The Blessed Life Finds Strength in God
The Blessed Life • Sermon • Submitted
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· 379 viewsThe presence of God brings our hearts home.
Notes
Transcript
11/15/20
Dominant Thought: The presence of God brings our hearts home.
Objectives:
I want my listeners to desire to spend time with God.
I want my listeners to understand that God leads us through valleys of weeping.
I want my listeners to celebrate God’s protection and care.
The great saint, Augustine opened his book called Confessions with these words of praise:
Great are You, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Your power, and of Your wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of Your creation, desires to praise You — man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that You resist the proud, — yet man, this part of Your creation, desires to praise You. You move us to delight in praising You; for You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. In other words, The presence of God brings our hearts home. As we look at Palm 84, we find three blessings from God to bring us into His presence.
First, blessed are those who dwell with God (Psalm 84.1-4).
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
The English preacher, Charles Spurgeon calls Psalm 84, “the pearl of Psalms” (The Treasury of David, p. 132). The sons of Korah may have served in the temple as the worship leaders (2 Chronicles 20.19). They would have known about the temple courts, the place where God’s people gathered for worship. They admire the beauty of God’s dwelling place, calling out to God as, “Lord of hosts” or “Lord of heaven’s armies.”
Dwelling place and dwell bookend this section of verses 1-4. Dwelling place could refer to the tent or the tabernacle where God met with His people. It represented the presence of God with His people. To Dwell means to sit. When you sit down with someone, you spend time with them.
In verse two, we read, “my soul longs and even faints for the courts of the Lord.” The writers long to be with God’s people in God’s place, the temple. I had the chance to visit with some of our older members this week. They shared that they miss being at church. They were echoing Psalm 84. Our souls long to be with God. I am so thankful for the technologies available to share our gatherings online and over the phone. And still, we miss not seeing each others’ faces. Yes, we can worship God anywhere. We do not need a building to gather, but we long for more.
It’s like traveling back home for the holidays. Did you notice what I said? I said, “home” for the holidays. I didn’t say “house” for the holidays. The same saying is true, “Home sweet home.” “House sweet house” does not have the same ring to it. Yes, there may be some nostalgia for the building and the family farm. However, the important part of the holidays is “who” is there, not “what.”
Yes, the Psalmist is longing for the place, but as we continue reading, the Psalmist wants God.
In Psalm 84.3, the sons of Korah remember seeing the sparrows and the swallows that may have nested in the eaves of the temple. The birds can find a nest for their young at the temple, how much more will God’s people be at home in God’s presence.
As the birds care for their young, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to care for our young. I invite you to join me in raising up the next generation of kingdom leaders. May those who are growing up in our homes find their true home in the heart of God. If you want an image to hang this first blessing, then you may want to think about your home. I’m not talking about the physical structure, but the relational structure of your family.
In the courts of the Lord, one finds several altars that are used to bring offerings of thanks, prayers, and for forgiveness. In the offerings on the altar, we confess who is our King and our God. Then, we find the blessing, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise” (Psalm 84.4). Would you consider sitting down with God this week? Would you consider singing praise to God this week? I invite you to sit with this Psalm and enjoy God’s presence. Look at the birds and know that God cares for you.
At the end of verse four, we find this peculiar word that nobody seems to know what it means. The word is “Selah.” You’ll find it scattered through the book of Psalms. The best description that I’ve found of “Selah” is a dramatic pause or to stop and reflect. As you read your Psalms, I invite you to read them out loud and read the “Selah,” and then pause for a moment to reflect
So, let’s try it. I’ll read the verse and then pause.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
A time is coming in the new heaven and new earth where there is no temple. John writes in Revelation 21.3, “God’s dwelling place is now among the people.” Blessed are those who dwell with God.
Second, blessed are those whose strength is in God (Psalm 84.5-8).
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
The blessing shows up in verse 5, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you.” If the image for the first blessing was home, then this image could be a highway. In this blessing, our heart is compared to a highway to God’s City, Zion, or Jerusalem.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Our strength comes when our hearts connect with God. The sons of Korah may imagine the journey to Jerusalem for the the special holidays or feasts of the year. The journey to Jerusalem could take them through some dark valleys. The Valley of Baca is called the Valley of Weeping. Sometimes we must go through the valley of weeping to get to the mountain to worship.
The good news is that God transforms the valley of weeping to a place of springs and covers it with pools of water. The word for pools is the word for blessing or praise to God.
In John 4, Jesus travels through the region of Samaria. It’s noon and he’s thirsty. A woman comes to draw water at Jacob’s well and Jesus asks for a drink. She’s shocked that this Jewish man would talk to her, a Samaritan woman. Jesus then says, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4.10). The woman looks at Jesus and observes, “Mister, you have nothing to draw water and this well is deep. Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well?”
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
That offer sounds good to the woman. She asks for some of this water so she won’t have to keep coming to draw water. Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband.” She responds, “No have husband.” Jesus knows that she doesn’t have a husband. Then, he goes on to remind her of her past, “You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.” Jesus is meeting her in the valley of weeping. He confronts her past.
She’s getting uncomfortable and says, “I can tell you’re a prophet. Where do we worship? On this mountain or in Jerusalem?
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
The woman knows that the Anointed one is coming. When he arrives, he will explain all things. Jesus looks to her and says, “I am he.” The woman leaves her water jar. She came for a drink of water and left with living water. She went off to tell the whole town about Jesus.
Jesus leads us through the valleys of weeping into the presence of God. In other words, The presence of God brings our hearts home. The presence of God gives strength.
Then, we come to a prayer in verse 8, “O Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.”
Third, blessed is the one who trusts in God (Psalm 84.9-12).
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!
If the first blessing looks like home, and the second blessing looks like a highway, then this third blessing looks like a shield. In Psalm 84.9, “Behold our shield, O God.” Then, in verse eleven, we read, “For the Lord God is a sun and a shield.” I shared with you a couple of weeks ago that my favorite Avenger is Captain America. If you take away Cap’s shield, he’s almost like an ordinary man. His shield is made of vibranium.
Throughout the Bible, God is described a shield. In Deuteronomy 33, Moses give a blessing to the people of Israel.
Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs.”
The Apostle Paul takes the image of the shield and tells the Christians to take up the shield as part of our spiritual armor in Ephesians 6.
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Chances are this week you will see some type of shield. In your car, you have a windshield to protect you. You may even wear a type of shield. [Show mask.] No matter your opinion of these masks, could you use the sight of these masks to trigger you to pray? Lord, you are my shield. Your protection is stronger than Captain America’s shield and more effective than any mask.
Jesus, the anointed one, our shield protects us from the wrath of God and ushers us into His presence so that we can say with the Psalmist, “Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere.” I’ve shared verse 10 with people as they enter our building, “I rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” [Show picture of guard at Buckingham Palace.] This picture shows a guard at Buckingham Palace. He is charged to protect the queen and usher people into her presence. In the courts of God, the people are close to God. In the tents of the wicked, people are far from God.
Eugene Peterson in the message writes, “I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be an honored guest in the palace of sin.”
The Lord is a sun and shield who gives us grace and glory so that we can enjoy the blessing of Jesus in Matthew 5.8.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Psalm 84 concludes with a blessing from the Lord of Heaven’s armies, “Blessed is the one who trusts in you.” About a week after that first Easter, Jesus appeared before His disciples even though the doors were locked. He had a conversation with Thomas who earlier had said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger in his side, I will not believe” (John 20.25). Jesus invited Thomas, “Put your finger into my hands and to reach your hand into my side” (John 20.27). Thomas confesses, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20.28). Then, Jesus replied to Thomas.
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The presence of God brings our hearts home. Through Psalm 84, we experience the blessings of dwelling with God, placing our strength in God, and trusting in God. Those are key ingredients to the Blessed Life.
5 Day Devotional Guide on Psalm 84
Dominant Thought: The presence of God brings our hearts home.
You may want to refer to the sermon notes for further discussion. Take a moment to read the assigned Scripture and then reflect or discuss the questions. Customize this outline to your situation. Here are some questions to ask from the Discovery Bible Method:
What are you thankful for today or this week?
What challenges are you facing?
Have 2 or 3 people read the scripture out loud.
Can you summarize this passage in your own words?
What did you discover about God from this passage?
What have you learned about people from this passage?
How are you going to obey this passage? (What is your “I will” statement?)
With whom are you going to share what you have learned?
Based on this passage, what can we pray about?
Day 1: Psalm 84.1-4
Day 2: Psalm 84.5-7
Day 3: Psalm 84.8-9
Day 4: Psalm 84.10-12
Day 5: Psalm 84.1-12