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Psalm 84 – the Psalm of the Doorkeepers

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Psalm 84 – the Psalm of the Doorkeepers Psalm 84 – The Psalm of the Doorkeepers Last week PJ began a series entitled Summer Psalms. He began this series in Ps 121 and this is a beautiful psalm of ascent, a pilgrimage psalm. The Psalmist asks, Where does my help come from, my help comes from the Lord, (and he reminds himself in song that God is) the maker of heaven and earth. God has made you and me in His image and desires a relationship with us and promises to protect us. And if he is wise enough and powerful enough to make everything we can see in all of creation, and everything beyond what we can see, he is certainly able to keep your foot from slipping and to watch over your coming and your going now and forevermore. Beautiful assurances and promises. And before I go on let me say, especially if you are new to Grace, please do not mistake me for PJ. He is a tall, thin, balding, middle aged white guy – obviously we have little in common. Most people mistake me for Brad Pitt. Although I do find that a bit insulting as Brad is an inch shorter than me. PJ and I do share two things in common, Jesus rescued us from ourselves and we were both blessed to marry incredible, godly women in 1984. Pastor Jeff is very faithful to prepare and present a message from God’s word Sunday after Sunday. He takes his responsibilities as the pastor of this local church family very seriously and this can be taxing. I am glad that he has taken a week off to spend with Violet, their children and some friends. 1 Today, I have the responsibility (and privilege) to present God’s word – a truly sobering task. If I am a stranger to you, let me briefly introduce myself- My name is Chuck Rustin...... (Brad and I same age. Have been married to a godly, beautiful woman named Julie for almost 35 years. We have 2 grown sons, Robert and Michael. Both love the Lord and there is no greater blessing to a parent than that. Robert lives here with his bride Nicole and both serve faithful on our P&W team and they are about to have their first child in ~ a week –Olivia will be our first grandchild. Michael is the younger and was B&R here in PSL and moved to MN 3 yrs ago and loves it…. I came out of secular employment at P&W when PJ invited me to join the staff back in 2002. On staff ~17 yrs now and I help with member care, small groups and some church administration. And I don’t want to be guilty of painting an artificially rosy picture of our family. Like you we experience hardship and trials... In a 10 month stretch we lost 3 of Julie’s family members, her step-mother and a 36 yr old cousin then her father just 2 months ago, her mom is very ill, we have other family suffering physically and emotionally, some struggling with drug and alcohol addiction…. Julie has had over 200 stitches from skin cancer and pre-cancerous surgeries and I still deal with some lasting effects from a neuro-toxin poisoning over a decade ago…. And we currently have a water leak under the slab of our home. And I don’t say any of that to garner any pity or sympathy, or to compare trials, b/c I know you have them as well. I just want to assure 2 you that we all live in the same broken, painful world. Not the world of Hollywood or fake-book or insta-lie, or a world skewed by a false, prosperity-gospel. But the real world where there are real problems, real heartache. But, as followers of Jesus Christ we all have access to the same grace and the same hope that is found in Jesus Christ – a grace that God says is sufficient no matter what we face and a hope that will see us thru the most difficult trials. And I feel that is what makes the Psalms so beautiful to us. The Psalmists are so real in expressing their heart toward God or about God. They write from their emotions as much as from their minds. They share literally and also incorporate metaphors and imagery: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.” Ps 18:2 And they use hyperbole – Psa 6:6 “I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.” The Psalmists proclaim God’s worth, his holiness, his majesty. They offer repentance, they acknowledge his forgiveness and mercy, his goodness and faithfulness. We also see them sharing their pain, their doubt, their brokenness and despair. The writers aren’t churchy or religious, they are real - and this realness is one of the things that makes the Psalms so relatable. The Psalms speak to us primarily thru our hearts and emotions, even more than thru our minds. Something really important to realize about the Psalmists, especially when they verbalize their pain and distress and even hopelessness at 3 times – they were not complaining or looking for a pity party – no, they were presenting their hearts and emotions before God, they were praying their anguish, their doubt, their fear. Having the NT we know that God instructs us to cast all of or cares on Him – why? Because he cares for us. The writers of the Psalms did not have this verse from the book of I Peter, but they served the same compassionate God and by the Spirit they knew to cast their cares on the Lord - they sang their heartache, their disappointment, their fears and uncertainty…. And the goodness of God would overshadow their emotions and their burdens and a fresh perspective would come. By faith they would proclaim the goodness and faithfulness of God. Their circumstances, their problem or pain would not necessarily go away, but they would just not seem so big, or so overwhelming anymore because they allowed God to remind them how big He is. Their hope would be renewed. There is much to learn from the Psalms and I would like to take a look at another one today. One that I know will be familiar to at least some of you. Psalm 84 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young-- a place near your altar, 4 O LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. 8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob-Selah 9 Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one. 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you. So let’s take a look at what the psalmist is saying: 1. How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Is he really saying, hey God, nice crib. The mercy seat, great choice on going with wood, and the gold inlay, beautiful touch, and those curtains really complete the place… No, that is not what he is saying. God’s dwelling place is lovely because God chooses to reveal himself there… his glory, his majesty, his holiness can be felt – so the place is lovely because God is lovely. And the psalmist reinforces that by describing the one who dwells there – O LORD Almighty! Just like last week we see again that the reference 5 to God is the Hebrew name for God – YEHOVAH = self existent one or eternal one, the one without beginning and without end, and he adds to the name (Almighty) = you who rule over the masses Just as the psalmist goes before God in song by first declaring who God is, it is very important when we go before God in prayer, in worship, whenever and however we approach Him, to consider who he is and to go before him by acknowledging who he is! When Jesus was asked to teach the disciples how to pray, what do we see, about 40% of the prayer he spoke was recognizing and reverencing Father God: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Whether at home or here with your church family, we should be mindful and intentional in worship of God.
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