Psalm 84

Psalm 84

Troy Gessler

February 22, 2016

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.

3 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.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!

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.

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!

Does your heart long for God? Are you just giving God lip service? Do you truly desire God's presence more than anywhere/anything else? What does it mean to faint for God? Do you do that? Do you feel like a stranger in the earth or are you cozying up to the idea of a "cush" lifestyle?

As I read this psalm I ask myself these questions. I tend to faint for money, to long for the home at 6401 e roosevelt ave more than the home in Jesus Christ. I tend to forget about God and then throw out lip service to Him when it is convenient.

I truly am in need of grace. You truly are in need of grace. Are you desperate for Jesus? Do you really need Him? Be honest. Do you? Are you conscious of your deep need for Jesus or is this just an infatuation with a religious story that brings you a sense of community because others like the story too. You and I will never ever gain this desire the psalmist has for God if we do not lose our lives for Christ's sake. If you and I continue to live so cavalier with our supposed "faith" in Jesus I fear we will be found wanting in the end. Be careful if you think you stand tall lest you fall and fall hard. Ask God to have mercy and reveal Himself to you. Plead with Him to show you your need for Him and His presence. I pray that you and I can say together with the writer, "better to be a doorman in Your dwelling place Lord. Better to be a janitor in your house. Better to be a footstool at your feet... Than to have all the riches elsewhere." Will you give it all up to be with Jesus?

God will have you prove it.