Thougths on Psalm 84

Psalm 84:1>12

How amiable are your tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God. Yes, the sparrow has found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in your house: they will be still praising you. Selah.

David rejoices in being in the presence of God. He is spiritually sensitive and therefore aware of the renewal that he needs and of the supply that only God can give. He is in that wonderful place of being hungry for God. Not hungry in the normal sense as one would for the evening meal after a hard day's work. But rather as someone who hasn't eaten for days, who is famished for sustenance. Note also David's interjection of the Sparrow, signifying that all are welcome in the presence of God, even the most lowly. Lastly, we catch from the opening of this Psalm the clear connection between "dwelling" before the Lord, and being and staying in an attitude of praise. Praise being a result of intimate interaction between the humble and the Lord of Glory, not a cause of such interaction.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in you; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also fills the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appears before God.

David sets the example for Israel by depending completely on the Lord for his strength. The Apostle Paul, centuries later, expressed the same sentiment saying that through Jesus he could do all things. Old testament or New the idea is the same, that believers can be and are supported by the same one who formed the universe and all it contains. That regardless of the difficulties, God can be relied on to turn a desert (Baca) into a supply of water in abundance. And while it is important to believe that God can and will supply, it is also important to understand that such support is moment by moment or as David said "from strength to strength" He supplies when needed and not before, perhaps because He does not want believes to rely on stored up resources instead of Him.

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look on the face of your anointed. For a day in your 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. 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. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts in you.

David concludes his psalm as he began, reflecting on how wonderful it is to have fellowship with God, and how such fellowship is to be preferred over vain pursuits. Oh to be so preoccupied with Jesus that it colors all that we say and do, and brings about a confidence that He will not withhold any good thing from us.