Psalms 84:1

The Bible says in Psalms 84:1-2, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts![2] My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” The writer of this Psalm loved being in fellowship with the Lord. And the writer had a great desire to stay in fellowship with Christ. There are several spiritual requirements to be in fellowship with the Lord and walk with Him. You have to be surrendered to the Lord and desire His will to be done. If you want your own will, you will not be walking with Jesus. You need to be confessing your sins daily to stay in fellowship with Him. As it says in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And a third requirement to walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus is what is mentioned in these two verses in the book of Psalms: to have a great longing and desire and zeal to seek the Lord and to be close to Him. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find.” It says in Deuteronomy 4:29, “But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” The Psalmist said at the end of verse two above: “my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” Does your heart and flesh cry out for the living God? If not, then you are not walking with Jesus as you could be.

The Bible says in Psalms 84:3-4, “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.[4] Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.” Every animal has a home. For example, birds have nests. It is interesting that the Psalmist says, “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house.” That is a symbolic reference to God’s dwelling place. Of course, God is everywhere. There is no building where God dwells. Where does God dwell? He dwells in the heart of everyone who accepts Jesus as Savior. Dwelling in God’s “house” as the Psalmist says it, is another way of talking about a human life in constant fellowship with the Lord Jesus. What is one of the evidences that we are “dwelling” with God? The Psalmist says at the end of Psalm 83:4, “they will be still praising thee:” praise and thankfulness to God. The fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace…” If you are dwelling with the Lord, then you are aware that He loves you, that He is in control of all things in your life. You can readily give thanks to Him for all that He is doing. You do not look at things the way that humans do. God brings both good and bad, and you trust that God knows best, and you know that He can make a bad thing turn into something good to glorify His name.

The Bible says in Psalms 84:5-7, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.[6] Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.[7] They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” Verse five is saying that you are one of the blessed people on the earth if your strength is in God. In other words you rely upon God and not on anyone or anything else. If you are relying upon God for your strength, that is a lot of strength. If you have learned through experience and faith and consistency to rely upon God for your strength, then it is in your heart. You know how to face life by faith. You know from experience how to face challenges and how to overcome them through faith in Christ. That is what Paul was talking about when he said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.”

Psalms 84:6 tells the result of knowing in your heart that God is your strength. It says, “Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.” You will pass “through the valley of Baca” and “make it a well.” What is the valley of Baca? The valley of Baca is the place of sorrow, and weeping, and dryness, and loss, and heartache. Yes, you will have your share of such things in your life. If you truly know that God is your strength, then when you go through the valley of Baca, you will make something of it. Instead of a place of death and destruction, you will make it a place of life-giving and life-sustaining victory. You will see Romans 8:28 realized in your life: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are the called according to his purpose.”

Once you go a week or a month or a year or a decade where you have learned to rely upon the Lord Jesus for your strength; then you will go from one challenge to the next as a person of strength: strength of faith and strength of character. You will see God work and do marvelous things because you trust in Him. As it says in verse seven, you will go “from strength to strength.” In everything that comes your way, whether it be an opportunity, a challenge, or a sorrow, you will face it and overcome it because you have made it a habit of your life to turn to the Lord and to trust in His strength. And then His strength becomes your strength.

The Bible says in Psalms 84:8-10, “O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.[9] Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.[10] For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” In verse eight the Psalmist is talking about a prayer request. He has a prayer request that we have been reading about in this Psalm. He is seeking the Lord and desiring to have a close walk with the Lord. He knows that even this only God can give. It is a great request. Instead of desiring to do something great for God, it might be better to simply desire to walk with God: to have a closer walk with Christ. As the song says, “Just a closer walk with thee, grant it Jesus is my plea.”

It is good to be alive on this earth that God has created, especially if you live in a time of peace and prosperity. There is much to enjoy: fresh air, a good meal, the beautiful outdoors, a loving family, a rewarding occupation, music, and laughing, and travel to exotic places, and much more. Knowing this the Psalmist said in verse ten, “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.” In other words there is nothing better in life than being close to the Lord Jesus. As the song says, “The love of Jesus, what it is, none but his loved ones know.”

The Psalmist also says at the end of verse ten, “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Doing what the Lord wants you to do is what is important. The Lord might give you a secular job like He did Daniel who served in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar, but only do such a thing if you are sure it is the Lord’s will. What the world considers a small thing or an unimportant thing might be very important in the plan of Christ for the world.

The Bible says in 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.[12] O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.” The “sun” represents light. We need light. Jesus is the Light of the world. We need light because this is a world of darkness, and only God has the Light that shines in this spiritual darkness. God is a “shield.” We need a shield because of the fiery darts of the wicked. We need protection. As long as the Lord has use for you, He will protect you. And “the Lord will give grace and glory.” Grace is a wonderful thing. Grace is when God does something for us freely: something that we have not earned and do not deserve. That is what salvation through faith in Christ is all about: grace. Jesus paid for it by His death on the cross, and we simply receive freely without earning it. God gives “grace” and God gives “glory.” The greatest manifestation of His glory is in heaven where there will be lightnings and thunders, and music and singing, and angels flying around, and rainbows and beauty beyond imagination, and believers praising God and His Christ, and much more. That is the future for everyone who believes in Jesus, and everyone who is there will know this too is a gift from God: to be a part of His glory.

At the end of verse eleven the Psalmist says, “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Just because so many things are based upon the grace of God through Christ, does not mean that we no longer have responsibilities to do the right thing. Some of the good things that happen to us are based upon the grace of God. But other good things can happen as a result of our own actions. We still reap what we sow. God does not bless bad behavior. That is the message of verse eleven. As Bob Jones Senior said, “Do right until the star fall.” God chastises His children, and you do not want to fall into the hands of the living God. Confess your sins, and do right, Christian, and then “no good thing will he withhold” from you.

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