Psalm 84 is a wonderful chapter showing us how much the psalmist appreciated and enjoyed the house of God.
First, we see the loveliness of the house of God (v. 1), then the longing of the psalmist to enter into the house of God (v. 2), the highways to the house of God (v. 5), and finally the blessings of dwelling in the house of God that we may enjoy God as the sun, the shield, the grace, and the glory (v. 10-12).
In the house of God we enjoy God as our sun to supply us with light and life, as our shield to protect us from God’s enemy, as our grace for our full enjoyment, and as glory for the manifestation of God!
A day in Your courts is better than a thousand
From our experience we can testify that one single day in the house of God is better than a thousand anywhere else.
We may be away from God and we may think “we have the time of our life”, but when we come into the house of God and we aspire to have the highways to Zion in our heart, taking the way of the church internally, we will realize how good it is to be here! We would rather “stand at the threshold of the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Psa. 84:10).
It is much better to be at the door, on the threshold, of the house of God, than to be in the house / tent of the wicked.
Of course, we don’t want to remain “on the threshold” – we want to enter into God’s house, find our refuge at the bronze altar and our home a the golden altar, and experience Christ as the processed and consummated Triune God.
Here, in the house of God, we go on from strength to strength – even though when we come into God’s house we may be weak and weary, in God’s house we go on from strength to strength.
The more we go on in the church life, the more strength we will gain (see Prov. 4:18 and 2 Cor. 3:18). If our service is intrinsically according to God’s will in the church life, each day in the church life is worth many days in God’s eyes (Joel 2:25).
The blessings we enjoy in the house of God
In this particular psalm there are four blessings we enjoy in the house of God: the sun, the shield, the grace, and the glory. In God’s house Christ is our shield – He is the anointed One, He protects us from any attack from the enemy.
Hallelujah, greater is He who is in us than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4)! In this One, in Christ, Satan had no way, no hope, no ground – nothing (John 14:30)!
He defeated Satan, and He is now in us as the Victorious One, guarding our hearts and imparting the peace of God into us. Christ is the real David (of which the psalm literally speaks here).
In the house of God we also enjoy Christ as the light of life – in v. 11 we have the sun, which is the source of light, giving life. In Him was life, and the life was the light of the world (John 1:4).
For us to grow in our spiritual life, we need sunlight – we need to turn to Christ as our source of light and life. This Christ is also our grace – full of grace and reality, and of His fullness we have received, grace upon grace.
Grace is simply God enjoyed by us – God in Christ to be enjoyed by us to be our everything! In the house of God we enjoy God as our grace, and grace is even visible here among the saints!
As we enjoy the loveliness of the house of God, as we long to enter into the house of God and take the highways to the house of God by internally experiencing Christ as the reality of all the furnishings in the tabernacle, as we enjoy Christ as our sun, our shield, and as grace, we are brought into the glory of God.
Here, in God’s house, we enjoy God expressed, God manifested, God being shown in all His glory and splendour. Praise the Lord, we are brought into glory as the many sons of God, being conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God! In the church life we have the glory of God, God expressed!
Saved from our natural concepts in God’s house
The concluding verses in Psalm 84 shows us that in the house of God we may still hold to some old concepts, thinking that God “does not withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly”, or “blessed is the man who trusts in You”.
These all “sound good”, and are pleasing to our natural man – but what God desires is that we would dwell in His house and would enjoy Him.
Here, in God’s house, we are being continually washed, cleansed, purified, and saved even from our concepts of being a righteous man before God. All we have to to is to be in the house of God – and He will take care of the rest!
That’s why we shouldn’t judge or try to correct others when they express a concept, an opinion, or a doctrine they dearly hold onto. All we have to do is to enjoy God in the church life – here we have the cross of Christ and here we enjoy Christ Himself in all that He is.
We all need to take the highway to come to the church and just dwell here! God in Christ is the anointed One as our sun, our shield, our grace, and our glory. As we enjoy God in Christ in the church life, we are being brought into glory – we enter into God to be God’s expression on the earth!
Lord Jesus, keep us in the church life. Keep us in the house of God, enjoying You in Your house. Praise You for all that You are to us in the house of God. You are our shield, protecting us from the enemy! Lord, You are our sun, bringing in light and life for our growth. Lord, You are so enjoyable as grace to us in the church life. Thank You, Lord, You are bringing us into Your glory as we remain in the house of God, dwelling here…
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from, the Life-study of the Psalms, msg. 33, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 14.
- Recommended: Psalm 84 with all the notes;
- Hymns on this topic:
# Thy dwelling-place, O Lord, I love; / It is Thy Church so blessed, / It is Thy joy and heart’s delight / And where Thy heart finds rest.
# Better a day within Thy courts / Than days a thousand I would tell; / I’d rather at Thy threshold stand / Than in the wicked’s tents to dwell.
Thou art a sun, Thou art a shield, / Thou grace and glory wilt supply; / Thy presence and Thy very self / My need in fulness satisfy.
# Splendid church life! His green garden! / He has brought us, praise the Lord, / To experience the Christ Who’s growing here! / He is full of rich enjoyment / To His saints in one accord; / He is new and fresh, available and dear. - Picture source: better is a day within Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
Lord we love you! We need you to gain us for your satisfaction. Jesus make us one with you for the building up with you!