Psalm 84:4

Psalm 84:4

Dwelling in His house

We’ve talked before about the meaning of the word “blessed.” Sadly, in English, it is a rather abstract term, it sounds nice, but it doesn’t really have much body to it, it can’t really be clearly defined. In Hebrew it is “barakh” which literally means to endow with gifts, to do something or give something of value to another. When God blesses us He comes from His throne of power, authority and holiness and He singles out individuals or groups of humans and makes Himself available. He provides for our needs, even before we know them ourselves! We are blessed.

Our verse today asserts that there is special blessing for those who dwell in God’s house, not as priests but as God’s welcome guests in His royal, holy temple. We need to understand the thoughts of the writer here, there is no way that anyone could live in the inner sanctum of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, the best you could hope for was to spend some time in the outer courts. And yet, as we have seen, the sparrows and the swallows could enter into that Holy Place and build their nests there. If it were possible to be like them, to be able to dwell in that inner sanctum, surely all we would do is just praise our God.

It is only as we catch this deeper meaning that we begin to understand how privileged we are! God has allowed ordinary people like you and me, to approach His Holy Place, to be His inner Temple, to be His dwelling, to draw near and to be BLESSED. There is only one response to this, it is to praise Him!

 

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