About this sermon
The psalmist of Psalm 84 longs for the courts of the Lord and envies even the sparrow that nests by God’s altars. Israel’s men made pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year, and he finds joy in that journey, going from strength to strength through the valley of Baca. Christians travel on pilgrimage to the heavenly Zion, fed along the way by God’s word and refreshed by his Spirit. A day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.
Sermon transcript
Psalm 84. Let us hear God’s holy word. It is entitled, for the choir director on the Gitteth, the Psalm of the Sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The bird also has found a house and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young. Even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. How blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are ever praising you, Selah. How blessed is the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring. The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion. O Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob, Selah. Behold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of your anointed. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in you. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Please remain standing as we seek the Lord’s blessing upon the preaching of his word.
Our Lord and Father in heaven, we thank you for the scriptures, the word of God, it is a lamp unto our feet, a light into our path. It is a guide to our way, and we pray that as we consider this portion of the Holy Scriptures this evening, that the Spirit would illuminate our minds and our hearts to behold wondrous things from your word. Lord, grant us the grace to resonate in our hearts with the sentiments expressed by the psalmist here, that we would indeed find your dwelling place to be indeed lovely. We pray all of these things in Jesus’ name. And all of God’s people said, Amen. You may be seated. The title of my sermon this evening is Yearning for the Courts of the Lord. And there’s a number of words you can listen for this evening if you’re following along in your sermon outline.
And I would encourage the children to listen, especially for the words presence, temple, pilgrimage and trust. Well, dear ones, in the opening section of his classic book, The Confessions, Saint Augustine prayerfully addresses God with these often quoted words. And perhaps you’ve heard these words before. He says, For thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest on thee. Indeed, it is truly the case that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in the Lord. We were created in God’s image to have communion with the Lord. We lost that communion in the fall, but there still is a God-shaped vacuum, if you will, in our hearts. And when we are born again by the Holy Spirit, especially our hearts cry out for God and yearn for His presence.
Well, in our psalm for this Lord’s Day evening, ascribed to the sons of Korah, the psalmist expresses the restlessness of his heart as he longed, even yearned, to experience the joy of God’s presence in the Lord’s holy temple in Jerusalem. Now, the law of Moses had required all of the males in Israel to appear before the Lord in the place where he would choose to put his name three times each year. This requirement is laid out, for example, in Deuteronomy, chapter 16, verse 16. I’d invite you to turn there. I just want to read that verse, Deuteronomy 16, verse 16, where we read these words. Three times in a year, all your mails shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses at the feast of unleavened bread and at the feast of weeks and at the feast of booths.
And they shall not appear before the Lord empty handed. In other words, they shall come bringing a sacrifice to the Lord. This was required of all the males three times a year wherever they happened to live in the land of Israel. So again, what this means is that at least three times a year, all of the males were required to take time off of work and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and for the celebration of these annual feasts, feasts that reminded the people of God of his special covenant relationship with them and his gracious provision to them. Now, I imagine that it’s likely that some of the Israelites viewed these obligatory pilgrimages with annoyance, perhaps viewing them as burdens to be fulfilled with a grudging sense of duty. But the author of our psalm for this evening reflects a very different attitude.
He reflects a believing, faith-filled attitude toward these pilgrimages, as this psalm seems to reflect the psalmist going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he will come before the presence of the Lord at the tabernacle, or rather the temple. Here, the author of this psalm for him, for the author of this psalm, I should say, enjoying the divine presence and worshiping God in his holy temple are his greatest joy, his greatest longing. Indeed, we find our psalmist here yearning for the courts of the Lord, the place where God’s name dwells, the courts of the Lord. Of course, his language for God’s temple, where God’s special presence dwelt. Now, friends, there’s no way to be absolutely certain about the exact original historical setting for this psalm, and biblical scholars offer different theories about whether this psalm was written before the Babylonian exile or perhaps written during the exile.
In the latter case, this psalm reflects a longing of the psalmist for the old days when they used to be able to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but no longer. And so there’s differences on whether this is to be regarded as a pre-exilic psalm or an exilic psalm. However, once again, I often quote from Dr. Van Gammeren, but once again, I think he offers a balanced view. He says, this psalm contains a collage of diverse genres, hymn, prayer, lament, and a song of Zion. As to the time of composition or original life situation, it is equally difficult to come to an agreement The references to the anointed one, verse nine, suggests that the psalm is pre-exilic. Its setting may reflect a festive procession to Jerusalem during one of the festivals. Well, dear ones, again, whenever this psalm was composed and whatever may have been its original historical setting, the Holy Spirit has given to us in this psalm a beautiful and compelling expression of heartfelt devotion to the Lord an expression of devotion that can be used by believers and used by the church as a whole under many diverse circumstances and challenges and joys that we face in our pilgrimage of faith as we journey to that ultimate promised land of the new creation, where we will enjoy the everlasting feast of salvation through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, where we will dwell in the eternal temple of God in the new Jerusalem.
In this psalm, our Lord cheers us on our pilgrim way. And so, as we dive into our psalm for this evening, let’s focus on the opening four verses, the first section of this psalm. We see here in these verses the joy of God’s house. The joy of God’s house. The psalmist writes, how lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts.” Yahweh of hosts. Again, this is military language. God is the divine warrior who fights for His people. And He dwells in the midst of His people. And what is the psalmist’s response when he considers God’s dwelling place, His temple, the place where the people of God experience His special, covenantal, gracious presence? He says, how lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts. And then he says in verse 2, my soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.” The New Bible commentary says in verse 1 that we may well picture a pilgrim newly arrived exclaiming in rapture over the long-anticipated beauty of the Lord’s house. But the question arises, what is it that made the temple so lovely to this psalmist? Remember, the temple in Jerusalem was a symbol of the fact that God in His covenant grace and mercy had come to dwell among His people. The temple was where sacrifices were offered to to atone, at least symbolically atone for sin, where God’s forgiving mercy was experienced by the people of God living under the old covenant and where the worship of God took place, where God’s people worship the Lord with loud songs of joy and gratitude, praise and thanksgiving. It was the place where God’s special, covenantal, royal, gracious presence dwelt amongst his redeemed people.
And so its loveliness and beauty were not ultimately to be found in its architecture, its structure, although Solomon’s temple was indeed a beautiful structure. It was beautiful in terms of its architecture and structure and so forth. It was beautiful to behold. But the beauty of the courts of the Lord were not ultimately in that architecture or structure, but in the spiritual blessings of the divine presence that is signified and that God’s people experienced as they came in worship before the Lord at his holy temple. And verse two shows us that the psalmist devotion to God is not humanistic. It’s not me centered. It’s not. Man-centered, it’s God-centered. His devotion is deeply God-centered. His focus and joy is not ultimately in the temple itself, but in the divine occupant of the temple, who is described in this verse as the living God.
Again, he says, my soul, my soul, my inmost being, my soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord. Why does he yearn for the courts of the Lord? Well, the second part of this verse makes it clear. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. It’s not so much about going to this special place as such. It’s what that special place represented. And it was the experience of God’s presence, his merciful, gracious, covenantal presence that filled this psalmist with such yearning and such joy. And then verse three is a very touching statement here. It says, the bird also has found a house and the swallow a nest for herself. where she may lay her young, even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.” Now think about it.
This is almost a playful statement. As the psalmist either recollects or conveys to us what he sees in the temple there, he notices that there are some small common birds making their nests there by the altars, the place of sacrifice. as one commentator puts it, seeing even tiny birds making themselves at home, he realizes the safety of God’s house and for himself associates this with the Lord’s provision of thy altars, the places of sacrifice for sin, reconciliation and communion with God. Why does he bring up these birds, this observation, this almost playful imagery here? Well, notice how he describes the altars of God and the God of who is worshipped through sacrifice on the altars. He describes Him as, again, Yahweh of hosts, this mighty King and God. He says, even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
This glorious, majestic, divine King is willing to tolerate These tiny common birds in His presence, there’s safety there, even for these common birds. Since even these small and common birds are privileged to live in, in and around the temple of God, the great divine King. How much more can he be confident in his safety in God’s presence? And how much more blessed are those who are privileged to serve the Lord in his temple, such as the priests and the Levites who daily attended the worship and praise of God and offered the sacrifices to the Lord? Again, as he says in verse four, how blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are ever praising you. He pronounces this blessing, this benediction three times, as we will see in this psalm. How blessed are those who do what?
Who dwell in God’s house, who have day in and day out access to the Lord’s special presence in the temple. And he as a pilgrim is envious of that. How blessed they are. Here I am, a pilgrim. I come three times a year. I think the implication is I come to the temple three times a year. But how blessed are those who dwell in the house of the Lord. Now, what are some what are some applications that we can glean from this passage and apply to our situation today? Well, for one, one thing is clear. We, as believers living as we do under the new covenant, we no longer need to book flights and make pilgrimages to a temple in Jerusalem in order to experience the joys of God’s presence. After all, Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile in Christ.
Christ himself is the living temple and we are living stones in that living temple. So we can experience this special presence and joy of the Lord without having to travel to a special place. We experience that joy of the Lord as we worship him, especially as we gather for worship together as his covenant people, for we as the church corporate are also a temple of the living God in union with Christ. And so let me ask you, dear listener, Does your heart resonate with the sentiments expressed by the psalmist as he as he indicates that he longs and yearns to experience the joys of the divine presence and finds the dwelling place of God to be lovely, to be beautiful in his eyes? Does that resonate with you? And if not, why not? The Lord is beautiful.
He is beautiful, He is glorious, He is our wonderful Savior, and we ought to long for Him. May God, by His grace and through the Holy Spirit, give each and every one of us a yearning, a longing to dwell with and commune with our gracious, sovereign, triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But not only do we see the psalmist extolling the joy of God’s house, we also notice the psalmist in the second part of this psalm extolling the blessedness of the pilgrim way. And that’s the second point. If you’re following along in your sermon outline, we see next the blessedness of the pilgrim way. Verse five. Here he pronounces his second blessing. He says, How blessed is the man whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. How blessed is the man whose strength is in you.
Making these three annual pilgrimages required some strength, required planning, required strength. It’s not easy, and back then they didn’t have the kinds of technology that we have today that enables us to travel long distances relatively easily, and so it required strength. What was it that gave these pilgrims strength to travel the highways to Zion? Well, and by the way, the second part of this verse, in whose heart are the highways to Zion, there are differences of interpretation among the scholars. But I think what this has to do with is, again, the fact that these pilgrims, as they went on these pilgrimages year in and year out, they would get familiar with the routes that they would take. In fact, they could recall those routes in their hearts, in their minds. You know, if you’re familiar with a route, maybe it’s your commute to work, and you take that commute day in and day out, and if you’ve taken that commute long enough, you could probably almost do it with your eyes shut.
I wouldn’t recommend that, of course, but you know, you know the route like the back of your hand. Well, again, How blessed is the man whose strength is in you and the Lord, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” His heart knows the way to Zion and longs for that way. Again, one Bible commentator says, from the vantage point of his present blessedness in God’s house, he looks back to the joy that attended his way. The ones that are described in verse 5 are those whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. They view it not as a grudging duty, but as a joy. And they know the pilgrim way. by heart, but they encounter difficulties on the way. Verse six says, passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring. The early rain also covers it with blessings.
What’s this talking about? What is this valley of Baca? Well, if it was an actual geographical location, we don’t know where it is today. It’s an unknown location. It may also be, this terminology may also be used in a symbolic sense and more of a poetical sense to represent any dry or arid part of the journey that the pilgrims had to pass through. Though some, again, some believe this is simply a symbol for affliction that might be experienced on the Pilgrim Way. Either way, This appears to be referring to a dry and arid place that these pilgrims needed to go through in order to reach their destination, to reach the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. But notice, passing through the Valley of Bacchae, passing through these dry and wearisome parts of the journey, they make it a spring.
The early rain also covers it with blessings. They find refreshment even in the midst of this dry and weary land, even in the midst of the valley of Baca. And as it says in verse 7, They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion. As the pilgrims make their journey difficult, though it may be challenging in part, as it may be, they go from strength to strength. They find strength and encouragement in their journey. Why? Because their eyes are set on the destination of their journey. You see the parallel to our walk of faith with the Lord. We, too, are pilgrims and we are making a journey through this life. We are making a pilgrimage to the heavenly Zion. What enables us to go from strength to strength as we pass through the desolate valley of Baca in our pilgrimage to the heavenly Zion?
What is it that strengthens us as believers in Christ as we make our way through this fallen, sin-cursed world, as we journey to our ultimate destination, our eschatological destination? Well, many answers could be given, but I think, brothers and sisters, God provides us with food in the wilderness. He provides us with refreshment, even as we pass, metaphorically speaking at least, through the valley of Baca. And that food is God’s word and the refreshing spring of the indwelling spirit refreshes our souls through the word. As you commune with your savior, as you ground yourself in his word and and feast upon his word, you will find strength for the journey. Are you, dear listener, finding strength? and refreshment in the Lord and His means of grace. Do you find yourself going from strength to strength? It is in our weakness that Christ’s strength is manifested and perfected.
May you find your rest and your refreshment and your strength in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for you and rose for you, who intercedes for you before the Father, and who will pull you through even unto the end. But finally, we see in this passage the delights of dwelling with God, the delights of dwelling with God. There’s sort of a change or a shift of focus at this point in the psalm as the psalmist offers a prayer to God. He says in verses 8 and 9, O Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob. And the fact that he is addressing God as the God of Jacob indicates that he is appealing to God as the faithful covenant keeping God. He’s appealing to God’s covenant mercies in his prayer.
He’s not appealing to his own worthiness or his own obedience or anything like that. And what does he say? Behold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of your anointed.” Who is or what is this shield? It is the Lord’s anointed. And who is the Lord’s anointed? It is the Davidic king. Here, the psalmist interrupts this expression of joy in the Lord’s courts, the Lord’s presence, and joy in the pilgrim way. To pray for the king, why does he do that? Again, this is a prayer, verses eight and nine are a prayer for the king, the Davidic king, the Lord’s anointed, who is the shield, meaning the protector of God’s people. The temple in Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place among his people. only remain stable and secure as the Davidic king was faithful to God’s covenant.
I think that is the concern that’s going on here. That’s why the psalmist enjoying the presence of God in the temple understands that that temple will not stand forever. That temple will only stand in so far as the Davidic king is faithful to the Lord’s covenant. But of course, if you know, The history of God’s people in the Old Testament, most of the kings, many of the kings were unfaithful. And even the faithful kings like David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, the man after God’s own heart. There were some pretty profound occurrences or episodes in David’s kingship and life where he fell into grievous sin that brought harm not only upon himself, but upon the people of God. Because again, the Lord’s anointed king represented the people and protected the people. And the king, so very often the Davidic king, broke the covenant.
In fact, all of them did to one degree or another. And so the psalmist prays for God to continue to bless the king. He prays for the shield of God’s people, the protector of God’s people, because he knows that if the king is unfaithful, then sooner or later the covenant curses would come upon the people, the temple would be destroyed, and the people would be sent away from God’s holy land, sent into exile. Of course, that’s precisely what happened eventually. But this points out the need for an ultimate anointed one. It points out the need for great David’s greater son. This prayer is ultimately fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is, as I said, great David’s greater Son. He is the ultimate anointed One. The ultimate Messiah. The word Messiah means anointed One.
He is God’s chosen, anointed King. And He alone was faithful to keep the covenant. He alone is adequate to serve as our shield, our protector. In union with Him, we are shielded from the wrath of God In union with him, we experience the divine presence. By his obedience and sacrifice, he has secured for us an eternal home in the heavenly temple, the eternal dwelling place of God. And so this accounts for the prayer for the king that the psalmist offers up. And then the psalmist once again reflects upon The delights of dwelling with God in his temple, he says, for a day in your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God. In other words, I would rather be a guard at the at the doors of the temple to protect the temple from anything unholy entering.
I’d rather be I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. I’d rather almost be standing at the periphery of the temple than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. And then he says in verse 11, for the Lord God is a sun and shield. He is a sun. He gives us light. He gives us blessing. And He is our shield. He protects us. The Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. I believe the Apostle Paul may be reflecting upon this very passage when he writes in that well-known passage in Romans chapter eight. Verse 31, what then shall we say to these things if God is for us, who is not against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all.
How will he not also with him freely give us all things? Again, the psalmist says, no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Those who walk uprightly, that’s the fruit of faith. preaching salvation or justification by works or anything. But again, no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Compare that to what Paul writes. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all. How will he not also with him freely give us all things? Praise be to God. And then the closing, the closing verse, the psalmist bursts out once again. with a pronouncement of blessing. But this time He says, O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who does what? Who trusts in You, or as some translations put it, take refuge in You.
The blessed man is the one who takes refuge in Yahweh of hosts, Yahweh of hosts and His anointed King, Ultimately, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the shield and Son of His people. Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as your shield, your protector, your Son, your salvation? As you rest in Him, you will know His peace. You will know His presence. And you will know what it is like to dwell in the courts of the Lord. Verse 10, For a day in your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Praise be to God that in Christ, and especially in the consummated kingdom, we won’t just be dwelling at the threshold. We’ll be on the inside.
We will fully belong. And there will be nothing separating us ever again from His love. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious Lord and Father in Heaven, we thank you, O God, that you in sovereign grace and mercy have come to dwell in our midst through Christ our Savior. We ask that you would grant unto us hearts that resonate with what this psalmist says, that we might find your dwelling place Indeed, lovely and beautiful. And that dwelling place is Jesus. We pray, Heavenly Father, that you would give us grace to go from strength to strength, even as we journey on this pilgrim way. And even when we journey through the valley of Baca. Refresh our souls by your Word and Spirit. Strengthen us, uphold us, comfort us, and keep our eyes fixed on our ultimate destination. of Zion, the heavenly Zion.
In Jesus name we pray, and all of God’s people said, Amen. As we close our time this evening, let’s rise and sing as our our psalm of dedication to the Lord. Psalm 84b, O Lord of hosts, how lovely 84b.
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