet life away from the hassles of the world and shut in with God!" Some look at clergy in a similar way. But the truth is, in this regard, no one has an advantage over anyone else. No one has a monopoly on the presence of God. Every one of us has as much of God as we want.
If we do not experience God’s presence to the extent we claim we would like, it is only because we are content to settle for less. Just as buried treasure is only found by diligent toil and long searching, the presence of God is only found by those who seek it as if it were diamonds and gold. A greater sense of His nearness and dearness are only gained as we become discontent with the amount we presently have. When our heart is desperate like that of the psalmist will we be driven to seek for more.
10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
Better one day in the temple courts than one thousand outside them. I don’t think he is trying to specify a time limit, but only to suggest a lot more time. But the amount of time he mentions is nearly three years (2 years and 9 months). Maybe it had been that long since his last visit. Or maybe he is expressing a wistful sentiment similar to the one found in the line of a secular song, "I’d trade all my tomorrow’s for a single yesterday." (Bobby McGee) Whether he is looking to the future or the past he is clearly saying he would rather live briefly in God’s presence than to live a thousand times longer without it. To worship in Spirit and truth we must thirst for God’s nearness as a deer thirsts for the brook. (Ps. 42:1-2)
Difference in God’s People
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
Without naming other individuals David draws a comparison between the people of God and those who fail to realize their strength comes from the Lord. They are on a journey. They have set their heats on a pilgrimage as the Jews made spiritual journeys to Jerusalem for worship. They do not rely on their own strength for the trip. And in route they will pass through difficult times. Yet even those experiences will strengthen them rather than weaken them.
The righteous make a difference; they make a positive contribution in tough times. They get stronger in things that make others weak.
The Valley of Baca means "the valley of weeping." The AS has, Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs; Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings. Perhaps they puddle it with their tears. Perhaps during their sojourn through the valley they dug some wells which will provide refreshing for others who pass that way.
If we haven’t left something for others we haven’t accomplished all we could have on our trip through the valley. The Lord told Israel to deliberately miss grain along the edges of their fields as a way of blessing travelers passing by. (Lev. 19:9-10) Boaz instructed the reapers to leave handfuls on purpose for Ruth. (Ru. 2:15-16) Paul says we are to comfort others with the comfort we have received.(2 Cor. 1:4)
There is a difference in the journey we make and that of other men - or there ought to be. Our trials, if surrendered to God, will result in blessing - He will bless us and He will bless others through us. May others find rest where we found tears.
Close:
Desire the presence of God more than the light of your TV, more than the comfort of bed, more than the convenience of staying home. Satisfaction comes to the pilgrim only as that desire is rewarded.
Are you passing through a difficult place? Turn the valley of your pilgrimage into a place of springs - a place of refreshing.
Draw Me Nearer - hymn , Draw Me Closer - Kaiser, As the Deer Panteth - chorus, (Nothing Between)
