Psalm 84:1-4
June 10, 2009
Psalm 84:1-4
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
Today we are looking at the opening section of Psalm 84. The first 4 verses of this Psalm are a beautiful description of our privilege to enter into God’s presence.
Let’s just spend a moment reflecting on verses 1 and 2. The psalmist writes from a deep longing and desire that penetrates his entire being. His soul literally longs to be in God’s presence so desperately that he breaks into joyful song in praise of God.
There is a something subtle yet quite profound about what is going on here. Have you ever wondered why we sing songs in worship on a Sunday morning? One reason is simply that we are exhorted to do so in scripture, but this psalm shows us something else. The person in this psalm reaches the point where he is so overcome with the transcendent joy of God’s presence that he can offer no other response than to cry out in song to God.
Music is a precious gift from God to us for many reasons. Sometimes music has the amazing capability to express emotions and feelings within us that cannot be conveyed simply through words. To put it another way, sometimes it takes more than words to express how we feel in certain situations.
We see this all the time in our culture today. Why do you think love songs are so much more popular today than love poems? Similarly, I can think of many more sad songs that made me cry than sad stories. Music is a powerful form of human expression.
So what does all this have to do with worship? I think it is important to think about what we long for, or what is most important to us. We naturally celebrate things that are important to us. An easy example of this would be someone’s birthday. We celebrate their birthday because they are important to us. What naturally happens when we celebrate someone’s birthday? We SING Happy Birthday to them.
Now I’m not trying to equate singing “Happy Birthday” with worship. That isn’t it at all. I’m simply trying to demonstrate a connection between singing and things that we value.
I am very thankful that God gives us the ability to worship Him through music. There are several reasons why we use music to worship God, and we will explore those more at a later time. But today I would simply like to propose to you the idea that singing can be an emotional response to something we value.
What is it that you value you most in life? What do you sing about? I don’t know if I’m quite there yet or not, but I would like to get to that place on a Sunday morning, where I’m so captured by God’s beauty, that my soul literally cries out in song. That is worship through music in its purest sense.
Verses 3 and 4 convey the generous invitation God extends to us to enter into His presence. “Even the sparrow…” a simple bird is welcomed in to find a home in God’s house. What a wonderful place to dwell. We are blessed when we dwell in God’s house. In Him we find shelter and rest. Again, singing is mentioned as a expression of this blessing. Its almost as if God commutes joy to us through the singing of His praises. What an amazing thought…a concept we will explore greatly in the days and weeks ahead.
An Introduction to Psalm 84
June 7, 2009
On Sunday we began our time of worship by taking a look at Psalm 84–the biblical passage on which the song “Better is One Day” is based. This week we will be meditating on this Psalm to see how we can incorporate worship into our everyday lives.
Psalm 84 (ESV)
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever y singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who l walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
This Psalm can be summarized in one very simple concept: We are to delight in worshiping God. This Psalm speaks of the delight and joy of those who are going to worship God in His dwelling place. They are filled with joy as they seek to be in His presence.
Unlike today, traveling to the Lord’s dwelling place was a large undertaking for the people in this Psalm. Many of them traveled a long way through treacherous territory to enter the presence of God. As we will see later this week, as we unpack the Psalm in smaller sections, their worship of God was not something that took place only when they reached their destination, but something that sustained them along the journey as well.
The reason I chose this Psalm to begin our summer focus on worship is this: I want to encourage you to think about two facets of worship. There is one side of worship when we all gather together on Sunday morning in the house of the Lord and we enter into his presence. We gather together corporately to lift up praises to His name, to offer prayers and sacrifices to Him, and to be shaped and encouraged by His word and His church, the body of Christ.
But there is also another side of worship that takes place outside of those corporate gatherings on Sunday mornings. There is the worship that takes place on the journey through life during the week. This daily side of worship serves a massively important role in our spiritual lives and it must exist in tandem with corporate worship on Sunday morning.
This week we will explore how this Psalm illustrates the need for both in our lives as we unpack each section of verses. But today, I’d like to encourage you to meditate on this Psalm as a whole, while asking God to cultivate your heart and mind to delight in worshiping Him. I’ll close with a short prayer.
Lord of Hosts, We acknowledge You as the Ruler of all Creation. You are all-powerful and all deserving of our praise and worship. Thank you for Your grace and for Your Spirit which dwells within us, allowing us to meet with you. We confess Lord that we do not always seek to worship You with our lives on a daily basis, and that we have fallen short of Your glory. We ask that you would illuminate our hearts and minds to what You would have us learn this week as we meditate on Your word. In the precious name of Your Son, Amen.
Welcome to lifeWorship!
May 26, 2009
Welcome to the online home of lifeWorship–The web-based worship resource of Zach Broyles and the worship ministry of Shannon Forest Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC.
Here you will find all types of materials and resources directed at one purpose: To incorporate biblical, Christ-centered worship into every aspect of life.
Beginning June 8th, I (Zach) will begin a summer-long devotional series on the Psalms which will be connected to our Sunday morning services at Shannon. I will also provide some in depth exploration of various topics related to both corporate and private worship.
In addition, you will find links to a variety of resources that will enable you to develop a mind, heart and spirit for worship.
The blog will be updated quite frequently, so check back often. Chances are you will find something new!
For His Kingdom,
Zach
