Psalm 84

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 103:1-5
• Hymn — This Is My Father's World (#111)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Psalm Reading — Psalm 2 (responsive)
• Hymn — All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name (#296)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — God Be with You Till We Meet Again (#386)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Blessings of Dwelling in God's House

Scripture: Psalm 84

I. The Blessing of Dwelling in God's House (Psalm 84:1-4)

A. The psalmist's longing for the courts of the Lord

1. "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts" — an expression of deep desire, not mere duty
2. Soul, heart, and flesh all oriented toward the Living God

B. Background: The Sons of Korah

1. Descendants of Korah the Levite, who led a revolt against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16)
2. God judged Korah, yet spared his children — "the children of Korah did not die" (Numbers 26:11)
3. Assigned as temple doorkeepers (1 Chronicles 26); a humble, menial, but faithful office
4. Psalm 84 is their song — a deacon's psalm, a psalm of servants

C. The blessed are those who long to dwell with God's people in worship

1. God pronounces blessedness not on those seeking entertainment, but on those who delight in communing with the saints
2. For New Covenant believers, the gathered church is the dwelling place of God — wherever God's people assemble, there is God's house
3. The fullest satisfaction and deepest joy are found in communion and worship with God's people

II. The Blessing of Having God as Your Strength (Psalm 84:5-8)

A. Blessed are those whose strength is in the Lord

1. God upholds his people; he supplies the strength to live the life of faith
2. Only those dependent on the Lord receive the Lord's strength
3. Contrast with the celebrated self-made, self-sufficient man — the psalmist declares the opposite as true blessedness

B. "Whose hearts are the highways to Zion"

1. The blessed have a single-minded focus on communing with God
2. Their ultimate goal is God himself — to know him, worship him, and enjoy him
3. God must not be viewed merely as a means to our desired ends; union and communion with God himself is the greatest blessing of the gospel

C. They go from strength to strength, appearing before God in Zion

1. Their reward is God himself — they want to be with God, and God grants that blessing

III. The Blessing of Trusting in the Lord (Psalm 84:9-12)

A. The Lord is both provider and protector

1. "No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly" — the Lord's provision
2. "The Lord God is a sun and shield" — the Lord's protection

B. "A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere" (Psalm 84:10)

1. The psalmist would rather be a doorkeeper in God's house than dwell in the tents of wickedness
2. Because God is everything to him — his provision, protection, light, and deepest desire — no earthly riches can compare

C. Application and call

1. Do you love to be in the house of the Lord, gathered with the body of Christ, Lord's Day by Lord's Day?
2. If that desire is absent, humbly ask God to reveal what has stolen the affections of your heart, and turn back to behold and rejoice in Jesus Christ