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"Longing for God's House"
Psalm 84
Good News Translation (GNT)
"Hebrew Title:
A psalm by the clan of Korah"
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1 1 How I love your Temple, Lord Almighty!
2 How I want to be there! I long to be in the
Lord's Temple. With my whole being I sing for
joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrows have built a nest, and the
swallows have their own home; they keep their
young near your altars, Lord Almighty, my king
and my God.
4 How happy are those who live in your Temple,
always singing praise to you.
5 How happy are those whose strength comes
from you, who are eager to make the
pilgrimage to Mount Zion.
6 As they pass through the dry valley of Baca,
it becomes a place of springs; the autumn rain
fills it with pools.
7 They grow stronger as they go; they will see
the God of gods on Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty. Listen,
O God of Jacob!
9 Bless our king, O God, the king you have
chosen.
10 One day spent in your Temple is better than a
thousand anywhere else; I would rather stand
at the gate of the house of my God than live in
the homes of the wicked.
11 The Lord is our protector and glorious king,
blessing us with kindness and honor.
He does not refuse any good thing to those
who do what is right.
12 Lord Almighty, how happy are those who trust
in you!
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Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union
'Longing for God's House'
Psalm 84
This psalm expresses the experience of an Israelite seeking God.
In the first section (vs 1-4) the psalmist is far away from the temple, longing to be there, envying those who live and work there permanently.
However, he is not content to yearn, so in the second part (vs 5-9) he joins a party of pilgrims to Jerusalem.
The road is long and leads through dry places but they find that there are springs in the desert and that the further they go the stronger they get.
In the third part (vs 10-12), he is back home reflecting on his experience.
He has met with God.
All the sacrifices he has made to get there, the rigours of the journey and the costly choices he has had to make, have proved to be gloriously worth it.
Faithful Israelites knew that God did not literally live in the temple, as if they somehow controlled him (see 1 Kings 8:27), but they came year by year to find God there.
1 Kings 8:27 (Today's New International Version)
27 "But will God really dwell on earth?
The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.
How much less this temple I have built! "
God is not bound by time and place, but he has promised to honour certain times and places with his presence, even though they are built with human hands or set by human tradition.
When believers come together to worship, whether in a cathedral or a school hall, he will be there, and a table laid with bread and wine will mediate his presence.
We may not literally go on a pilgrimage, but we may undertake some spiritual exercise, like a commitment to pray or read the Bible more, or enrolling in a course of study or going overseas as a short-term volunteer.
It may also involve leaving 'the tents of the wicked' (v 10) and taking a stand for what is right.
Whatever form your pilgrimage takes, the experience of believers in every age is that God rewards those who seek him.
(Alastair Campbell)
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