84:2 My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD; my
heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
84:3 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.
84:4 Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.
Selah
84:5 Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the
highways to Zion.
84:6 As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of
springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
84:7 They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen
in Zion.
84:8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
84:9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.
84:10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I
would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the
tents of wickedness.
84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and
honor. No good thing does the LORD withhold from those who walk
uprightly.
84:12 O LORD of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
Comments:
kbc, Que Selah, Selah, whatever will be, will be. No? Seriously, I
like the Selahs, especially in this psalm. Selahs indicate
breaks(perhaps musical bridges?) and here they have divided the psalm
nicely into 3 sections.
I- God's people in the congregation, sharing the joy of worship.
II-God's folks out on the road spreading that joy wherever they go,
like springs in a dry valley(anybody know where Baca is?)
III- Back at the House of God, at the doorway, perhaps to wecome in
all those touched out on the road.The cycle of worship and witness.
Seems like the making of a 3 point sermon to me, tom in TN(USA)
Oooo, Tom, I like it! Gonna preach the psalm this week. Kinda overdid
the flesh and blood last week. Thanks for the framework on which to
begin. kbc in sc
Thanx! Glad you liked it. Yeah, John 6 is good for about one sermon,
then it's like repeating. Did you hear about the preacher who repeated
the same sermon several times in close succession? Church member
responds,"I believe we have heard that sermon before." Pastor
remarks,"Oh, I couldn't tell you had." Get any good insights on
developing this, please share. tom in TN(USA)
84:7 (Baca is another name for Mecca)
If any of you read the Ephesians discussion, you will see that I was
all prepared to preach the Epistle, have been for 3 weeks. But--I went
to our Parish Pastors Lectionary Study this morning and got turned on
to this Psalm passage! The verse that hits me is:
84:10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I
would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the
tents of wickedness.
I have heard a lot of men say that a bad day of fishing is better than
a good day at work! Oh, I wish this Psalmist was in my church! I want
him bad! I do not think I have one person who feels this way about
church! The fervor! Can you imagine what would happen if we had a
dozen of him in our churches?? One little aside, I was so excited
about this dude, I am a single female pastor, and one of the other
pastors said, "Toni, this is the first time I have ever heard you
express any interest in any man!" I am the only female in my parish so
I have a tough row to hoe! Blessings, Toni
"My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord"
Passion and zeal are two words that we today shy away from, but here
the Psalmist is indeed passionate, zealous to be in the presence of
God. What are we zealous about in our lives? As Easum would ask, "What
is their about our relationship with God that the world cannot live
without knowing?"
What is it about God that we are passionate about, zealous for,
longing to have?
JJ in SC
My Bible says about the valley of Baca that it is: 'the valley of
weeping', a normally dry valley where many balsam trees grew. -- this
makes sense for the next verse "they make it a place of springs..."
KBinAB
Pretty elementary, I know, but it just came into this poor feeble
mind! This is not about God, this is about human response to God. DUH!
I have wooled this sermon to death all week! And finally, at 10:50
p.m. I get an epiphany! So, I am off to the races! Is anyone else out
there awake? I wish more were working on this scripture. One more
thing, the psalmist yearns for God, I yearn for a congregation of
psalmists and God, God yearns for us all to love him the way the
psalmist does. Blessings, Toni
