How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place
Devotional
Companion to the Psalter
A Devotional Guide to the Psalms
Object:
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God ...
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise ...
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
-- Psalm 84:1-2, 4, 5b
Theme: The happy worshiper
Outline
1-2 -- The psalmist longs for the house of God.
3-4 -- How happy are those who live there.
5-8 -- How happy those who go even through deserts in their pilgrimage to Zion.
9-12 -- How great a privilege to be close to the LORD, the source of all blessing.
Notes
• Praise -- Zion
• Companion to Psalms 42 and 43 (also to 27; 61; 63).
• Valley of Baca, an arid place.
• From strength to strength -- instead of fainting, they are refreshed.
• Verse 9 may be a reference to the king, or high priest, or the people.
• "Doorkeeper" = humblest servant.
For Reflection
• Look at verse 11b. Note the condition and the promise of a truly "abundant life" (John 10:10; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10), and the effect it had for some Christians (2 Corinthians 8:1-3, 7).
• When we read "your dwelling place, O Lord," we think of heaven. Saint Paul spoke of it as being "with the Lord." (See Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10.)
• "There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever wanted anything else."1
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, how surpassing great and good it is to live under you by faith, and in fellowship with you. Make us pilgrims to Zion to know our strength and renewal always comes from you, signs of the glorious things you have in store for those who love you, through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen.
____________
1. C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan, 1962), p. 143.
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God ...
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise ...
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
-- Psalm 84:1-2, 4, 5b
Theme: The happy worshiper
Outline
1-2 -- The psalmist longs for the house of God.
3-4 -- How happy are those who live there.
5-8 -- How happy those who go even through deserts in their pilgrimage to Zion.
9-12 -- How great a privilege to be close to the LORD, the source of all blessing.
Notes
• Praise -- Zion
• Companion to Psalms 42 and 43 (also to 27; 61; 63).
• Valley of Baca, an arid place.
• From strength to strength -- instead of fainting, they are refreshed.
• Verse 9 may be a reference to the king, or high priest, or the people.
• "Doorkeeper" = humblest servant.
For Reflection
• Look at verse 11b. Note the condition and the promise of a truly "abundant life" (John 10:10; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10), and the effect it had for some Christians (2 Corinthians 8:1-3, 7).
• When we read "your dwelling place, O Lord," we think of heaven. Saint Paul spoke of it as being "with the Lord." (See Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10.)
• "There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever wanted anything else."1
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, how surpassing great and good it is to live under you by faith, and in fellowship with you. Make us pilgrims to Zion to know our strength and renewal always comes from you, signs of the glorious things you have in store for those who love you, through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen.
____________
1. C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan, 1962), p. 143.
