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
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