Psalms 84
BBCPsalms 84:1
Psalm 84: Homesick for Heaven!There is no question as to the primary interpretation of Psalm 84. It breathes out the deep longings of exiled Jews to be back at the temple in Jerusalem once again. It can also be applied, of course, to the Christian today who is somehow prevented from attending the meetings of the local fellowship. He eats his heart out to be back with God’s people as they meet to worship the Lord. But the application I like best is that of a godly pilgrim who is downright homesick for heaven. Let us look at the Psalm from this viewpoint. 84:1, 2 What place can be compared in loveliness to the dwelling place of God! It is a place of unparalleled beauty, unique splendor and unutterable glory. But let us be clear on this point. The place is used, by a figure of speech known as metonymy, for the Person who lives there. And so when the psalmist says, “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD,” he was really yearning to be with the Lord Himself. He says as much in the next sentence, " . . . my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.“84:3 The pilgrim compares himself to a sparrow and a swallow.
In another Psalm, the sparrow is used as a picture of utter loneliness, " . . . a sparrow alone on the housetop” (Psa_102:7). And anyone who has ever watched a swallow knows what a restless creature it is, darting and soaring on the air currents. Both are apt descriptions of God’s people sojourning in this wilderness; they are lonely and restless. The only place where they find rest and security for themselves and their families is at the altars of the LORD. There were two altars in the tabernacle and the temple. One was the brazen altar and the other the golden altar. The first typified Christ’s death and the second His resurrection. Taken together they represent the finished work of our Savior. Here is the place where our souls, like the swallow, can rest, and here we can bring our children to find rest also. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Act_16:31). 84:4 Then in an outburst of what we might call sanctified jealousy, the exile says, “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You.” When we thus think of the happiness of loved ones who have gone home to be with the Lord, we cannot grieve over them. For us it is loss, but for them eternal gain. They are better off than we are. 84:5 In verses 5-7 we switch back from the blessedness of those who are already in heaven to the lesser blessedness of those who are en route. Several things are mentioned about them. First of all, their strength is in the Lord, not in themselves. They are “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Eph_6:10). Then in their heart are the highways to Zion. The world is not their home.
Though in it, they are not of it. Their heart is set on pilgrimage.84:6, 7 The third thing is that as they pass through the Valley of weeping, for that is what Baca means, they convert it into a spring. These indomitable souls can sing in the midst of sorrow and trace the rainbow through their tears. They transform tragedies into triumphs and use misfortunes as stepping stones to greater things. The secret of their victory over circumstances is found in the next statement, “the rain also covers it with pools.” The rain is commonly taken as a type of the Holy Spirit, and here He is seen in His ministry of refreshment, providing pools of cool, clear water for the desert travelers. We take the water to stand for the Word of God (as in Eph_5:26).
This explains how they go from strength to strength. Instead of getting weaker as the journey progresses, they get stronger all the time. Though the outer nature is wasting away, the inner nature is being renewed every day (2Co_4:16). And then a wonderful note of assurance: Each one appears before God in Zion. No question about it, the trek through the desert will be crowned at last with the joy of seeing the King in His beauty. 84:8 Now the psalmist breaks out into impassioned prayer. It is addressed first to the LORD God of hosts, then in the next breath to the God of Jacob. As LORD God of hosts, He is the sovereign over the vast multitude of angelic beings. As the God of Jacob, He is the God of the unworthy one, the God of the cheat. Just think! The God of innumerable angels in festal gathering is also the God of the worm Jacob. The One who is infinitely high is also intimately nigh. And that is the only reason why you and I will ever enter His presence. 84:9 And what is our title to be there? O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed. Our only acceptance is through the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. God sees my Savior and then He sees me In the Beloved, accepted and free. 84:10 And what is it like, being in heaven? Well, a day in His courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. Which is just another way of saying that there is no comparison. We simply cannot conceive the glory, the joy, the beauty, the freedom of being where Jesus is. And it’s a good thing we can’t. Otherwise we would probably be unhappy to remain here and to get on with our work. Better to be a doorkeeper in the house of your God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. As Spurgeon said, “God’s worst is better than the devil’s best.” And not only better but more enduring. Note the contrast between the house of our God and the tents of wickedness. One is a permanent dwelling, the other is pitched for a relatively short while. 84:11 The LORD God is a sun providing illumination through the darkness, and a shield for protection against the scorching heat along the way. The LORD will give grace along the way for every time of need, and then He will give glory at the end of the journey as He welcomes His redeemed children into His eternal home. As a matter of fact the pilgrim has the assurance that he will lack nothing between here and heaven for no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. If it’s good for us, He won’t withhold it; if He withholds it, it isn’t good. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom_8:32). 84:12 No wonder the psalmist ends with the heartfelt exclamation, “O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” To which my own heart responds, “Yes, Lord, I’m eternally grateful to be a Christian.”