My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

Order of Service

• Sermon
• Pastoral Prayer

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Sermon Title: My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

Scripture: Psalm 84

I. Contentment in God's House

A. The psalm is written by the sons of Korah, who were Levites serving as doorkeepers and gatekeepers in the temple

1. Their humble, menial service gives verse 10 a literal dimension: "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness"
2. Gustaf Wingren's Luther on Vocation (1957) captures the Reformers' view that sanctification is hidden in ordinary tasks, adorned with the favor of God

B. What makes service in God's house joyful is not the building itself but the presence of the Lord who dwells there

1. New covenant believers are now the temple of the living God — 1 Corinthians 3 and 1 Corinthians 6
2. Whatever mundane task we do, we do it for the glory of God — 1 Corinthians 10:31

C. The sparrow and the swallow as symbols — Psalm 84:3

1. The sparrow symbolized worthlessness in Hebrew culture — cf. Matthew 10:29–31: two sparrows sold for a penny, yet God cares for each one; how much more for image-bearers of God
2. The swallow symbolized restlessness, flying without rest until it finally nested — here it finds its rest in the temple, the abode of God
3. Augustine: "You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you"

II. The Pilgrimage to God's House

A. The backdrop may be the three pilgrimage festivals — Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths — when Israelites traveled to Zion — Psalm 84:5–8

B. The pilgrimage is not merely physical movement but a movement of the heart — Psalm 84:5

1. "In whose heart are the highways to Zion" — the soul's inclination is toward God and his dwelling
2. Daniel is a prime example: in exile in Babylon, the temple in ruins, he still prayed toward Jerusalem with open windows — Daniel 6

C. The valley of Baka — Psalm 84:6

1. The Hebrew word baka resembles the Hebrew word for weeping; many interpreters read this as the valley of weeping
2. Those whose hearts are set on God make dry, dark places into springs of water — they bring hope and comfort to others even in despair
3. Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from the House of the Dead contrasts the atheist prisoner, who spread despair, with the Christian prisoner, who showed love, compassion, and solidarity — the Christian viewed suffering through the lens of the cross as redemptive

D. "They go from strength to strength" — Psalm 84:7

1. Daniel remained strong in the Lord even in exile, and evidence suggests he never made the return journey to Jerusalem — remarkable given his prayers for restoration
2. Moses likewise never entered the Promised Land, yet endured "as seeing him who is invisible" — Hebrews 11:26–27
3. Both Moses and Daniel, dying in faith, would meet Abraham in the city whose designer and builder is God

III. The Requirement for Entering God's House and Presence

A. The summary of the whole psalm: "Blessed is the one who trusts in you" — Psalm 84:12

1. The temple was brought to ruin in Daniel's day because the hearts of the people were not highways to Zion — they treated the Lord like a god to be appeased and went after the idols of their hearts
2. The intense language of the soul longing, yes, fainting for the courts of the Lord describes true trust in God

B. Bernard of Clairvaux: "The reason for loving God is God himself, and the measure of love due to him is immeasurable love"

1. We love God not for what he gives but for who he is in himself — immutable, unshakable, unchanging, with life brimming over in his being
2. Psalm 84 captures this: God captivates the hearts of his people because of his own loveliness

C. Verse 9 and the anointed mediator — Psalm 84:9

1. "Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed" — the word anointed points to King David and/or the high priest who entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement as mediator for the people
2. Matthew Henry: the psalmist "has an eye to the mediator"; Calvin: "the object which the psalmist aspired after was to obtain divine favor through the intervention of the mediator"
3. To long for the presence of God is to put faith in the one who intercedes between us and God
4. At Christ's baptism the Father declared, "Behold — this is my Son, in whom I am well pleased" — the same cry of Psalm 84:9 now becomes our prayer: Lord, look on your anointed Son, be pleased with us, and never leave us nor forsake us

D. We enter God's presence through the anointed Priest-King, Christ — the way, the truth, and the life — who plants the highways to Zion within our hearts by his Spirit