Friday, March 14

To listen to the audio version, click here.

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, 
yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; 
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God. 
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.  
Blessed are those who dwell in your house, 
ever singing your praise! 
- Psalm 84:1-4

The theme of this wonderful little Psalm is the incredible joy and blessing for those who dwell in God’s presence.  You may ask, but isn’t God omnipresent?  Aren’t we all dwelling in His presence?  Yes & no.  God is present everywhere, but not everybody recognizes this or experiences His presence in their lives.  those who have trusted in Jesus Christ have the presence of God dwelling within them through the Holy Spirit and are able to experience the “dwelling place” of God in a way that others cannot.

Now of course when these psalmists talked about the dwelling place of God they meant the Temple, the building in Jerusalem where God's Shekinah glory was manifest. In the holy of holies within the Temple was a strange and mysterious light which marked the presence of God. Into that holy place, no Israelite was permitted to enter that holy place except the high priest, and he only once a year, and only then under the most rigorous of rituals. When the Israelites came into the Temple, though they could not physically enter the holy of holies to be in the presence of God there, there is no question but that, in their hearts and minds, as they appreciated and understood the truth pictured by their sacrifices and other things, they entered in spirit into the holy of holies. This is what the psalmist is now singing about: "O the joy of having God living in me!"

When we, as Christians, talk about the dwelling place of God, we learn from the New Testament that we are talking about our bodies. Paul says in First Corinthians 6 that our bodies are the "temples" of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Therefore, we can read the words of this psalm and take them as an expression of the excitement that comes because of the presence of God in our bodies, our hearts and our lives.

There are three things that the Psalmist sees here that mark his experience along this line...

The first thing the Psalmist sees is an inner beauty that God creates by his presence: "How lovely is your dwelling place, O God." The place where God lives, the heart where God dwells, becomes a lovely place, a beautiful spot, a place where he longs to be.
The Apostle Paul, in Ephesians, prays that Christ "may make his home in your hearts by faith" Ephesians 3:17), because that heart will then always be a lovely place. 

The second thing is, he creates a compelling hunger. "My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord." Have you ever felt this way? Have you known a deep-seated longing to have more of the glory of God, more of the sense of his presence in your life? 

Then the third thing is the life-giving joy that the presence of God gives. "My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God." This is an exciting experience and is exactly what God has meant life to be. You may have been a Christian for many years, but if you have not yet found this kind of excitement you haven't yet touched the possibilities and resources of a Christian life. 

This is no artificial excitement. It is not something put on, pretending to be “happy in the Lord” when you are miserable inside, it is not a mask -  it is the real thing. The Psalmist is setting before us the reality of the excitement and pure joy of God's presence.

Jeff Frazier