How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place

Date: Apr. 17, 2016

Passage

Psalm 84:1-12 (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1   How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O LORD of hosts!
2   My soul longs, yes, faints
    for the courts of the LORD;
  my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.
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
5   Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6   As they go through the Valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
7   They go from strength to strength;
    each one appears before God in Zion.
8   O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9   Behold our shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed!
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 dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
    the LORD bestows favor and honor.
  No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
12   O LORD of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 84:2

  My soul longs, yes, faints
    for the courts of the LORD;
  my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.

First, my soul yearns for the courts of the LORD (1-4). The psalmist opens with an exclamation: "How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!" His soul yearns for the courts of the LORD and his heart and flesh cry out for the living God. His deep longing is to be near God and commune with him. This should be the deepest longing of my heart. Even a lonely sparrow or a swallow has found a nest near the altar of the LORD (3). Blessed are all those who dwell in God's house (4). This is the only place of real comfort and security. Isn't it amazing that God is also willing to dwell in human hearts by his Spirit?

Second, blessed is the one who trusts in you (5-12). Blessed are those whose strength is in the LORD (5). They go from strength to strength (7). They live like eagles that soar on the heights. The psalmist declares "blessed is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere" (10). He has tasted how good it is to be under God's favor. Blessed is the one who trusts in God (12).

Prayer: Prayer: Lord, you are so good to me. Let me dwell in your house forever.

One Word: Blessed is the one who trusts in God

God’s Wrath and Justice

Revelation 6:1-17

Key Verse: 6:17

for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Today's Question

What does God require from us to escape His anger and curse, which we deserve for our sin?

See answer and references