Notes for ‘The Dwelling Place’ - Psalm 84 (Psalm Trees and Waterways)
Psalm 84 “The Blessedness of Dwelling in the House of God…”
Vs1-4 - Rest and Provision in the Dwelling Place (the Presence of God)
V1-2 -my soul longs, yes even faints/heart and flesh cry out - intense expressions of desire - physical longing to be in the presence of God
V3 - the birds build their nests and care for their young in the Dwelling Place of God - Even your altars - safety and provision within the place of sacrifice
Matt 6:33 -> Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you - what ‘things’? - examples of the birds of the air (and the lilies of the field) to tell us that we don’t need to worry at all about our basic needs - seeking the Kingdom means seeking the King - we too can build our homes and care for our children in the Dwelling Place of God
V4 - Blessed (eh’-sher) simply means ‘happy/content’ - this is an invitation to trust God that as you seek Him, He will provide for your needs and for the needs of the next generation - (Matt 6:26)
V5-8 - Restoration and Empowerment in the Dwelling Place
V5 - whose strength is in You - not in our own strength/abilities/connections/resources - whose heart is set on pilgrimage - person on a journey to travel to the place of God’s presence - we are sojourners
V6 - Valley of Baca (weeping) - not ‘if’ but ‘as’ - you WILL pass through valleys on your journey to the Dwelling Place - THEY MAKE IT a spring - how?
- rain falls on mountaintops, flows down, gathers into the low places, saturates the ground - aquifers of God’s blessing right under your dusty feet - just dig until we hit water - THEN the rain also comes down and also covers it with pools (blessings)
V7-8 - go from strength to strength and appear before God in Zion - His Dwelling Place
V9-12 - Revival and Revolution in the Dwelling Place
V9 - Your anointed - To seek first the Kingdom, we MUST seek first the King - Intercessor (shield) - He is why we have access at all
V10 - I would rather be a doorkeeper - sons of Korah listed among the gatekeepers of the Tabernacle in 1 Chronicles 26 - echoes King David’s heart in Psalm 27 - One thing I have desired… Psalm 91 -> He who dwells in the secret place… promises of protection for those who abide in the dwelling place
V11 - sun and shield - light and protection - grace and glory - really the ultimate treasures - No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly - Everything you personally want is found in the Dwelling Place
V12 - TRUST is the purest form of worship
What is the temple now?
1Cor. 6:19 -> ‘your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit’
1 Peter 2:5 -> you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house…
Eph 2:19-22 - are being built together - progressive tense, not yet complete - yet future vision of the ‘True Temple’ - can’t be concerned with our position in this temple - only when the corporate Body of Christ fully apprehends then we can truly house the presence of God - the shekinah glory - and be a dwelling place of God in the Spirit
Matt 22 -> Jesus simplified the Law and the Prophets into 2 commandments - careful that we don’t focus on the second commandment to the exclusion of the first - we cannot build ourselves together - only the Master Builder can do that and only when His living stones are yielded to Him - Starts with a few people with hearts set on pilgrimage deciding to dig…