Heart Songs: Week Three | Entering God's Sanctuary (Psalm 84)Sample

Determine to Dwell

As a young boy, John Paton felt the impact of his father's deeply ingrained habits of daily devotions. Each day he heard his father praying in the next room of the little cottage where he lived. Even as a boy of six, Paton noticed the bright countenance which perpetually appeared on his father's face.

As an adult, Paton explained that while the outside world might not understand the light on his father's face, "as children, we knew it reflected the Divine Presence in his life."

He said, "Never in temple or cathedral, on a mountain or in a glen, can I hope to feel that the Lord God is nearer, more visibly walking and talking with men, than under that humble cottage roof of thatch and oaken wattles. My father walked with God; why may not I?"

Years later, as a missionary in the South Pacific, John Paton experienced grave difficulties and breathtaking dangers. "Without the abiding consciousness of the presence and power of my Lord and Savior," he wrote, "nothing in the world could have preserved me from losing my reason and perishing miserably. It is the sober truth that I had my nearest and most intimate glimpses of the presence of my Lord in those dread moments when musket, club, or spear was being leveled at my life" (adapted from Robert J. Morgan, Nelson's Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000]). Paton knew firsthand the truth of the psalmist who was determined to dwell in God's presence. His father's life modeled the reality of these verses from the Psalms.

Read the verses below and answer the following questions:

"O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;

Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

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" (Psalm 84:8-10).

Practical Observation

1. What two requests did the psalmist make? What additional name did he give to God?

Always Pray. Prayer is the pilgrim's source of strength. No matter where we are, what we're doing, or who we're with, we can always pray. The God of Jacob, who mercifully gave Jacob all things when he deserved absolutely nothing (see Genesis 25-27), also hears our prayers. "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16).

2. What else did he desire of God? Who was God asked to look upon?

Always Protects. The psalmist wanted God to behold or consider that he, an anointed Levite, humbly and wholeheartedly acknowledged God as his shield and protector. Jesus, God's Anointed, "is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of His saints" (Proverbs 2:7-8).

3. In your own words, describe the psalmist's feelings about dwelling with God.

Personal Application

a. The psalmist called God "our shield." Specifically, how has Jesus shielded you from worry, fear, or anger?

b. We learn that it's better to be a doorkeeper in God's house than among the wicked. Doorkeepers, or gatekeepers, guarded the thresholds to many locations. Believers serve as doorkeepers at the threshold of God's temple—our bodies. "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" (1 Corinthians 3:16, NIV). What do you need to guard against crossing the threshold of your eyes, ears, and tongue?

c. We also serve as guards at the entrances to our homes. In what ways can you guard the entrance to your home against the influences of the world?