Psalms 84:1
Psalms 84:1-10 says, “To the chief Musician upon Gittith,
A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth
for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth
out for the living God.Yea, the sparrow hath found an
house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even
thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they
that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. Blessed is
the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of
them. Who passing through the
There is no better place to be than in the
presence of God. In the Old Testament the greatest manifestation of the
presence of God was found in the
But most importantly a Christian has the Spirit of
God dwelling inside them. We live in the age of grace and ever since the day of
Pentecost God has made revealed His prescence in
graceful way in which He never had in the past, through the permanent
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Those who know little about God think that you
have to go to a building to find the prescence of
God. The Bible says in Jeremiah 23:24, “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see
him? saith the LORD. Do not
I fill heaven and earth? saith
the LORD.” Acts
When a person turns from their sins to Jesus Christ the Spirit of come
immediately comes to dwell inside them. What a blessing it is to live in the
age of grace. We have the opportunity to have a connection to God in a way most
of the human race throughout history has never had.
The presence of God is like a very gentle and
subtle whispering of the wind. If you listen carefully to your heart you can
feel Him there. The prescence of God is no father than the thickness of the air. Of course there are
other ways to perceive the prescence of God. The
fingerprint of God can be seen in nature. The heavens reveal the glory of God
and the clouds are the dust of His feet.
Not only nature but the Word of God itself
reveals the prescence of God. The Word of God feeds a
person and connects them to the Spirit of God. Anyone who is a true believer in
Jesus Christ knows something of the love of God, the peace of God and the joy
that emanates from His prescence. Psalms
Those who do not know
Jesus Christ as their savior have avoid in their soul,
a void in their life, that void is the lack of the prescence
of God. There is nothing worse than to be without the presence of God. When
describes what hell is like and the punishments of hell it says in 2
Thessalonians 1:9, “Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”
There is nothing worse than to be without the
presence of the LORD. Just think about who God is: almighty in power, perfect
in Holiness, filled with glory and majesty, and the Creator of all life. From
the prescence of God emanates the source of all love
and purity and righteousness and cleanness and kindness and joy.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Those who understand the holiness of God, those
who have glimpsed the glory of God, those who understand the great love of God
will desire to be in His presence. And that is the greatest truth and blessing
about heaven which we look forward too, the presence of God in a way we have
never experienced before.
Revelation
In the end it will be found that God gave every
human being exactly what they wanted. Those who hate God and hate His presence
and reject the gospel of Jesus Christ will spend eternity forever separated
from God and from His prescence. Those love God and
believe the gospel of Jesus Christ have the wonderful blessing of being in the prescence of God and basking in His glory for all eternity.
Psalms 84:11-12, “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 trusteth in
thee.”
The world tries to make it sound like living a
holy life is to live a life without pleasure. But there is great pleasure and
peace in following Jesus and in walking uprightly. Psalms 16:11, “at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
There is the joy of having your sins forgiven.
There is great pleasure and great satisfaction in accomplishing things that you
know will last forever and not just for this life. There is great pleasure in
standing for the truth and in influencing others to turn to righteousness.
There is great pleasure in a person’s intimate and secret fellowship and
friendship with Jesus.
Psalms 85:1-7, “To
the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. LORD, thou hast been favourable
unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast
forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered
all their sin. Selah. Thou hast taken away all thy
wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn
us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou
be angry with us for ever? wilt
thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again:
that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us
thy salvation.”
Sometimes when people the message of the judgment
of God and how a Holy God gets angry at sin and punishes sin they will accuse
God of being unjust and unfair. They will say, “the way of the Lord
is not equal.”
This is
in fact a common argument of people who do not want to repent of their sins who
do not want to acknowledge their sinful actions. As if lying to one’s self is going to result in some how
escaping the judgment of God. It might help them to temporarily quench the
guilt that is in their consciences but eventually they will have to stand
before God to be judged for their sins if they do not repent.
It just shows how blind a person can be
spiritually. God is a loving God. God is a God that loves to forgive that wants
to give out His mercy and His grace to people and to nations. God sent His son
Jesus. Jesus gave his life shedding His blood and dying a gruesome violent
death on the cross. God gives men life. God gives men free will. God gives men
the opportunity to live life and enjoy all the good things of God’s creation. And gives opportunity after opportunity for people to repent of
their sins. How merciful and patient He is. And not only this but He
forgives and He forgives and He forgives. God never refuses to give mercy to
those that seek it.
I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Anyone who thinks or accuses God of being unjust
or who says, “the way of the Lord is not equal” is simply blind to the
obvious. This is one of the wonderful benefits of reading and studying the Old
Testament. If you read and study the Old Testament you will see just how
patient merciful God was to
Psalms 85:8-13 “I will
hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and
to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is
nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are
met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth
shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield
her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the
way of his steps.”
Mercy,
truth, righteousness and peace are things that go together. There is no mercy
without truth and there is no peace without righteousness. If you want to find
mercy, truth, righteousness and peace then you need to turn to Jesus and to His
word.
Psalms 86:1-2 says, “A
Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O
LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.”
The preserving of a soul and holiness go
together. Sin results in destruction and death. How does one become holy? This
question is easy to answer; through the blood of Jesus Christ. To be sanctified
means to be made holy.
The last half of 2 Thessalonians
Another important thing these verses do is show how God’s plan of
salvation has been the same through the ages. In talking
about the preservation of a soul it mentions holiness and trusting in God.
A person becomes holy by trusting in the Lord. This was true for Adam and Eve
it was true for Abraham it was true for king David and
it is true today.
Psalms 86:3-10, “Be
merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy
servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art
good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon
thee. Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my
supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. Among the gods there is none like
unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. All
nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and
shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest
wondrous things: thou art God alone.”
These are more verses which are emphasizing how
merciful and forgiving God is. It probably is not possible to talk too much or
too emphasize too much the mercy and the forgiveness of God. Human beings are
great sinners. We are so sinful we will probably never fully understand in this
life just how sinful we are. But one thing is certain people to hear and to
understand the mercy and the forgiveness of God.
If you understand the mercy and the forgiveness
of God then you will never quit serving Him no matter how great your failures
are. If you understand the mercy and the forgiveness of God then you will be
able to forgive yourself for own mistakes in life. And if you understand the
mercy and the forgiveness of God then you will be able to forgive other people
no matter how evil are the wrongs they do to you.
Psalms 86:11, “Teach me
thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.”
Why do so few people correctly understand the
Word of God? Why is there so much false teaching in the world and even
incorrect teaching when it comes to Christianity? One main reason is because
people are not sincere in their hearts. They do not really the attitude and
approach of this verse.
The way of the Lord is the way everlasting. The
way of the Lord brings peace, prosperity, satisfaction, pleasure, happiness.
Why anyone would choose to not want to walk in God’s truth seems strange
indeed.
Psalms 86:12-17, “I will
praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for
evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my
soul from the lowest hell. O God, the proud are risen against me, and the
assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set
thee before them. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and
gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn
unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save
the son of thine handmaid. Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me
may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen
me, and comforted me.”
In these verses we are told about some of God
great character qualities: compassion, grace, longsuffering, mercy, and truth. Compassion
has to do with a person’s ability to understand how another person feels and to
treat them with kindness and tenderness.
Grace has to do with what God gives freely but it also includes with it
the idea of things that are good and beautiful. Longsuffering has to do with
God’s patience in putting up with our sinfulness. God is slow to wrath. If God
was not longsuffering He would destroy immediately when we fail instead of
gently coming to us and touching our hearts and waiting for us to repent. Mercy
has to do with God’s great kindness in not giving us what we deserve as a
result of our sins. Truth can be defined as what is real. It is like light that
shines in the dark so that we can see our way.
If you
think about the qualities of God’s character and personality then you will
realize how foolish and blind people are that turn away from Jesus.
Psalms 87:1-7, “A
Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains. The LORD loveth the gates of
What is it about
The second great truth about
Concerning the great future which God has planned
for the city of Jerusalem the Bible says in Revelation 21:11-27, “Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto
a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a
wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve
angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve
tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three
gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of
the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles
of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city,
and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth
foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city
with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the
height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and
forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that
is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and
the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of
the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.
The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a
chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite;
the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus;
the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were
twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was
pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no
temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are
saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their
glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall
not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall
bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing
that defileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination, or maketh
a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
Of course not only does God have great things
planned for the city of
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Copyright; 2017 by Bruce
Creech
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