Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Selah
Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
O LORD Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.
....
Some thoughts.
I use to think that the Lord's court is referring to a physical place where I feel the Lord's presence. For me, it is most often riding my bike on the road or running along the trail. There are many moments I can recall during these trips where I can felt His presence so close.
Granted, the author of the Psalm is written at a time when they believe that the Lord dwells in the temple. Jesus came and He changed everything....
Jesus is called Immanuel in Matthew 1:23 which translates to God with us. In the Great Commission, Jesus wrapped it up with "surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul wrote:
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
...I gotta do more studying and see the context in each of these verses. Granted, it is an indication that God is not just in a physical building like the court or a temple. He is everywhere. Jesus promised that He will be with us. And the the Holy Spirit dwells in us..and we are the living temple!
Does this mean we can worship Him everywhere and anywhere!?!?!? :)
There is one line in the song that sings, 'it is better one day in Your court'.
Does it mean that once a person has the Holy Spirit dwells in him...the person is His court? Is it play on words "better to be one day in Your court..than thousands elsewhere"?
Indeed, to know You..or to be known by You is to be in Your court...and I will not long for anywhere else.
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