Psalm 84: 1-4, 7, 10: To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.] How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Zion is the monument of praise and everyone of them in Zion appears before the Lord. So we are before the Lord. David wanted to be in God's house. What are your preferences? Is it God's house more than anywhere else?
We need to pay attention to our desires. Preference is proven by values–by the way we live. It's what we love most, what gets the most of our attention–this is what we prefer. Exactly what do we want? We go where we want; we act how we want; we pursue what we desire. Where does God's house fit in? It's easy to say church is the most important, but do you prove it out?
David was known as King David. The people gave him respect and honor, that is until he came to the tabernacle. There he was just like anybody else. David said he'd rather be just like everyone else in the house of God. David saw the prosperity in Jerusalem and the house of God in a tent, but still he'd rather be in the house of the Lord.
We can get used to coming to church, even get used to church. We can lose sight of what church really is. Many of our homes are better than here, have newer carpets or paneling, but God is pleased to dwell here. Never take that for granted. This church is around 45 years old, but God blesses and sanctifies this place. If we lose sight of that we'll get slack on coming.
There is a specialness about the house of God. Verse 1 says how "amiable" or lovely and attractive is God's house–even that old tent. How long since we looked at the church as lovely. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; it's our attitude. God makes it attractive, not us.
In verse 2 David says his soul longeth–he was excited about to get to come to church. He fainted for the courts of God. Do you hate Wednesday prayer meeting? Do you "have" to come? What attracts us? Do the things of God lose their attraction? Who is to blame–the choir, the teachers, the one next to you? No. It is ourselves who are to blame. God is here and that makes it exciting. Just that fact should excite us. If something or someone else has to excite you to come, there is a problem. Do you dread it? Get the right attitude. Come for yourself because it is the house of God. With hit and miss attendance, you lose your excitement.
Verse 3: ea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. What is David saying? What did he find at the house of God? He looked down and saw the altar and around and saw the door, the floor, the poles of the tent. What else? He looked up and saw a house and nest for the birds–they were allowed to stay; no one removed them. It is precious to belong to God's house. The birds had a place and so did David. We all generally sit in the same place–we have our place here. We can see the place of ones who are not here, who ought to be here. I get to belong here; you get to belong. When that ceases to mean something, you will lay out. When the feelings of our physical bodies are low, we push ourselves to come. Some so able do not; it's not precious; it has lost its excitement. Let your heart never lose that.
For next week look closely at this passage and pay particular attention to verse 10; what three things does he "rather?"
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 