Psalm 84

Psalm 84 | New International Version:

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

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, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.

Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.

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.

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.

Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

RAMP: READ / ANALYZE / MEDITATE / PRAY

R: Read the Passage

Read the passage fully from start to finish without taking any notes — just read. And then … read it again!

Psalm 84 is considered a Liturgical Psalm and intended for public worship, so after you’ve read it a couple of times for yourself, imagine the entire congregation lifting this up to God Almighty — how powerful! So many of the songs we love to sing find their roots in these liturgical Psalms, and it’s no wonder why our hearts love them so much.

The exact author of Psalm 84 is not fully known, but scholars believe it was most likely written on a pilgrimage to Mount Zion —known as the City of God, the City of David and the location of the Temple — where God’s presence resided.

This beautiful psalm was written as children of God were pilgrimaging home to His presence. Wow.

A: Analyze

Journal your response to these questions:

1. What does this say about God?

How is God described in this Psalm? How does He take care of His children — those who enter into and dwell in His presence? How does He protect and give strength to us?

How is the presence of God described in this Psalm? What we find in His presence is what we find in HIM.

• It is lovely

• It is safe

• I am known

• I am heard and loved

• It’s a place of protection

• It abounds with favor

• Its a place of honor

• Good things are found in His presence

• It’s a place of trust

• It’s a source of strength

2. What does this say about you?

How does your soul long for God?

3. Is there a command to follow?

This is a passage where the commands are not quite as obvious, so take note of how the Psalmist identifies the way God blesses His followers.

4. Is there a sin to repent of?

My heart experienced both conviction and comfort from this Psalm — conviction about how/when/why I come into God’s presence and comfort from how much He loves me WHEN I DO come into His presence.

I want verse 10 to be true of my heart, and it always isn’t. I have asked God to forgive me of not seeing His courts, His presence as the best possible place for me to be.

5. Is there a promise to claim?

There are so many promises in this passage!

Let me ask you this … how does your heart receive verse 11? Some of you can say with certainty that God has given you an abundance of good things. Others of us may feel tricked or overlooked in that verse. In our times of deep sorrow and lament, it is hard for us to truly believe God does not withhold good things from His people when we look around and wonder when our portion of “good” is going to show up. If this is your heart right now, find comfort in David’s words. On the heels of lamenting the brokenness and the sin, he is able to see above the circumstances to the TRUTH of who God is — He is a giver of good things.

If you feel God is withholding something good from you, there are three possibilities you can pray through:

1. What you are asking for sounds good to you, but God may have something better coming.

2. Your circumstances, situation or realities may not look or feel good to you, but they actually may be the good thing God is giving you. A perspective shift may be needed in order for you to see what has been given to you as GOOD.

3. There is unconfessed sin in your life that you are not willing to admit and repent from. Is there a conviction in this direction? Can you see where you have actively gone against God’s plan or design for your life? Can you see where you are openly and actively living in ways outside of His call of holy and righteous living? Are you continuing down a path you know leads away from Him and His presence?

Hear this — do not turn to God in order to get what you want. Instead, confess your sin in order to remove all barriers from resting in His presence. His presence is greater than His presents (good gifts to you).

I used to get so frustrated with my parents when they would not tell me what they want for Christmas. I want to buy them nice, good gifts! And my dad always just wants “everyone to be together.” What my parents want more than anything is to be WITH their children. I think God wants that too, in fact I know He does. If all you are seeking from God are His good gifts, the good things He seems to be giving out to everyone else, check your heart and begin seeking His presence over His presents.

M: Meditate

• Meditate on the presence of God — when have you felt most at home in His presence?

• According to the passage, what does His presence feel like?

• Have you weakened the idea of God’s presence to only existing in the context of Sunday morning church? This is so easy for believers to do, especially in 2019. Before Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, His presence did only live in the Temple. However, NOW, His spirit lives within us. We can ‘enter’ His presence at all times. As we live, breathe, work and play, He is with us. How can this transform how you send your time?

• Can your heart say in truth that a day in His presence is greater than a day spent anywhere else? Verse 10 rubs against our culture so hard, especially when we minimize His presence to just being inside the walls of church. Note: When this Psalm was written, tents represented the rich and wealthy, as no one had permanent housing as we know it. Especially on a pilgrimage. Only the richest and most wealthy lived in tents. So, can you say you’d rather serve the Lord inside His presence than live among the wealthy? Ouch.

• Do you consider His presence a place to go only when you feel ‘ready’ to worship? His presence is a safe place. It’s a place we can enter when we need protection, safety, security, blessings and strength.

P: Pray

Pray your notes back to God. Thank Him for His presence. Thank Him that you have access into His presence because of what Christ has done on the cross. Jesus Christ made a way for us to have a restored relationship with a Holy God — to experience His presence now and for eternity.

Nicole’s Notes:

“My soul is restless until it finds rest in Thee.” - Augustine

Knowingly or unknowingly, each heart on earth longs and yearns for a loving, kind and forgiving God. Hearts long for places that are lovely, safe, filled with favor and honor. Our souls long to be known, heard and loved within the safety and strength of an Almighty God.

For those of us who have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ, we have found the ultimate satisfaction for our yearning souls — the presence of God. This truth brings us so much peace in light of eternity, that our souls have an eternal satisfaction in the presence of God.

But let me ask you about tomorrow — where does your soul long to be tomorrow? What about next week? In a couple of years? How quickly our flesh can desire satisfactions of the soul outside of the presence of God.

Now, I can go on and on and on about our souls yearning for the presence of God on a tropical island. Just don’t even get me started, because, to the Ruhnkes, God’s presence is most satisfying with our toes in the sand! Kidding. But not really.

Here’s my point — We KNOW God’s presence is the ultimate satisfaction to the longings and yearnings of our soul. We know this. We feel this. We experience this in the most powerful moments of worship at church, or during the quiet moments alone with God. And yet, our flesh finds such satisfaction in the world’s offerings. And before we know it, we find our soul longing for what our flesh longs for.

A quote from John Piper that Timmy and I use often to keep our hearts in check, gives us a much-needed punch in the gut: "If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great."

Today, this week, this fall — what are you looking to for ultimate satisfaction of your soul?

• Is it football?

• Fun weekends with family/friends?

• An upcoming trip?

• A new relationship?

• Relief from your kids, spouse?

• A bigger house, nicer things, a different group of friends?

• A possible promotion or pat on the back from your boss?

• A new season for your family that’s just on the horizon?

Spend some time in honest reflection over what your soul is longing for. And when the answer is not the presence of Jesus (because it probably won’t be), then spend some time talking about that to God. Ask Him to forgive you, to remind you of the joy and satisfaction found in His presence. Ask Him to help you long for that again, or maybe for the first time. Ask Him to help you reset your life and your cravings. Ask Him to remove the cravings for the nibbles you get from the world and to cause your heart to only crave Him.

Please know that He will answer you. He loves to reset our focus and our passions and our cravings for Him. I feel like He does it for me every Monday morning! I say “God, help me want you more this week — more than what the world can give me, help me want YOU.” And He does. Because just like for the sparrows, He has made a place for me in His presence.

If every sparrow finds a home in the presence of God, imagine His delight to welcome in the masterpieces of His creation (you and me) into His presence.

Don’t you find it interesting how the author speaks of God as who He is — He is Lord, He is King — and then the author makes it personal — He is MY God, He is MY King. When the truth of who God is becomes personal, you see Him not only for who He is, but who He is TO YOU. That’ll preach.

This entire Psalm is written on a pilgrimage to the Temple of God. Pilgrimages are different than trips or vacations. A pilgrimage is a journey HOME. Don’t miss this. Our souls find complete satisfaction as we pilgrimage HOME to the PRESENCE of God.

What’s true about eternity is true about today — yes, we are on a pilgrimage toward our eternal home in Heaven with Jesus. What a glorious day and eternity that will be. Our true home isn’t this earth, we are only passing through. Let us set our hearts on our eternal home in the presence of God forever.

And we can experience the same peace today in the presence of God while we are still on this earth. Let us set our hearts on the ultimate satisfaction found IN HIS PRESENCE while we journey through our own Valley of Baca (the Valley of Tears). Pain and sorrow are realities on this earth and we depend on God like never before when we walk through them. As believers, we can set our hearts on Heaven and know these seasons of pain and sorrow do not destroy us, instead, they make us stronger and long even more for our eternal home — the eternal presence of God.

This journey on earth wears us out, doesn’t it? Man, it’s tough. This journey, this pilgrimage to our eternal home, can feel like one loooong journey through the Valley of Baca. And yet, we continue to find our strength renewed. Just like the psalmist describes, we experience ’strength to strength’ from a God who hears our prayers and listens to us.

Be comforted in the pilgrimage process of living from strength to strength. 2 Corinthians 2:18 tells us we are being made into His image one degree by one degree. It’s a journey, it’s a pilgrimage. It leads us HOME.

Psalm 84 | The Message:

What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,

Always dreamed of a room in your house, where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

Birds find nooks and crannies in your house, sparrows and swallows make nests there.

They lay their eggs and raise their young, singing their songs in the place where we worship.

God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God! How blessed they are to live and sing there!

And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel;

They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!

God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!

God-of-the-Angel-Armies, listen: O God of Jacob, open your ears—I’m praying!

Look at our shields, glistening in the sun, our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.

One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.

I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.

All sunshine and sovereign is God, generous in gifts and glory.

He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions. It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.