The blessed people (Psalms 84)

Day 39: The blessed people

[Psalms 84]

Abraham Lincoln had several nicknames, and one of them was ‘honest Abraham’. This is the story of his teenage years when he was working as a store clerk. After a customer came and paid for a think that he bought, Lincoln later learned that he had not paid back 10 cents. He struggled all night with 10 cents, then visited that customer who was living three miles away, the day after the holiday, and returned the 10 cents. People around him praised him for his honesty. But Lincoln rather said, ‘I don't know why I should be praised. I will not be a person praised for what I should do, but I will be a person who is praised for doing more than I should.’ After Lincoln became a lawyer, the first thing he did was give free services for unjustly treated people who couldn't sue because they had no money. On the first day of the lawsuit, he said, ‘I am happy to keep my promise to God that I swore when I was a teenager’ (Internet).

I think Abraham Lincoln was the channel of blessing that God used. This thought came to me when I thought about the blessing of freedom for many: ‘God has given me abundant blessings by using my parents and parents-in-law as channels of blessing.’ Because of the blessings God has given me through them, I also want to be a channel of blessing to others. To do so, I would like to meditate on the words of Psalms 84. In Psalms 84, the word ‘blessed’ appears three times (vv. 4, 5, 12). When I think about this word, I would like to meditate on three things about who the blessed man is. I hope and pray that all of us can be the blessed people and be used by the Lord to be the channels of blessing to other.

First, the blessed people are those who dwell in the house of the Lord.

Look at Psalms 84:4 – “Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah.” This psalmist may have been a priest who came to Jerusalem for a pilgrimage (Park). He longed so much to go to the temple (vv. 1-4). Why did he so long for the temple of the Lord? The reason was because the temple of the Lord was a place to pray to God (Park). The psalmist longed for the Lord's temple deeply because he prayed to God there, met God through prayer, and communed with Him. In that longing, the psalmist confessed, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!” (v. 1) This is what Dr. Park said: ‘The beauty of the church is not the building, but the fact that there is the Spirit of God’ (Park). The temple of God is a house of prayer. Because God came near to him when he pray to God in that temple (Deut. 4:7), he confessed that it was very lovely because he experienced God’s presence in the temple. To what extent did he yearn for the Lord's temple? Look at Psalms 84:2 – “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” The psalmist yearned for God's courts so much that his body was weakened. The reason he longed for the Lord's temple was because he longed for God's presence through prayer. Therefore, his heart and his flesh cried out for the living God. As he cried out to the Lord Almighty, his King and his God, he expressed his heart like this: “Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young-- a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God” (v. 3). Here, the psalmist expressed his heart of begging to go to the temple of the Lord because he was sad by the situation in which he was far away from the temple even though the sparrow found the nest for herself, where she might have her young (Park). That was why he said: “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (v. 10). Here, dwelling in the courts of the Lord refers to a life in which we can have true fellowship with God (Park). The psalmist's confession that living one day in true fellowship with God is better than thousand days living in an evil life teaches us that we should yearn for the Lord and His Church more and more.

Like the psalmist, we must yearn for God's temple, the church. We must go up to God's temple and gather together, hold on to His word of promise, and experience God's presence while devoting ourselves to prayer. The church, the house of the Lord, is a house of prayer. As we experience the taste of the prayer, we must yearn for God's temple more and more. In longing, we must always praise the Lord while dwelling in the Lord's house like the blessed man (v. 4). I still remember that in 2003, at the retreat of the Church Renewal Pastors Association, after I received the Lord’s promise of Matthew 16:18 “… I … will build my church …” and sang the hymn “I Love Thy Kingdom”, I shed tears while thinking about Victory Presbyterian Church. Especially when I was singing verse 1, I couldn’t control my crying: “.I love Thy Kingdom, Lord, The house of Thine abode, The Church our blest Redeemer saved With His own precious blood.” And as I was singing verse 3, “For her my tears shall fall, For her my prayers ascend; To her my cares and toils be given, Till toils and cares shall end,” I determined to come back to Victory Presbyterian Church and faithfully serve His church. When we think of that heaven, the eternal home of God, How much more can we not yearn to dwell there? We, like the psalmist, have already made a pilgrimage toward heaven, the true New Jerusalem temple. That’s why we, like the ancestors of faith in Hebrews 11, we confess that we are strangers and exiles on the earth (Heb. 11:13). We are the ones who desire a better country (v. 16). As we go to that better country, we will see the Lord face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). And we will dwell with our Lord forever. Therefore, we must set our mind on the things above and keep seeking the things above (Col. 3:1-2). Such people are truly the blessed people.

Second, the blessed people are those whose strength is in the Lord.

Look at Psalms 84:5 – “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” The blessed man, the psalmist, longed for the temple of the Lord and wanted to receive the strength from God as he cried out to Him with strong passion to go up to the temple. This he cried out to God in prayer, longing to experience the presence of God who was his strength (18:1). Why did the psalmist so long for the strength of the Lord? Look at Psalms 84:7 – “They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.” The reason he longed to experience God's presence and gain the strength He provided was because he knew that only with the strength God provided that he could go up to the temple of Zion (Park). Why did he need God's strength to go up to the Lord's temple? The reason is given in verse 6: “As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.” This is what Dr. Park said: There were pains and difficulties, such as ‘valley of tears,’ in the planning and efforts of the Israelites living abroad to visit the temple in Jerusalem once. However, if you endure it and pass through it, you will end up with “a place of springs,” that is, the comfort and joy of the soul. And there, we spiritually experience seeing God while receiving the gift of heaven like “the autumn rains” (Park). Therefore, the psalmist cried out to God, “Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob. Selah” (v. 8).

Among my favorite gospel songs, there is a song called ‘The blessed man’. If you look at the lyrics of the song, it reads: ‘You are a blessed man, who is strengthened by the Lord and has the highway of Zion in your heart. Lord is so pleased with you. You are a blessed man, who long to dwell in the house of the Lord and praise Him always. The Lord loves you very much. Your service is beautiful praise and your devotion is a fragrant prayer. Wherever you step on, the name of the Lord will be exalted.’ This song is based on Psalms 84. Whenever I listen to this song, there are many times when I get strength. When I hear or sing this praise, I am strengthened by the Lord and I am more eager to dwell in the house of the Lord. Even if I am discouraged, I will rise again with the power of the Lord and move toward heaven. Especially, when I think about the things above and think of those saints of faith who are there in heaven, I miss that heaven more and more in my heart. Perhaps such heart can be referred to as “the highways to Zion”. The highways to Zion that is deeply engraved in our hearts becomes more and more heavenly. The steps to walk that highways with the Lord are steps full of strength and hope. Therefore, we are the blessed people.

Third and last, the blessed people trust in the Lord.

Look at Psalms 84:12 – “O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!” In what kind of God did the psalmist trust?

The psalmist trusted in God who is “our shield”.

Look at Psalms 84:9 – “Behold our shield, O God, And look upon the face of Your anointed.” The psalmist trusted in God more and more as the shield of the church, as there were many pains and difficulties like a valley of tears on this journey toward the temple of Zion. This is what the psalmist said: “My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart” (7:10).

The psalmist trust in God who gives grace and glory.

Look at Psalms 84:11 – “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” The God the psalmist trusted in is the God who gives grace and glory, but doesn’t withhold anything good to those who walk uprightly. The psalmist trusted in such God.

This is what the hymn “Simply Trusting Every day” the verse 1 says: “Simply trusting ev'ry day, Trusting through a stormy way; Even when my faith is small, Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly, Trusting as the days go by; Trusting Him whate'er befall, Trusting Jesus, that is all.” We must trust only in God who is our shield and who gives grace without sparing good things and glory to those who act honestly. As the years go by, we must rely more and more on only Jesus in the midst of our fragile faith that we realize our weakness and helplessness every time we encounter difficult things. Those who trust only in the Lord are blessed people.

You are blessed people who come up and longing for the Lord's house in this rainy evening and praying and praising the Lord. You who cry out to God and receive strength from the Lord and have the highways to Zion in your heart are blessed people. As the years go by, you who trust in the Lord more and more are the blessed people. The Lord is so pleased with you. The Lord loves you so much. Your service is a beautiful praise. Your dedication is a fragrant prayer. Wherever you go, the name of the Lord will be exalted.

With sincerely wish that we become a channel of blessing to other as “The blessed people”,

James Kim (Being strengthened by the Lord and rejoicing over the blessed people who have the highways to Zion in their hearts)