The Blessings of God's Presence
Non Davidic Psalms • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsThe Blessings of God brings Blessing to His Children.
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Intro:
Intro:
Today's lesson celebrates coming into the temple, sanctuary house of the Lord. It's a very disscriptive accounting of the joy the people experienced by the presence of the Lord how the jewish people worshipped and praised the living God.
Their acknowledgment of the greatness of fellowship with God, is such that he psalmists make a request and plead that God would be attentive to that request. They ask that God “look on the face of your anointed” that's every blood washed child of God that He would allow them to walk with Him in such proximity that He can look on their faces that is our faces. Here we read how they long for this because “a day in Your courts is better than a thousand” anywhere else. Even a moment in the presence of God is far greater than a lifetime apart from Him
LONGING FOR GOD’S HOUSE
How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, 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 lay her young— Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah
Strong Desire for God
How hungry are you for the presence of the living God? Is there an itch, an emptiness in your spirit. The psalmist here is longing,
A strong persistent yearning or desire, especially one that cannot be fulfilled.
An eager desire; a craving; a morbid appetite; an earnest wish; an aspiration.
The Jewish people understood that God is present everywhere and is not contained to any particular location no matter how beautiful it may be.
The psalmist’s appreciation for God’s house wasn’t simply because it was beautiful. His soul longed for God’s house, and even faints when denied the privilege of meeting with God among His people.
“I have rather – though the expression may seem harsh to some – called this the ‘appetite for God’ than ‘the love of God’….
Blessing of Fellowship With God
Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah
What is the purpose of our corporate worship? The singing dancing in the house of God. The chief purpose is to have an encounter with God.
There were two alters in the Temple:
the larger alter where the people brought their sacrifices and offerings top the Priest to be offered to God
the alter where incense was offered daily to God by the priest the rising smoke signified the prayers of the saints ascending to God.
Here we see the psalmist great desire to be in the temple by stating that he envied the birds that nested in the temple complex.
To yearn for the temple meant to long for the living God Himself
BLESSED IN GOD’S HOUSE
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The 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
Joy unspeakable joy.
Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: Deut 16:16
The psalmist declared the blessedness the joyous privileges and great benefits of those who demonstrate their faith by going on pilgrimage to appear in Jerusalem, Zion before the Lord.
On their pilgrimage they were strengthened by God’s blessings. The Valley of Baca (“balsam tree”) was apparently a waterless place that became a place of springs. The rains would cover the arid valley with pools of water, a vivid picture of God’s blessings on the faithful pilgrims.
They go from strength to strength: With the blessedness expressed by plenty of water in an otherwise dry place, the pilgrim lives in strength and goes to more strength. The rich relationship with God is a never-ending supply of strength for the journey, even in difficult seasons.
On a normal journey (especially a difficult one), the usual pattern is to go from strength to weakness or fatigue. Not so with those whose strength is in God – they go from strength to strength.
Each one appears before God in Zion: The journey has a destination – Zion, the city of God. The love and longing for the house of God will bring each one to his destination, appearing before God in Zion.
“Not merely to be in the assembly, but to appear before God was the object of each devout Israelite.
Each one appears before God in Zion: The journey has a destination – Zion, the city of God. The love and longing for the house of God will bring each one to his destination, appearing before God in Zion.
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
A word of wisdom from Hebrews 10:25: It is critical to assemble as we move further into the last days so we are strengthened and protected.
There will be spiritual forces that resist the saints assembling.
1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to be vigilant because the adversary walks about like a lion, seeking to devour. How does a lion walk when he is seeking to devour? He looks for the prey in isolation.
If those who were under the law must rejoice before God, much more we that are under the grace of the gospel; which makes it our duty to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always.
Sincere Appeal to God
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
They ask that God “look on the face of your anointed”—that He would allow them to walk with Him in such proximity that He can look on their faces (Psalm 84:9, ESV). They long for this because “a day in Your courts is better than a thousand” anywhere else
GOOD COMES TO THE RIGHTEOUS
O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. 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 will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
God’s House Most Highly Preferred
O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
In this brief but sincere prayer, which begins with the word “Behold, that is take notice, God is identified as our shield, meaning He was thw protector of Israel, who was called on to look, with favor upon the face of Thine anointed, the king.
Praying for God’s favor to be granted to the ruling king was, in effect, the same as praying for the nation.
Doorkeeper
The psalmist regarded a single day spent in the temple, worshiping God, as better than a thousand days spent anywhere else.
And, he preferred serving in the menial but honorable task of doorkeeper in the temple more than having the place of highest eminence in the habitations of the wicked.
God Gives Grace and Glory
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
God is to His people a sun and a shield.
That is, God is our Light and our Enlightener for living as we should in this world. He is our Protector and Defender.
God will give grace and glory, all the blessings of God in our lives falls under the heading of grave and glory.
His favor toward s which we do not deserve and cannot earn, but which He gives freely to us
Glory, that is, being victorious in living for God
No good thing will God withhold from them that walk uprightly, live pleasing to God
Blessed, in all of these ways is any person who trust in the Lord.