Sunday, December 4, 2016

Psalm 84:8-12 - One Day in the Courts of the Lord

Psalm 84:8-12
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
Behold our shield, O God,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Message: One Day in the Courts of the Lord

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.
 

What the Lord is Saying:

Yesterday, in looking a Psalm 84, the inspiration of this Psalm seems to be entering the dwelling place of the Lord. This could be church, as it does seem to clearly speak of the Temple of the Lord. It is an appealing place, a place I long to be. It is a place that people look forward to being there. Everyone present is excited and ready to worship the Lord and listen to the Word of God taught. God lifts us up from the mire, and he makes places that are otherwise not exciting to be exciting. He makes barren feel full. 

As I continue in this Psalm today, I see that the in verse 8, that the worship center or place is also a place to pray - to offer our petitions. In high school, I learned the acronym ACTS - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. Prayer is this. It is adoring God, acknowledging where I need God, where I have sinned, offering Thanksgiving to him and then finally Supplication. Often, I notice in prayer a skipping over of the first 3 and going straight to "give me." Lord, teach me to pray so that my position before you is always one of gratitude, not just expectation.  

Verse 9 - Behold our shield, O God. Shield I think could mean many things in this context. Ephesians talks about taking up the shield of faith. Faith in God is the combat force that moves us through all of life. If there is one thing that is attacked more and more in this world, it would seem to be our faith. But, our shield or what protects us in life is that faith. 

Verse 10 - For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. One day with You in your courts, is better than a thousand not with you. You are our shield. We enter into the praise and in that place it is amazing. It is more wonderful to stand on the threshold, or to not even enter the room, but just be standing in the in-between than to be in the tents of wickedness. 

John Calvin writes:
He would rather be cast into a common and unhonored place, provided he were among the people of God, than exalted to the highest rank of honor among unbelievers.

He is a sun. He is a shield. He shines his powerful light on us. He protects us. He gives grace. He gives not what we deserve. He gives what we do not deserve. He gives us his glory, his purpose is the highest of heavens, the presence of God and that is our gift from Him. Verse 12 - How blessed is the man who trusts in You! This is what we want in life, to be blessed, and in Christ, in our trust in God, I am blessed.

Promise: From TableTalk, to dwell with HIm is to enjoy a blessing that can never be lost.

2 comments:

  1. I can't tell you how excited I am that I discovered your blog!! I have been so blessed, by both Jesus Calling and Walking in the word!! Thank you so much for posting everyday, and your insight and prayers are so inspirational.

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    1. I appreciate your kind words. Just sharing my time with Him each day. Glad to be an encouragement as well. Blessings to you.

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