Today's Reading: Psalm 49 & 84

Fainting for the Courts of the Lord

Psalm 84 is set in the context of Israel’s annual pilgrimages to God’s Temple, and it goes to the very heart of what the journey was all about: longing for heaven and longing for God. If Psalm 84 teaches us anything, it’s that this world is not our home; we’re “just passing through” and there’s nothing on this earth that can satisfy our soul. The people just couldn’t wait to get to God’s house to, once again, get their hearts filled with His joy, peace, and satisfaction.

Have you discovered this truth – that spending time worshipping in the house of the Lord far surpasses any other human experience? As one paraphrase puts it, “One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.*” The sons of Korah had discovered the soul-satisfying experience of entering the presence of the Lord. In Psalm 84, they express how much they long for a repeat of their encounter.

Your soul never will be satisfied without God. Our soul’s need for God is enormous, and that neediness only is what invites more of God’s grace into our lives.  When we acknowledge our basic need for His presence, our soul begins to grow in God. The Lord has hardwired every human spirit with a hollow void than can make us feel meaningless and unfulfilled. It is only by experiencing the Lord that this emptiness can be filled. And once you taste of God’s Spirit satisfying your soul, you long for – even faint for – the presence of the Lord. Augustine wrote, “O God, you made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

The Hebrew word for “faint” in this verse carries the meaning of “coming to the end; to be finished.” The sons of Korah use this word to describe the depth of their longing for God and for being in His courts (a reference to the Temple courts). They don’t just long for God, they come to the end of themselves and “faint” with the intensity of their longing.

Notice how the Psalm ends with a focus on God more than the Temple: “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, ever singing Your praise.” Heaven is a praiseworthy place, but only because it is inhabited by a praiseworthy Person—God. That’s why this Psalmist finds God’s dwelling place so lovable, because the Lord of hosts, the living God, lives there. Heaven is only heaven because of who’s there.  Does your soul long for - and faint for - the experience of heaven on earth? You don’t have to make a pilgrimage to a church or temple to find satisfaction for your soul. It is available right now to every Christ follower in the quietness of their own prayer closet.

*© Eugene H. Peterson ; The Message; by NavPress Publishing