This week’s Psalm 84 is about how good it is to go to the house of God. When I was a child, one of my favorite songs to sing was an old hymn my mother use to sing with me. The neat thing about hymns is there are always so many versions of them out there of the same hymn. They are always personalized. It sounds very much like a Song of Ascents appropriate for singing on the long journey to the Temple of Jerusalem.
Come and go with me to my Father’s house
To my Father’s house
To my Father’s house
Come and go with me to my Father’s house
Where there’s love, peace and joyI will go with you to our Father’s house
To our Father’s house
To our Father’s house
I will go with you to our Father’s house
Where there’s love, peace and joy.Jesus is the way to our Father’s house
To our Father’s house
To our Father’s house
Jesus is the way to our Father’s house
Where there’s love, peace and joy.
The Songs of Ascents are 15 songs that are found in Psalms 120-134 that we will be studying later. This isn’t a Song of Ascent but A Song of the Sons of Korah, the temple musicians. It is thought to have been perhaps started by David perhaps when he was fleeing Absalom but later edited, set to music and published by one of ‘the Sons of Korah’ after the building of the temple in Jerusalem by Solomon. It is a psalm of worship and praise to God.
It is addressed to the ChoirMaster According to the Gittith The word Gittith comes from the word Gath, which means “wine press”. This is believed to have been a stringed musical instrument, perhaps a harp that was to accompany this particular song. Perhaps the name of it was derived from the winepress or was a special instrument to be used during times of festivals.
The structure of Psalm 84 can be seen as a broad chiasmus.
1-4 A Praise of God’s house
5-8 B Blessedness of trusting
9-12 A Praise of God’s house
The entire Psalm is one of praise and worship for the dwelling place of God but arranged as all psalms and songs in a rhythmic order for beauty and emphasis. The emphasis in this Psalm can be seen in the praise of God’s dwelling which is synonymous for his temple, his dwelling place. It is also found in the praise of God Almighty himself, through the three references to Yahweh as God Almighty, LORD God of hosts.
Pilgrimaging to God’s House
Psalm 84 is about how wonderful it is to go to the dwelling place of God, the house of God. There were three pilgrimage festivals in the ancient Jewish culture when those living in the land of Judah would make the pilgrimage from their lands to the holy city of Jerusalem to worship in the temple and participate in the services and sacrifices.
Three times a year all your males must appear before the LORD your God in the place he chooses for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him empty-handed. – Deut. 16:16
These three pilgrimage feasts were:
Passover or Pesach – Which marked the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. In the New Testament it marks our deliverance from sin by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Most of us are very familiar with Passover and the Lord’s Supper but we may not be so familiar with the other two Pilgrimage Feasts so we will go into a little more detail on them.
Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost or Shavuot. Shavu oth – This was 7 weeks after the Passover, and marks the ending of the 7 week period, the 49 Day verbal count referenced in Leviticus 23:15-16, called Counting of the Omer. An Omer is a Hebrew word that means a sheaf of barley. The Counting of the Omer began on the 2nd day of the Passover during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with a wave offering of a sheaf in the Temple by a priest. It marked the period when the Israelites wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt on their way to Mount Sanai, when the commandment of God would be given to them by Moses.
This Counting of the Omer was 49 days, 7 weeks long. On the 50th day, it was Shavuot, a day of rest. It is known to us Christians now as Pentecost which simply means “fifty”. Both Shavout and Pentecost mark the giving of God’s word, one through the giving of law through Moses and the other through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, the Word of God. One marks when God poured out His word written on stone, the other written on our hearts through the pouring out of his Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
Historically, Shavouth was the day when the Israelite’s received the law of God through Moses. It was then that God made his covenant with them and called them His special people. They also made their covenant with Him to keep his laws and He would be their God, they would have no other God but Yahweh alone. They promised to be faithful to him through all generations. They committed their entire lives to him and their entire nation to Him. In essence God “married” them and they “married” God. Their special covenant relationship began. The nation of Israel began and they had their own laws, their own King led them. So you could see the celebration of this covenant giving as a remembrance of an Anniversary of sorts of their covenant relationship with God
You could see the Passover as when their relationship began. God delivered them, when they first “met”. They knew of God before they left Egypt but they “met” God when He delivered them from the Egyptians so dramatically and parted the “Red Sea”. They Egyptians “met” God also at this time, when He revealed Himself but they only “met” His wrath. The Israelite’s “met” his mercy and his unfailing love because of the covenant relationship that God had in place with their father Abraham. God delivered the Israelite’s to keep his covenant with their fathers, and not because of anything the Israelite’s did to merit his favor. Abraham showed faithfulness to God apart from the law and was counted righteous because of his faithfulness to God. It foreshadowed the true righteousness that came through faith in and love for the Word of God and not through works or anything we do to earn righteousness.
God would then make a covenant relationship with the nation of Israel with the giving of the Law on Mount Sanai. If they would keep His Word and walk in His ways, they would be His people and He would be their God. This was a conditional covenant based on their ability to keep the law but it did not take away the first covenant that God made to Abraham.
Similarly, it is at Pentecost when our covenant relationship is also sealed with God through the Holy Spirit entering our lives. We too enter into a covenant relationship with God and He with us at this special time.
The verbal counting of the days, of the Omer was an outward symbol of the inner anticipation for the receiving of God’s law that was coming to them on the 50th Day. It was time of preparation for them to receive the commandment and enter into the covenant with God. Historically it continued to be a time when they renewed their covenant relationship with God.
Feats of Tabernacles, Feast of Booths, Tents or Sukkot – This was the final feast of the three pilgrimage feasts that the Israelite’s would journey to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate. It lasted seven days with the first and last day being High Sabbaths of rest where all work was forbidden. During these seven days the Israelite’s would live in these booth or tent like structures all over the city. The walls could be made out of any material, canvas, wood, aluminum. They could even be leaned against a building, a house or a porch as an extension. But the roof had to be made out of organic material, leafy overgrowth such as Palm leaves. These Sukkots were often used in the fields during harvest season as temporary housings for farmers during the fall when they worked the fields. During this Feast of Booths, the Israelite’s would eat in these tents and sometimes sleep in them the entire seven days of the Feast. This was reminiscent of the fragile dwellings and tents they had to live in during the years they wandered in the desert after receiving the law of God before they entered into the Promise Land and enjoyed more permanent housing structures.
“On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook” (Lev. 23:40), and “You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 23:42-43).
These were the three pilgrimage Feasts that the Jew would ascend from all parts of the land of Judah in order to travel to The Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate as commanded by the law of God. You can see from each one these Feasts that they had a greater purpose behind them in being ways to remember the works of God in their lives, so they would not forget Him or what He had done for them and symbolized what He would yet do for them and for us.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
The Psalms starts out simply praising the dwelling place of God Almighty. How beloved they are! How amiable the KJV translates it. The Lord’s house diffuse warmth and friendliness. It is welcoming. It is restful. Everything about it just says come!
Have you ever known a place like this? A home away from home? A place you could walk into and just feel right at home, loved and at peace and at rest. Perhaps it was a friend’s house, a grandmother’s house, an aunt or uncle’s house that diffused such love and warmth when you entered it that it was lovely and welcoming.
As a child, I use to go and hang out at a friend’s house on the other side of the town I grew up in. I hung out there so much that I eventually was considered a part of their family and I am even now called their sister and called this family’s parents mom & dad. Since then my “dad” has died but my “mom” still lives in this old house and when I go home there is still a very great sense of coming “home”. It was always the one place in my world that I know that if I had no where else to go to, I could always go to and be welcomed and find rest.
The door was always unlocked for me. I didn’t have to knock to enter. If the house was locked, I could enter in through the backdoor and be “home” anyway. It was my home away from home and it diffused warmth and love towards me. It was an old house and had nothing outwardly attractive about it. The white wood of the house had grown dingy with age and desperately needed a paint job. The screen door was broken and squeaked. The front porch was old and stone stairs were grey and cracked. The house had seen better days but it was the most beautiful house to me and I still find those old steps leading up to it quite lovely. It’s not so much as the outward structure of the building or the home of such a place, but the inward dwelling place that makes it warm and welcoming towards us.
The presence of God’s spirit and love, makes any dwelling place lovely and welcoming. The absence of God’s love and presence makes even the most beautiful and ornament of houses and buildings cold and unwelcoming.
Such it is with the presence of God Himself. He could make the desert welcoming with his simple presence. He makes the unattractive, rugged, cruel cross welcoming and beautiful because it is at the cross He can be found. He makes death welcoming because we know He is there and we will see his face. He makes the pit welcoming because we know it is found within his will. He makes the storm welcoming because we know it is the work of his hands. He makes every place where He can be found welcoming and lovely because of the sweetness of his presence. How cold and unwelcoming is a world, a life without Him in it!
Such is the Lord’s house, the Lord’s Temple and dwelling place. This is how David and the Sons of Korah saw it. It was beautiful because of the great presence of the Lord in it.
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
David yearns to go to God’s temple as he yearned in Psalm. 42:1 to appear before God
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God (Psa. 42:1)
In both Psalms there is a great sense of hunger and deprivation of the presence of God. Some think David may have penned this Psalm 84 when he was on the run from his son Absalom. He may have been unable to go up to the temple and worship and he yearned to be in the presence of God. Or I may have been a time, like we all have when we just feel so far away and distant from God and simply hunger for a greater revelation of his presence to us personally in our circumstances.
Before Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, access to God was very limited. God’s special presence was to be found in the Temple and even there only a High Priest could go inside the holy of holies where the arc of God was kept, once a year to offer sacrifice. The people came before God through intercessors and much sacrifice on their behalf. They lived at a distance and often had to travel a great distance just to come this close to God that was their delight.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:20-24
How greatly we yearn for the presence of God in times of trouble, do we not? We are fortunate that as Christians and since Pentecost, our very bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we do not need to travel to be in the presence of God.
His spirit lives inside our hearts and our spirits live inside His. We are surrounded by His presence continually.
…Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’…- Acts 17:27-28
And in a sense, with His dwelling in our hearts, He is always surrounded by us. What a concept to take to heart! We are ever before Him, we are never out of His sight. He always beholds us. How could not?
He calls us to always behold Him around us, but our eyes often fail to see his presence and so enjoy it; yet he still surrounds us with His own presence for his promises and his words are true whether we believe them or not. We just fail to enjoy and reap the benefits that putting our faith in their truth would bless our lives with, the peace they would pour out on us, the rest we would find in them, the joy that would have been ours in this life when we disregard them.
God makes our hearts sing for joy
There is so much joy to be found in the presence of God. David says his heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Here we see that his joy is all encompassing and surrounds him as it is both inward and outward expressed.
One of the marks of the presence of God is joy.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. – Psalms 16:11
For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. Psalms 21:6
Heaven itself is a place of eternal, unhindered, continual and perfect joy. Can you imagine such a concept? Living in a continual state of joy that can never be diminished but is ever full and increasing?
Think of all the things that decrease, diminish and steal your joy now. How many of them will you have to deal with when sin is no longer present in this world? There will be no more tears, no more death, no more disappointments, no more accidents, no more injuries, no more evil in the world, no more fear, no more worry, nothing will exist that would hinder our joy. It can no longer be taken away from us. It can no longer be stolen from us. It will no longer be temporary and fading but continual and ever increasing. The very concept fills one with joy to even consider!
Did you know that Jesus came so that we might know Joy and know it to the full? In a sense, we have never truly known joy, as we have never known true love or true peace except through Jesus. Jesus wanted us to know joy, to taste the fullness of joy that will one day be ours continually in this life, and to enjoy it in this life as we now enjoy knowing and being filled with his steadfast love and peace in our lives. Joy has been given to us to through Christ and is even now ours to be filled with and to enjoy now and very soon no sorrow will ever be able to take it away or diminish it for us anymore.
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matt. 25:23
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. – John 15:11
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. – John 16:11
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. – John 16:24
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. –John 17:13
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. – Acts 15:32
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. – Romans 14:17
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. – 2 Cor. 1:24
In our past study of Revelation, we studied the seven letters to the seven churches and in two of those churches, Philadelphia and Thyatira, Jesus exhorts them to “hold fast what they have”. Revelation 3:11 and “I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’” Revelation 2:24-225
This was a warning that someone was going to try and snatch their faith away. This is what Satan Himself does, he snatches the word of God away from us any opportunity he has. In the same way, Satan attempts to snatch away our peace and our joy every opportunity he has by snatching away the Word of God from us.
Matthew 13:19– When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
We are exhorted to hold fast to God’s word, to keep it; Hold tight to what you have. Remember what you heard from the beginning because Satan is trying to snatch it away from. He is trying to water it down. He is trying to convolute it. He is trying to distract you from it. He is trying to make you forget it so the truth of God’s word is ineffective in providing you the peace, rest, assurance and joy you hunger for and need.
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.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
David is slightly jealous of a sparrow which made it’s nests around the temple of God. In his mind, he is probably recalling his previous trips to the Temple of Jerusalem. All the little details come to his mind as he meditates. All the things he loved and enjoyed about this place. One of them being the birds around the Temple and may have at times even entered into the Temple. The swallows, the most common of birds, would find rest on the building and refuge within its walls both outside and perhaps inside. There it found a safe place to build its nest and raise it’s young in the very presence of the Lord and just chirped itself away. How blessed and fortunate is that small swallow to dwell in God’s house, to raise it’s young in God’s house meditates David. David thought I want to live that close to the dwelling place of God. I want to be like that little Sparrow seeking refuge in God’s house and dwell there! How God looks after even the sparrow!
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” – Matt. 10:29
Agur meditates in Proverbs 30:24-28 on the exceeding wisdom that can seen in some of the smallest and disregarded creatures of this world.
Four things on earth are small,
but they are exceedingly wise:
25 the ants are a people not strong,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
26 the rock badgers are a people not mighty,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
27 the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
28 the lizard you can take in your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces
These sparrows are exceedingly wise. The Lord cares for the sparrows. Matthew Henry comments on this passage:
David envies the happiness not of those birds that flew over the altars, and had only a transient view of God’s courts, but of those that had nests for themselves there. David will not think it enough to sojourn in God’s house as a way-faring man that turns aside to tarry for a night; but let this be his rest, his home; here he will dwell. And he takes notice that these birds not only have nests for themselves there, but that there they lay their young; for those who have a place in God’s courts themselves cannot but desire that their children also may have in God’s house, and within his walls, a place and a name, that they may feed their kids beside the shepherds’ tents. Some give another sense of this verse:
“Lord, by thy providence thou hast furnished the birds with nests and resting-places, agreeable to their nature, and to them they have free recourse; but thy altar, which is my nest, my resting-place, which I am as desirous of as ever the wandering bird was of her nest, I cannot have access to. Lord, wilt thou provide better for thy birds than for thy babes? As a bird that wanders from her nest so am I, now that I wander from the place of God’s altars, for that is my place (“Like a bird that wanders from its nest, so is a person who wanders from his home.” – Proverbs 27:8); I shall never be easy till I return to my place again.”
Note, Those whose souls are at home, at rest, in God, cannot but desire a settlement near his ordinances. There were two altars, one for sacrifice, the other for incense, and David, in his desire of a place in God’s courts, has an eye to both, as we also must, in all our attendance on God, have an eye both to the satisfaction and to the intercession of Christ. And, lastly, Observe how he eyes God in this address: Thou art the Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Where should a poor distressed subject seek for protection but with his king? And should not a people seek unto their God? My King, my God, is Lord of hosts; by him and his altars let me live and die. – Matthew Henry
Psalms 1 refers to us as trees planted by the rivers of water. It is unnatural for us to be planted anywhere else but near the throne of God. Anyplace else we languish. It is from the presence of God, that great River we are planted by that we read about in Psalms 46 that we draw our strength from.
“There is a river whose streams make
Glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be moved; – Psalms 46:4-5
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
Verse 5 emphasizes that are strength is not in ourselves. Our strength is a drawn strength, we draw our strength from God Himself who acts as a river towards us. We are but a branch on the vine. It is our connection and attachment to Jesus, our abiding in Him that sends strength through us and enables us to flourish.
The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
They are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.- Psalm 92:12-15
In whose hearts are the highways to Zion
The Hebrew word for ‘ways’ here is ‘mcillah’ which means a thoroughfare, a public road from one place to another either literally or figuratively but specifically means a viaduct, a bridge or a staircase. In their hearts, there is a well-traveled pathway, a staircase often treaded that leads to Zion, the dwelling place of God.
Reveal your light and your faithfulness!
They will lead me,
they will escort me back to your holy hill,
and to the place where you live. – Psa. 43:3
How often have you ran up the inner stairwell to pray to God in times of trouble? You know how to get to Him. It is a well worn and treaded path to his presence.
I often love to look at pictures of old historical castles or houses that have these hidden staircases in them, perhaps leading from kitchen to the upstairs that no one else knows about but those who dwell in the house. I often picture prayer as this hidden staircase, that we have easy and quick access to in an emergency to flee to to run to the very presence of God.
Many people wonder about that staircase to heaven that Jacob dream about as his laid upon a stone. It is referred to as Jacob’s Ladder and found in Genesis 28:12. Many wonder what it means, does it exist, how do we find it. It is found hidden in our hearts. It is our own our own personal bridge, our own personal highway, our own personal ladder, our own personal staircase, by which we ascend to the presence of God and that God’s messengers descend upon us.
Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.” (John 1:51 New Living Translation)
Jesus is our door, our stairway, our bridge to God that enables us to gain access to God through his work. It reminds me of the child’s hymn at the beginning:
Jesus is the way to our Father’s house
To our Father’s house
To our Father’s house
Jesus is the way to our Father’s house
Where there’s love, peace and joy.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
When the Jews would travel to Jerusalem one of the last valleys they would have to pass through on their final ascent was called the Valley of Baca or the Valley of the Balsom Trees. The Arabian interpretation of Baca means “lack of stream”. It refers to valleys that are dry and without any vegetation According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Baca means “weeping”. The Hebrew word for “Baca” came from the same Hebrew plural word that referred to “Balsom Trees” used in 2 Samuel 5:24. The Balsom trees were gum-exuding (weeping) trees that thrived in dry, barren, waterless places. The word Baca is a variant spelling of the stem word that means weeping. The word valley comes from the root meaning of being deep. So the symbolic interpretation is one meaning a place of deep sorrow. The Valley of Weeping.
The Valley of Baca was a very dry, waterless desert place. The pilgrims who passed through on their way from Palestine to Jerusalem built various stone reservoirs and wells throughout this valley in order to capture any rain that fell so the pilgrims passing through the Valley of Baca could enjoy fresh water on their long journey. By doing so, they turned the Valley of Baca into a place of wells, a place of springs storing up rainwater for all who followed them and even for themselves on their three annual pilgrimages through this valley on their way to the Temple in Jerusalem.
This world is hard place of suffering, and of weeping. Our pilgrimage is difficult, as difficult as the Israelites journey through the desert was. They received manna, bread from heaven to feed them and water from a rock to refresh them. God has his ways of feeding his children that this world knows nothing of. He is able to make our dry soil pools of water.
The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow. – Isa. 35:7 NETI will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs. – Isa 41:18 NET
As God refreshes us in in our Valley of Weeping, it can be a valley of grief or of deep sorrow, we have the ability to extend His word and refresh others by storing up his word that falls upon us in this time and allow others following behind us to drink from the same fountain and turn it into a valley of wells for ourselves and for others. We also find that these same reservoirs of stored rainfall will one day offer comfort and refreshment to our own hearts when we pass through the Valley of Baca again in the future.
It is still a Valley of Weeping that we pass through, and it is still hard, very hard but the grace of God’s word falling upon us directly and coming to us through others to offer us strength and encouragement in our time of need make the Valley of Weeping bearable. Apart from these, it would truly be and often is completely unbearable. We make the desert a place of springs. We become scattered pockets all throughout the world bringing encouraging words and strength that we receive from God Himself through our being planted by the rivers of water, to others who find themselves in a dry place.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. -2 Cor. 1:3-5
This Psalm reminds us that we are sojourners, pilgrims ourselves in this world. This is not our home, we are on our way to Our Father’s House, the Promise Land. We still live in these makeshift tents and booths that we call bodies as we walk through the wilderness towards the promise land that we are bound for. Heaven is our final destination, where the tabernacle, House of God is to be found. One day, we look forward to the true Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles, when Jesus Christ himself will appear and the dwelling place of God will both physically and spiritually be with man, and heaven and earth will no longer be separated but eternally bridged together.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:1-4
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
Instead of growing weaker and weaker on this great journey, the righteous grow stronger and stronger. Their strength does not diminish, they do not languish, not for long, for the LORD God himself strengthens his people along their journey in the wilderness and provides for them.
This was one of the great miracles of the Jews as they wandered in the desert those 40 years. There shoes did not wear out. Their clothes did not wear out.
“I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.” – Deut. 29:5
God both sustains and strengthens his people.
But those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired. – Isaiah 40:31 NETBut the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light
growing brighter and brighter until full day. – Proverbs: 4:18 NET
Remember Yahweh is the Good Shepherd who leads us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He is very consciousness of the dangers of the valley. Yet He in his great love and wisdom, leads us along the best paths that allow for us to feed and to rest even though these valleys can be extremely dark at times we must simply keep on.
SPIRITUAL PILGRIMS MUST “KEEP ON.” According to the figures of the text, they must not be stopping, or idling, or taking up any interests on the way; day by day, persistently, they must be going forward; every day getting a day”s march nearer Zion. A pilgrim must just “keep on.” So we are called to “patient continuance in well doing;” to day-by-day persistent goodness; and this of itself may become wearisome. It is the hardest thing given us to do, this keeping on, day by day, in the same scenes, and doing the same work. But it is never really a mere keeping on. We may not realize the joy of it, but the fact is that, in keeping on, we are going “from strength to strength. – Pulpit
each one appears before God in Zion.
Our Good Shepherd leads us to the summit, the High Place and He will bring each one of there safely.
“While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled”. – John 17:12
Zion is synonymous with the City of David, Jerusalem. It is first found in 2 Sam 5:7 when David captured it’s fortress and made it the capital city of Israel.
Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion : the same is the city of David. – 2 Sam. 5:7
In the New Testament, it takes on more of a spiritual meaning, The Israelites came before Mount Sinai, the physical mountain that trembled with fire but we come before Mount Zion, the spiritual reality of Mount Sinai. The physical were always types and shadows of heavenly realities. Through Christ, we are brought before the heavenly reality, Mount Zion and appear before God.
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Heb. 12:18-24
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
The Psalmist prays that God would hear his prayer and restore him to the House of God and to servicing it which was his longing.
Once again he calls upon God as the God of hosts, the God of Jacob who is known for making Jacob secure in his time of trouble.
For the music director; a psalm of David.
May the LORD answer you when you are in trouble;
may the God of Jacob make you secure! – Psalms 20:1
The LORD who commands armies is on our side!
The God of Jacob is our protector! (Selah) – Psalm 46:7
He also refers to God as “God our Shield” in addition to these warfare names of God.
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
In Genesis 15:1 God revealed himself to Abraham as his shield.
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” – Gen. 15:1
In Psalm 5:12 God promises to be a shield to the righteous.
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.- Psalms 5:12
This is synonymous with the idea of God being our fortress that we studied in Psalms 46. Anything that would touch us or attach us must go through God first.
God is called upon to look upon the face of his anointed. This is a cry for recognition for God to see that David belongs to Him. It’s his very own anointed one who is calling out to him for help and none else.
We too can on God to look upon the face of his child when in need. We are his child, chosen by him, adopted by him, will He not take care of his own? Will he not tend to his own? He can do nothing less. This is a cry of confidence.
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
What day in your life was so great that you would give anything to relive it again for the joy of it? Would you trade a thousand days for it if you were able? It would be approximately three years?
What place in this world have you ever desired to travel to for just one day? Would you trade three years of your life, 1092 days to travel there?
A day in God’s courts, his holy dwelling is better than a thousand in any other place. One day in God’s courts is better than 3 years in any other place. Jacob worked 7 years to marry Rachel and they seemed to him but a day. This is love. David or the Sons of Korah are not saying they would trade three years for one day in God’s courts, but they are emphasizing the value of one day in God’s courts compared to being anywhere else in the world. Such is the great love, peace and joy that are found there. It goes back to our child’s hymn again:
Come and go with me to my Father’s house
To my Father’s house
To my Father’s house
Come and go with me to my Father’s house
Where there’s love, peace and joy
Jesus emphasis the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 13.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. – Matthew 13:44-46
The kingdom of heaven is valuable enough to trade our entire life for, every day for one never ending day in eternity in this great House of God overflowing with love, peace and joy?
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
The Sons of Korah were not only musicians in the Temple of Jerusalem but they were also doorkeepers.
Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his relatives from his family (the Korahites) were assigned to guard the entrance to the sanctuary. Their ancestors had guarded the entrance to the LORD’s dwelling place. – 1 Chron. 9:19 NET
Doorkeepers were one of the lowliest positions in a house. They stood at the threshold of the house and welcomed guests into the festivities but did not enter into the festivities themselves. They could only enjoy the sound of the festivities through the opening and closing of the entrance door. David or the Sons of Korah, are saying that it is better to have a position on the porch, the threshold of the house of God in the lowest of positions, then it was to dwell in the tents of wickedness. The humblest position in the house of God is better than living in luxury and riches among the dwelling of the wicked.
If you remember the story behind the Sons of Korah in Numbers 16, you will recall what happened to their father Korah’s tent was swallowed up when he stood in rebellion against Moses at the Tent of Meeting.
And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.” – Numbers 16:26 NET
Satan would love to have us believe that just one day, one moment, one time of wickedness is inconsequential and inevitable and better than a thousand days of righteous living. But it is not so. Immediately after the sin, our conscience begins to plague us, remorse and shame weigh us down and eat us away on the inside, and we would often give a thousand days just to redo that one day and live it God’s way because the consequences and pains that we have caused ourselves and even others have such tremendous effects
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 dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
We already studied the metaphor of God being our shield in vs. 9. Here God is referred to as a sun. This is the only place in the bible where God is referred to as a sun. This comparison is to draw emphasis to the similarity that as the sun is the source of life, God is the source of life. As the sun is a source of light, God is our source of light. As the sun is a source of and power, God is our source of power. He enlightens us. He directs us. He strengthens us. The parallel can easily be seen and understood.
We are always seeking to be in the favor of others. God’s favor is to be most sought after and is most highly valued. If we have His favor we will gain the favor of others who favor God also and the honor of others who honor God also. Those who do not favor or honor God we can expect we will receive no favor from as Christ did not but was persecuted.
And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. – Luke 2:40 ESV
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. – Luke 2:52 ESV
“The Spirit of the Lord z is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” – Luke 4:18-19
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. – Luke 1:30
Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man. – 1 Sam. 2:26
All throughout the old testament, not only with Samuel but with David and Saul, Moses and Pharoh, Abraham and various kings, Ruth and Boaz we see these men and women seeking favor and having it bestowed upon them or withheld from them based on God’s will. For Yahweh bestows favor and honor.
This is an important truth to remember because an important meeting, or with a difficult situation, we can ask that the Lord would grant us favor with the other person knowing that Yahweh turns the kings heart like a watercourse anyway He chooses. (Proverbs 21:1)
Because experiencing your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you. – Psalms 63:3
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
Satan always tempts us as he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden that God is holding back something good from us, that what we desire is pleasing and beneficial to us and offers no harm. It is good, we rationalize. How can God call it bad? It is how Satan deceives us and causes us to break trust with God, and obey and follow his counsel instead which always leads to pain and suffering and death. There is no good in the ways of Satan.
God is for our good. If He has not given us the desire of our heart, it is for our good. This is a truth that needs to set in stone in our hearts so that no matter how “good” something looks, we will know that it can’t be truly good if it is not from God Himself.
Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. – Psalm 34:10 NET
But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.” – 1 Cor. 2:9 NET
For “physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.” – 1 Tim. 4:8 NET
O LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
The Blessings of those who trust in the LORD of hosts! They are limitless!. Through this lesson God has taught and reminded us how good it is to dwell in his presence, in his house where we gain our strength and increase our strength even though we walk through the Valley of Weeping. It is better to possess the lowliest position near the house of God then it is to possess the richest, most luxurious position in the temporary dwelling places of the wicked.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
When the Jews would travel to Jerusalem one of the last valleys they would have to pass through on their final ascent was called the Valley of Baca or the Valley of the Balsom Trees. The Arabian interpretation of Baca means “lack of stream”. It refers to valleys that are dry and without any vegetation According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Baca means “weeping”. The Hebrew word for “Baca” came from the same Hebrew plural word that referred to “Balsom Trees” used in 2 Samuel 5:24. The Balsom trees were gum-exuding (weeping) trees that thrived in dry, barren, waterless places. The word Baca is a variant spelling of the stem word that means weeping. The word valley comes from the root meaning of being deep. So the symbolic interpretation is one meaning a place of deep sorrow. The Valley of Weeping.
The Valley of Baca was a very dry, waterless desert place. The pilgrims who passed through on their way from Palestine to Jerusalem built various stone reservoirs and wells throughout this valley in order to capture any rain that fell so the pilgrims passing through the Valley of Baca could enjoy fresh water on their long journey. By doing so, they turned the Valley of Baca into a place of wells, a place of springs storing up rainwater for all who followed them and even for themselves on their three annual pilgrimages through this valley on their way to the Temple in Jerusalem.
This world is hard place of suffering, and of weeping. Our pilgrimage is difficult, as difficult as the Israelites journey through the desert was. They received manna, bread from heaven to feed them and water from a rock to refresh them. God has his ways of feeding his children that this world knows nothing of. He is able to make our dry soil pools of water.
The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow. – Isa. 35:7 NETI will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs. – Isa 41:18 NET
As God refreshes us in in our Valley of Weeping, it can be a valley of grief or of deep sorrow, we have the ability to extend His word and refresh others by storing up his word that falls upon us in this time and allow others following behind us to drink from the same fountain and turn it into a valley of wells for ourselves and for others. We also find that these same reservoirs of stored rainfall will one day offer comfort and refreshment to our own hearts when we pass through the Valley of Baca again in the future.
It is still a Valley of Weeping that we pass through, and it is still hard, very hard but the grace of God’s word falling upon us directly and coming to us through others to offer us strength and encouragement in our time of need make the Valley of Weeping bearable. Apart from these, it would truly be and often is completely unbearable. We make the desert a place of springs. We become scattered pockets all throughout the world bringing encouraging words and strength that we receive from God Himself through our being planted by the rivers of water, to others who find themselves in a dry place.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. -2 Cor. 1:3-5
This Psalm reminds us that we are sojourners, pilgrims ourselves in this world. This is not our home, we are on our way to Our Father’s House, the Promise Land. We still live in these makeshift tents and booths that we call bodies as we walk through the wilderness towards the promise land that we are bound for. Heaven is our final destination, where the tabernacle, House of God is to be found. One day, we look forward to the true Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles, when Jesus Christ himself will appear and the dwelling place of God will both physically and spiritually be with man, and heaven and earth will no longer be separated but eternally bridged together.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:1-4
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
Instead of growing weaker and weaker on this great journey, the righteous grow stronger and stronger. Their strength does not diminish, they do not languish, not for long, for the LORD God himself strengthens his people along their journey in the wilderness and provides for them.
This was one of the great miracles of the Jews as they wandered in the desert those 40 years. There shoes did not wear out. Their clothes did not wear out.
“I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.” – Deut. 29:5
God both sustains and strengthens his people.
But those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired. – Isaiah 40:31 NETBut the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light
growing brighter and brighter until full day. – Proverbs: 4:18 NET
Remember Yahweh is the Good Shepherd who leads us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He is very consciousness of the dangers of the valley. Yet He in his great love and wisdom, leads us along the best paths that allow for us to feed and to rest even though these valleys can be extremely dark at times we must simply keep on.
SPIRITUAL PILGRIMS MUST “KEEP ON.” According to the figures of the text, they must not be stopping, or idling, or taking up any interests on the way; day by day, persistently, they must be going forward; every day getting a day”s march nearer Zion. A pilgrim must just “keep on.” So we are called to “patient continuance in well doing;” to day-by-day persistent goodness; and this of itself may become wearisome. It is the hardest thing given us to do, this keeping on, day by day, in the same scenes, and doing the same work. But it is never really a mere keeping on. We may not realize the joy of it, but the fact is that, in keeping on, we are going “from strength to strength. – Pulpit
each one appears before God in Zion.
Our Good Shepherd leads us to the summit, the High Place and He will bring each one of there safely.
“While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled”. – John 17:12
Zion is synonymous with the City of David, Jerusalem. It is first found in 2 Sam 5:7 when David captured it’s fortress and made it the capital city of Israel.
Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion : the same is the city of David. – 2 Sam. 5:7
In the New Testament, it takes on more of a spiritual meaning, The Israelites came before Mount Sinai, the physical mountain that trembled with fire but we come before Mount Zion, the spiritual reality of Mount Sinai. The physical were always types and shadows of heavenly realities. Through Christ, we are brought before the heavenly reality, Mount Zion and appear before God.
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Heb. 12:18-24
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
The Psalmist prays that God would hear his prayer and restore him to the House of God and to servicing it which was his longing.
Once again he calls upon God as the God of hosts, the God of Jacob who is known for making Jacob secure in his time of trouble.
For the music director; a psalm of David.
May the LORD answer you when you are in trouble;
may the God of Jacob make you secure! – Psalms 20:1
The LORD who commands armies is on our side!
The God of Jacob is our protector! (Selah) – Psalm 46:7
He also refers to God as “God our Shield” in addition to these warfare names of God.
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
In Genesis 15:1 God revealed himself to Abraham as his shield.
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” – Gen. 15:1
In Psalm 5:12 God promises to be a shield to the righteous.
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.- Psalms 5:12
This is synonymous with the idea of God being our fortress that we studied in Psalms 46. Anything that would touch us or attach us must go through God first.
God is called upon to look upon the face of his anointed. This is a cry for recognition for God to see that David belongs to Him. It’s his very own anointed one who is calling out to him for help and none else.
We too can on God to look upon the face of his child when in need. We are his child, chosen by him, adopted by him, will He not take care of his own? Will he not tend to his own? He can do nothing less. This is a cry of confidence.
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
What day in your life was so great that you would give anything to relive it again for the joy of it? Would you trade a thousand days for it if you were able? It would be approximately three years?
What place in this world have you ever desired to travel to for just one day? Would you trade three years of your life, 1092 days to travel there?
A day in God’s courts, his holy dwelling is better than a thousand in any other place. One day in God’s courts is better than 3 years in any other place. Jacob worked 7 years to marry Rachel and they seemed to him but a day. This is love. David or the Sons of Korah are not saying they would trade three years for one day in God’s courts, but they are emphasizing the value of one day in God’s courts compared to being anywhere else in the world. Such is the great love, peace and joy that are found there. It goes back to our child’s hymn again:
Come and go with me to my Father’s house
To my Father’s house
To my Father’s house
Come and go with me to my Father’s house
Where there’s love, peace and joy
Jesus emphasis the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 13.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. – Matthew 13:44-46
The kingdom of heaven is valuable enough to trade our entire life for, every day for one never ending day in eternity in this great House of God overflowing with love, peace and joy?
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
The Sons of Korah were not only musicians in the Temple of Jerusalem but they were also doorkeepers.
Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his relatives from his family (the Korahites) were assigned to guard the entrance to the sanctuary. Their ancestors had guarded the entrance to the LORD’s dwelling place. – 1 Chron. 9:19 NET
Doorkeepers were one of the lowliest positions in a house. They stood at the threshold of the house and welcomed guests into the festivities but did not enter into the festivities themselves. They could only enjoy the sound of the festivities through the opening and closing of the entrance door. David or the Sons of Korah, are saying that it is better to have a position on the porch, the threshold of the house of God in the lowest of positions, then it was to dwell in the tents of wickedness. The humblest position in the house of God is better than living in luxury and riches among the dwelling of the wicked.
If you remember the story behind the Sons of Korah in Numbers 16, you will recall what happened to their father Korah’s tent was swallowed up when he stood in rebellion against Moses at the Tent of Meeting.
And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.” – Numbers 16:26 NET
Satan would love to have us believe that just one day, one moment, one time of wickedness is inconsequential and inevitable and better than a thousand days of righteous living. But it is not so. Immediately after the sin, our conscience begins to plague us, remorse and shame weigh us down and eat us away on the inside, and we would often give a thousand days just to redo that one day and live it God’s way because the consequences and pains that we have caused ourselves and even others have such tremendous effects
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhereI would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
We already studied the metaphor of God being our shield in vs. 9. Here God is referred to as a sun. This is the only place in the bible where God is referred to as a sun. This comparison is to draw emphasis to the similarity that as the sun is the source of life, God is the source of life. As the sun is a source of light, God is our source of light. As the sun is a source of and power, God is our source of power. He enlightens us. He directs us. He strengthens us. The parallel can easily be seen and understood.
We are always seeking to be in the favor of others. God’s favor is to be most sought after and is most highly valued. If we have His favor we will gain the favor of others who favor God also and the honor of others who honor God also. Those who do not favor or honor God we can expect we will receive no favor from as Christ did not but was persecuted.
And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. – Luke 2:40 ESV
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. – Luke 2:52 ESV
“The Spirit of the Lord z is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” – Luke 4:18-19
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. – Luke 1:30
Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man. – 1 Sam. 2:26
All throughout the old testament, not only with Samuel but with David and Saul, Moses and Pharoh, Abraham and various kings, Ruth and Boaz we see these men and women seeking favor and having it bestowed upon them or withheld from them based on God’s will. For Yahweh bestows favor and honor.
This is an important truth to remember because an important meeting, or with a difficult situation, we can ask that the Lord would grant us favor with the other person knowing that Yahweh turns the kings heart like a watercourse anyway He chooses. (Proverbs 21:1)
Because experiencing your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you. – Psalms 63:3
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
Satan always tempts us as he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden that God is holding back something good from us, that what we desire is pleasing and beneficial to us and offers no harm. It is good, we rationalize. How can God call it bad? It is how Satan deceives us and causes us to break trust with God, and obey and follow his counsel instead which always leads to pain and suffering and death. There is no good in the ways of Satan.
God is for our good. If He has not given us the desire of our heart, it is for our good. This is a truth that needs to set in stone in our hearts so that no matter how “good” something looks, we will know that it can’t be truly good if it is not from God Himself.
Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. – Psalm 34:10 NETBut just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.” – 1 Cor. 2:9 NET
For “physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.” – 1 Tim. 4:8 NET
O LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
The Blessings of those who trust in the LORD of hosts! They are limitless!. Through this lesson God has taught and reminded us how good it is to dwell in his presence, in his house where we gain our strength and increase our strength even though we walk through the Valley of Weeping. It is better to possess the lowliest position near the house of God then it is to possess the richest, most luxurious position in the temporary dwelling places of the wicked.
