Psalm 84 comments

 

Psalm 84:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.» How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2  My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3  Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. 4  Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. 5  Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. 6  Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. 7  They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

 

This remarkable Psalm opens with one of the most interesting verses in the Bible. The Psalmist first pleads how wonderful God’s tabernacles are and how he cries out for the living God.

 

Psalm 27:4  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

 

Isaiah 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

 

Then, he speaks of the sparrow and the swallow finding a house and a nest on the altars of God. Clearly there is a link here between the tabernacle that God had the Israelites build and the tabernacle of His creation, the book of nature He has written.  But it says literally that those birds find safety in their home on God’s altars. It can also refer to the Psalmist saying that even the seemingly unimportant creatures find a home in God’s tabernacle, something the Psalmist envies as he wishes to be close to God at all times. Do the birds in the morning sing praises to God?

 

In whatever case, those that dwell in God’s house are blessed and will praise God as the source of their strength. The priests and the Levites are there. A reference is made to the valley of Baca as a valley of springs. Since Baca refers to a valley of weeping according to Strong’s dictionary it seems like the Psalmist is saying that tears shall be turned to blessings under God’s care. The idea in these last verses of this passage is that those who dwell in God’s tabernacles are overflowing with blessings as they stand before the God of Israel and the whole earth.

 

Psalm 84:8 ¶  O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. 9  Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. 10  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 12  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

 

Psalm 27:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

See the sentiment expressed early in the Psalms.

 

Psalm 3:3  But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

 

Psalm 5:12  For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

 

And then later in Psalm 91.

 

Psalm 91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

 

Pleading with God to hear his prayer the Psalmist symbolizes God as a shield to His people, those set apart for His purpose and here, with the use of thine anointed perhaps speaking directly as the king or for the king, God’s king. He would rather work the lowest post in the temple than live with the wicked or to particularly wallow in their filth. God is our protection from wickedness, from wanting to do wickedly. If we pursue God’s ways no good thing will be withheld from us and all are blessed who trust in Him.

 

Speaking of the doorkeeper reference think of this verse;

 

Revelation 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

 

These promises of God fall on the Old Testament Jew as well as the New Testament Christian, both Jew and Gentile. God is our protection, not only from our enemies, but from the sin that grinds us down to poverty, helplessness, disease, and despair. We have only to turn to Him to be freed from the sins that so easily beset us.

 

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

This Psalm promises God’s enduring protection and consolation, and, in fact, pleads for them.

 

Revelation 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.