Psalm 84:2

Psalm 84:2

My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord

What a deeply passionate longing this verse describes! Look at the words used, the writer yearns, faints and cries out from his soul, his heart and his flesh. The soul is the seat of our emotions and our thoughts and our will, this man’s soul is emotionally tied to the Temple site. He is exhilarated and charged by the atmosphere of the place. It is so familiar and yet so sacred; it has deep and long-term attachments and to be away is heart-breaking. 

It’s good to have a “place” where we feel close to the Lord God, a place that we miss when we are away even though we know that He is with us everywhere!

The yearnings go deeper still, it’s not just the building and the ceremonies that are so painfully missed, the psalmist realises that outside of the Temple he has no access to his God. There is a dull ache within him and a heart-breaking desire for intimacy. That longing is expressed in cries and pleadings as his flesh gives voice to the emptiness inside. 

Perhaps today is the time to stop and realise how blessed we are. We do not have to go to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to worship our God. We do not have to confine Him to a place. He is with us wherever we go, by His Holy Spirit. The only thing that keeps us from intimacy with our Father in heaven, is sin. If He seems distant, we have to get rid of the sin and let Him fill our hearts afresh. He longs for us to draw near and hopefully, if we are away from Him we will take the necessary steps to run back to His presence!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more