Psalm 84.
This much loved psalm, dear to the Christian heart and rightly so, for its language is as suited to the believers of the present dispensation of grace, as to the coming one of power and glory, expresses the feelings of Israelites whose hearts have been touched and consciences exercised so that they are one by one returning to Zion, the temple site at Jerusalem. The Lord, at the time for which Psalm 84 is written; will have come to the earth to set up His kingdom; will have brought to an end the brief but fear-full persecution of His earthly people. Jerusalem is once more the center, and thither the godly will betake themselves.
So long given up to desolation and to the wicked, the city of God’s choice will again be His earthly dwelling place. (See Isaiah 40:9-11; Jeremiah 50:4, 5; Zephaniah 3:14-20).
The believer thinks of the blessedness of drawing near to God, come down in grace, and longs, even faints for His courts; heart and flesh—spirit and soul—cry out for the living God. Surely every saint of God should heartily echo the language of verses 1 and 2. And is not the presence of the Lord among His saints—His tabernacle—to be known to faith today? Wherever two or three are gathered tether unto His Name, there is He in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). What condescension! What grace! Can any other place or manner of gathering but this, satisfy one who truly loves Him and desires His glory?
Verse 3 brings before our minds the least of His creatures, —the despised sparrow and the restless swallow both secure and at rest, —precious tokens of the fullness of His grace to man. Blessed indeed are they that will dwell in His house. It is the redeemed of Israel that are here in view, as in Psalm 23:6, but the Christian’s thoughts are rightly directed to the heavenly home. (John 14:2, 3; Revelation 5; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
To be with Christ will draw out constant praise (verse 4). How could it be otherwise? The heart fills with joy at the thought of being with Him, like Him, with all the redeemed, —all debtors to grace unfathomable.
Verses 5 to 7 speak of the way to the scene of glory, the path of blessing. It is through suffering and trial, through the valley of tears, but those whose strength is in the Lord, make it a wellspring; they go from strength to strength; each one will appear before God in Zion. The road may be rough, but it cannot be long; the end is near, and prayer should characterize us (verse 8) that we may have the Lord before us all the way. He will surely the strength and the deliverance as needed.
Verse 11, “grace and glory”—unmerited favor, and the delights of a scene where sin is banished, and the Rejected One is the Honored One—these are bestowed freely by our God.
“No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Mark those words well. We cannot expect to enjoy His bountiful provision here and hereafter, unless we seek constantly to answer to His Word in our ways.
Verse 13 is the meditation of the heart upon the happy portion of the redeemed. Blessed, indeed, are they who trust in the Lord!
ML 04/19/1931