Psalm 84: How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place (Better Is One Day)

Psalm 84:1a, 10a "How lovely is your dwelling place. . . .For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere."

When is the last time you longed to be in the presence of the Lord? Perhaps it was this morning, or perhaps it has been a while. In Psalm 84, we see a deep, heart-felt expression from te psalmist for what it looks like to long to be in the presence of the Lord. In fact, the psalmist says that he even "faints" because he is so overly consumed with passion to be in the place where the Lord dwells. What would it be like if we had that same passion to be in the Lord's presence? Let us find out this morning.

In the first seven verses of this Psalm, the psalmist points out the great blessing that it is to be in the dwelling place of the Lord. As mentioned above, the psalmist's soul both longed and fainted for the presence of the Lord (2) [And if you ask me what it means for your "soul" to "faint," don't ask me, becase I don't know. But, I guarantee you it is a response to overwhelming desire and emotion, and is most likely poetic imagery for being overwhelmed with passion and joy.]. The psalmist goes onto say that even the birds that dwell in the courts outside the temple of the Lord are blessed because they are near to the Lord's presence (3). Furthermore, there is great strength found in the Lord's presence, the psalmist says, as one who is drawing near to the temple is strengthened by God and the joy that will soon come in being in the presence of the Lord (5-7). Even in valleys of tears, the psalmist says, those who long for the Lord's presence are strengthened (6). The psalmist's point is this: there is great and overwhelming blessing for those who are in the presence of the Lord.

But the psalmist does not stop there. In verse 8 and 9, he makes a petition for the Lord to hear his prayer. Although he does not mention specifically what the prayer is, he does mention why he is praying the certain prayer that he is praying: "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." The psalmist's motivation for his prayer is his confidence in the goodness of God's presence. Notice that the psalmist speaks of the "court" of the Lord's temple, and not even the temple itself. The psalmist here is trying to make the point that even to be near to the temple yet still outside of it, even for one moment of eternity, is better than 10,000 days anywhere else. Notice here: the psalmist does not even say "a thousand days." He merely says "a thousand." Though many might argue that the "days" is implied in poetic parrallelism, the commentary I was reading this morning was arguing that this perhaps could be translated a thousand "years" or "ages." Now, if you're getting your calculator out, you're missing the point. The point is this: any amount of time spent anywhere close to the presence of the Lord is eternally superior to any amount of time spend anywhere else. This is consistent with the psalmist's next utterance: "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (10). In other words, the psalmist would rather be amoung the least of God's people than be anywhere close to dwelling with the righteous. The psalmist knew the great delight that was in the presence of the Lord.

But what does this mean for us? Perhaps you know where I'm going with this. I believe there are two clear applications here. Firstly, we ought to long to be in the place of corporate worship, that is, church. The events described here in Psalm 84 are speaking of longing to be not only in the place where God is but also where he is worshiped. Therefore, we ought to long each Sunday to be in a place where we worship the Lord, so much that our soul faints within us. Secondly, and arguably more importantly, we ought to delight in having the Lord's presence within us. This is where this Psalm really hits home in the New Covenant. Because Christ died on the cross, the temple curtain was torn in two, symbolizing the New Covenant fact that all could have access to God. We know longer need a perfected high priest to be in the presence of God, but simply Christ's righteousness imputed to our accout. Therefore, where is the dwelling place of God in the New Covenant? Answer: YOU! ME! Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13). The point here is this: the psalmist had to long and faint to go into the courts of the Lord in order to be in his presence, but we have the Lord's presence with us day by day, moment by moment. Yet, we do often fail to delight in that. How sinful we are.

So, what's the application? Answer: Delight in God's presence. Don't drag yourself to church on Sunday. Instead, get there early. Don't grumble and complain to do your daily devotions in the morning. Instead, realize that inside of your very soul is the Holy Spirit who is with you, helping you interpret the scriptures and being your guide so that you are in the presence of the Lord. And most importantly, delight in the constant presence of the Lord ALWAYS. If God's children under the Old Covenant rejoiced this much in being in the presence of the Lord's court, how much more ought we to rejoice having the Holy Spirit living inside us? Amen and amen.

P.S. Here is a song putting this Psalm to music. If you haven't heart it before, I encourage you to listen to it often. It's a great encouragement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGmjwdnU-20