Psalm 84:1-2
How lovely is Your
dwelling place, LORD Almighty! My soul
yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
We return to Psalm 84 this week with a prayer from the sons
of Korah. For a review of information
regarding the sons of Korah read my Bible study called How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place. The sons of Korah were the
temple assistants, and spent much time in the temple of God. In the last study
on Psalm 84 we considered the words of the sons of Korah used to describe the
house of God. They describe it as lovely, and that took me to an entire study
on church services and how lovely they are in the house of God. This week we
will focus our attention on Psalm 84:2.
The sons of Korah say in the second verse, “my soul yearns,
even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the
living God.” Wow, did men say their souls yearn for the house of God to the
point of fainting? I can’t necessarily see men yearning for something so
strongly. Women, we yearn for things because we are emotional beings. We
sometimes let our feelings overwhelm us. So I can see it for a woman. I can see
us yearning to almost fainting. Maybe I just don’t know men like this or don’t
truly understand them. How could these men fill such a yearning for the house
of God? The courts of the Lord or the temple of God were the house of God and
the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant held the 10 Commandments. 2
Chronicles chapters 5-7 tell of the events of the arrival of the Ark to the
temple and the dedication of the temple.
2 Chronicles 5:7-14
7 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner
sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of
the cherubim. 8 The
cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and
its carrying poles. 9 These poles were
so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of
the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still
there today. 10 There was nothing in
the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
11 The priests then withdrew from the Holy
Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of
their divisions. 12 All
the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and
relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and
playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding
trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and
musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the
singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:
“He is good;
his
love endures forever.”
The
priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it.
At the dedication of the temple by King
Solomon, the priests, Levites and the Israelites saw the glory of the Lord fill
the temple. God’s presence arrived.
2 Chronicles 7: 1-3
When Solomon
finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering
and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it.
3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming
down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on
the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks
to the Lord, saying,
“He is good;
his
love endures forever.”
Again
we are told the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Even the Israelites saw it happen. The sons of Korah (meaning the descendants of
Korah or the Korahites) were Levites and worked in the temple
throughout the history of Israel. I believe
they were there. If not this event so
powerful would not have escaped mention to them. I am no scholar but I think they at least
knew of the event based on the Psalms they wrote.
Psalm 84: 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Why did they yearn for the courts of the Lord and cry out
for the living God? Because they had
either witnessed God’s presence or heard witness of it. This was no small event. The Israelites saw fire come down and the
glory of God above the temple. Then the
glory of God filled the temple. This was
monumental. God’s presence was
there. The exact place where these men
worked daily once held the glory of God!
They knew that. It was not a
vision or a dream. God’s presence
actually filled the temple and there were many witnesses to the event. The sons of Korah yearned for that filling of
His glory that happened on the day of dedication. Their souls were hungry to see God’s
glory. Their hearts and even flesh cried
out for Him because He had been there.
They knew He was real and had revealed himself before. So yes their souls yearned, even fainted for
the courts of the Lord. Would you?
Would
you? Imagine if the actual visual glory
of God had been in your church while you attended one day. It may be difficult to visualize God’s glory,
so just think of Jesus. Try to imagine
Jesus in church with you one day. Everyone
can see him. Everyone is worshiping
him. Just like the Israelites on the day
of dedication, everyone in the house of God has knelt on the
floor with their faces to the ground in worship and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures
forever.” Not one eye is
distracted. Not one word is spoken, only
worship. Every child is quiet and in
reverence to Jesus. Every man and woman
has their face to the ground in complete love for Jesus. Wow!
What a site that would be! I love
to imagine that. So now do you
understand why the sons of Korah yearned for that again and cried out for the
living God to return?
Jesus has come.
Jesus has saved. Jesus will
return. Why don’t we cry out for
that? Why don’t we yearn to fainting to
see his face and his glory like the sons of Korah? What are we afraid of today? The sons of
Korah had no fears in crying out to see God.
They had not experienced a Savior like us. We have been saved. Our sins have been wiped away. So why don’t our souls absolutely yearn for
Jesus. I will be honest with you; my
soul has not been yearning to a point of fainting for Jesus to return. Maybe we want more people saved or maybe our
flesh does not want to leave earth. I
don’t know but I think we should all ask ourselves this question “Do we yearn for
Jesus and do our hearts and flesh cry out to Jesus?”
Can you say?
“My soul yearns, even
faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the
living God.”
I may love my God with my heart and soul. I may seek Him daily. I may love his Word. I may love Jesus whole heartedly. I may crave time with God. I may worship God. But does my soul yearn, even faints, for the
courts of the Lord and his presence? Do
my heart and my flesh (wow) cry out for the living God? Listen to those words carefully. I ask myself these questions and without
condemnation can truthfully tell you I do not yearn to a point of fainting. As much as I love God and come to tears when
I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, I do not come close to fainting. Maybe perhaps when we are filled with the
Holy Spirit we can faint, but feeling faint when worshipping God is not common
to most of us.
So what now you ask.
Good news! Yes! Good news! Today we can change things. We can take the words from the sons of Korah,
who knew of the presence of God and may have experienced God’s glory fill the
temple, and follow them. Let’s follow
the sons of Korah in worship. Let’s
imagine what they may have seen when the glory of God filled the temple and all
people fell to their knees with faces on the ground for him. Let’s follow their lead and cry out to
God. Let’s say to God, “Dear God my soul
yearns, even faints, for your presence; my heart and my flesh cry out for you
the living God.” Let’s say to Jesus, “My
soul yearns, even faints, for you Jesus; my heart and my flesh cry out to see
you Jesus.” Why would we not let our
souls hunger and yearn for Jesus? He is
our savior. Why would we not let our
hearts and flesh cry out to the living God and for Jesus return? He gave us everything. Well we can.
We can right now. As I write this
and hear these words in my head I feel a change. When I speak these words to our heavenly
Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit my soul begins to year. My heart and flesh begin to cry out for the
living God and to see Jesus. It is not a
far stretch. Say it. Mean it.
Repeat it. Let God know you yearn
for the presence of him. Make it clear
by using the words from our friends the sons of Korah.
Psalm 84:2
My soul yearns, even
faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the
living God.
This week begin to yearn for God by using these words
often. Begin to let your heart and flesh
cry out for the living God. Let your
mouth speak it. Let your soul hear
it. Let your heart and flesh testify to
what you say. Let God know your desire
is to yearn for him. So say it. Give him this. This week give your Father God and Savior
Jesus this. The Holy Spirit inside of
you will surely assist you in your efforts.
The Holy Spirit can guide you on this path. It is his pleasure. Ask him for help and enjoy a whole new way to
worship!
I love you all!
Truly
