“How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.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.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!“
(See the bottom of the blog post for a video of the song “Better is One Place”)
Where do you feel most at home?
For some people, it’s sitting around the dinner table with family. For others, it’s a favorite chair on the back porch or a place they’ve visited for years. There’s something comforting about being where you belong.
Psalm 84 is filled with that kind of longing. The writer isn’t longing for a vacation or a familiar hometown.
He’s longing to be in the house of the Lord.
It’s easy for us to misunderstand that. We might think he’s talking about a building and to some extent it is, but not because of the building itself. After all, God isn’t confined to a church building any more than He was confined to the temple in Jerusalem.
So why does the psalmist long to be there?
Because that’s where God had promised to meet His people.
At the temple, sacrifices pointed forward to the coming Savior. God’s Word was proclaimed. His people gathered in worship. It was the place where the Lord came to bless His people with His gifts.
This is the beauty of church and Divine Service and why it’s good to long to go church to worship.
It’s not that God only exists inside a church building. It’s that He continues to meet His people where He has promised. We gather to hear His Word, receive His forgiveness, pray together, sing together, and encourage one another in the faith.
I visit with members for a variety of reasons and one is when they can’t make it to church for an extended period of time. Maybe their are sick or unable to get out of the house. Often, I bring Communion when I visit. And while the person is always appreciative of my visit, I almost always hear the same thing at some point in our conversation.
“Pastor, I miss going to church.”
They aren’t talking about missing a routine.
They miss hearing God’s Word with their church family. They missed regularly receiving the Lord’s Supper. They miss being where God continually strengthened their faith.
Of course, God is always with us and we can know that God is there at Bible studies and servant events, but the Divine Service is an important part of our faith-walk.
That’s the longing we hear in Psalm 84.
Ultimately, that longing points us beyond our Sunday gatherings.
Through Jesus Christ, we have access to the Father today. But we’re also looking forward to the day when faith becomes sight and we will dwell in God’s presence forever. Every time we gather for worship, we’re given a glimpse of that greater reality still to come, a foretaste of the feast to come.
Until then, we continue to pray, sing, listen, receive, and rejoice together.
Because there is no better place to be than where God comes to serve His people.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for gathering me with Your people and meeting me through Your Word and Your gifts. Deepen my love for worship and strengthen my faith each time I hear Your promises. Keep my eyes fixed on the day when I will dwell in Your presence forever through Jesus Christ my Lord.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
