True Fulfillment
Notes
Transcript
Hello! Welcome to Psalms of the Saviour. I’m Joshua VanZandbeek, and today I have a question for you: where do you find true fulfillment? We are looking together at ps 84 today. I would like to start with reading the Psalm together, and as we do, consider my question. You are welcome to follow along in your Bibles, or just listen if you like.
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
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! Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
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.
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.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Many things in life seek to steal our hearts. Sex, power, fame, wealth, all vie for our attention. Yet Psalm 84 calls us to something different.
This is the son’s of Korah, who wrote this psalm, exclaim:
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
The express their longing for God’s presence, how their entire being even longs for God. This is where they find fulfillment, and Psalm 84 expresses how, if someone is longing to be fulfilled, they need to look to Christ.
As Christians, the presence of Christ is of the utmost importance. One day with him is better than 1000 elsewhere. Psalm 84 says,
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
We are blessed to be Christ’s people, and to have His presence! Our journey of following Christ in this life will one day culminate in the total fulfillment of seeing Jesus, face to face. Our devotional notes Philippians 1 21, which says:
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
In Psalm 84, we anticipate the ultimate fulfillment of seeing Christ face to face, and dwelling with Him forever. Yet, we also understand as we consider Philippians 1 21 that to serve Christ here is a wonderful thing, and the purpose of our lives. So, while we live we serve Christ, and when we die, we immediately are ushered into the presence of Christ. Truly, we are a blessed people!
How lovely is God’s dwelling place, and anticipation of this should give us strength as we walk our lives with Christ, and serve Him here. The world, and it’s many pleasure, do not compare to eternity with Christ. So my encouragement for you today is to look to God for fulfillment, and to not allow the things of this world to cloud your focus on serving and one day seeing Christ.
How do you spend time in God’s presence? Do you long to see him face to face?
Can you truly say “to live is Christ, and to die is gain?”