CHAPTER 84

AUTHOR UNKNOWN: THE BLESSING

¹How amiable are Your Tabernacles, O LORD of Hosts! (The word Tabernacles, in the Hebrew, is Mishkan. It means dwellingplace or where God dwells. The word is also the plural of majesty, expressing the greatness and glory of the Sanctuary.

The doctrine of this Psalm is that the Sanctuary is a home of pure and satisfying bliss, and that the road to it is a highway of happiness, even though it passes through a valley of weeping.)

²My soul longs, yes, even faints for the Courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh cries out for the living God. (The Psalm is somewhat Davidic. It is possible that it was written by David when he was being chased by Saul. Only those who have the longing of Verse 2 will reap the blessing of Verse 11.)

³Yes, the sparrow has found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Your Altars, O LORD of Hosts, my King, and my God. (The Psalmist is saying that as the sparrow and the swallow have a house and a nest, likewise, until man finds God and Gods Dwelling Place, man will have no home. That home can be found only by trust in Christ and the Cross, of which the Altars were a Type.)

⁴Blessed are they who dwell in Your House: they will be still praising You. Selah. (Unceasing praise [I Chron. 9:33] fills the hearts and clothes the lips of those who dwell with God.)

⁵Blessed is the man whose strength is in You; in whose heart are the Ways of them. (Over and over again, the Ways of God are contrasted with the ways of man. Blessed is the man who follows the Ways of God [His Way is in His Word]. There is no blessing to the man who follows the ways of man.)

⁶Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also fills the pools. (The valley of Baca actually means the valley of weeping. It produces a well of tears. If the spirit of the Believer is carnal, this valley will only be a valley of weeping, but to the Spiritual Heart, it will be a new nature and unfailing reservoir of strength and refreshment.)

⁷They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appears before God. (The expression, strength to strength, refers to enough strength for the day but not the morrow. There will be a fresh supply of strength awaiting at that time.)

⁸O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. (Now that the weary traveler has come through the valley of Baca and has made it a well, going from strength to strength, he finally stands before the God of Jacob.)

⁹Behold, O God our Shield, and look upon the Face of Your Anointed. (The Lord here is referred to as our Shield, meaning that He has protected us on this trying journey, in effect, the journey of life. Now He will let us see the Face of Your Anointed the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only Mediator between God and man [I Tim. 2:5]. Now that we have this Mediator [Your Anointed], we are given assurance of our audience with God.)

¹⁰For a day in Your 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. (Now that the Sanctuary has been reached and we are able to stand before the Lord and see His Face, the conclusion is easily reached. A few moments in the Presence of God is greater than anything Satan or the world would have to offer a thousand times over. It is worth a thousand valleys of Baca to have this short time in the Presence of God.)

¹¹For the LORD God is a Sun and Shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them who walk uprightly. (We must not make the mistake in this Passage of assuming that we know what the good things are! We must allow Him to give us the good things that He desires to give.)

¹²O LORD of Hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You. (The man who places his trust in God will always be blessed.)