How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! Psalm 84 A good man in relation to the scenes of public worship Homilist. I. As DEPRIVED of these privileges. In his deprivation he reveals — 1. A devout admiration for them (ver. 1). It is the law of mind, that blessings when lost always appear to us more precious. Lost health, lost property, lost friends, lost privileges. 2. An intense longing for them (ver 2). It is "the living God "that gives these scenes attractions to the soul. It is not the sublimity of the site, the splendour of the architecture, or the magnificence of the services, that the godly soul hungers for, but "the living God." 3. A high estimation of them (ver. 3). What the house is to the sparrow, and the nest to the swallow, true worship is to the devout soul — the home, the resting-place. II. As IN QUEST of these privileges (ver. 5). Not only are they blessed whose home is in the sanctuary, and who spend their days in perpetual praise; but those also are blessed who, though at a distance, have God for their strength and help, and press on in pursuit of religious privileges. 1. Though they encounter difficulties, they are still blest (ver. 6). 2. Though they encounter difficulties, they shall with increasing strength pursue their way until they reach their blessed destiny (ver. 7). III. As in CONTEMPLATION of these privileges. 1. He prays (vers. 8, 9). He invokes the Almighty to attend to his prayers, and to "look upon the face," or to favour, His "anointed," that is, the king. What titles he here applies to the Almighty! "O Lord God of Hosts," "O God of Jacob," "O God our shield," etc. 2. He avows the transcendent privileges of public worship (ver. 10). 3. He exults in the relation and beneficence of God (ver. 11). ( Homilist. ) Delight in God's house G. F. Pentecost, D. D. I. LONGING FOR GOD. 1. Soul-hunger (ver. 2). A man in good health enjoys his food, and, when he is hungry, he desires it. But once the soul is quickened, it must have "bread to eat that the world knows not of." The "heart and flesh cries out for the living God." 2. God's altars (ver. 3). The altars of God are suggestive of the forgiveness of sins, of communion, and protection. For there were the various sacrifices made which brought the soul into communion with God, through the burnt offerings, the meat offering, the peace offering, and the sin and trespass offering; there the man who was fleeing for his life might ever find a place of safety and refuge. Having expressed this desire, he ascribes two other titles to the Lord: "my King and my God." He who would call God his King must yield himself by faith to God, as well as do homage to Him. 3. The blessings of God's house (ver. 4) "In God's house everything will be granted to the soul, and nothing be asked of it in return but the praise of Him." II. THE BLESSED MAN IS A BLESSING. 1. The blessed man described (ver. 5). His will and desire, all his powers and purposes are so surrendered to God, that God can use him in blessing others. 2. How the blessed man becomes a blessing (ver. 6). God has ordained that His people, especially those who themselves have been filled and refreshed by His own blessed life, by dwelling in His house, shall be the means of saving the world. What a blessed mission is this; what a glorious privilege! 3. Reflex blessings (ver. 7). (1) "They go from strength to strength." Every grace in us is increased by the use of it ( Isaiah 40:29-31 ). (2) "Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God" ( Matthew 25:23 ). 4. The prayer of the blessed man (ver. 8). III. THE BLESSINGS OF SALVATION (vers. 9-12). God is the complete protection of His saints. He is the whole armour with which we clothe ourselves. 1. Complete satisfaction. Sometimes the unbelieving world looks with pity upon the Christian who has turned his back upon all the carnal pleasures of the world; but the answer of the man who has found satisfaction in God and in His service is simple and emphatic (ver. 10). To be such a privileged servant of God is better than to be like Dives in the midst of all his feasting and revelling. 2. Every need supplied (ver. 11). Protection from all evil, and every needful thing He will supply out of His energetic goodness, as the sun causes the earth to be fruitful with every good thing by the power of his rays. Chief among these things is "grace" for the time being, and "glory" for the time to come. What can man want more? 3. A final beatitude (ver. 12). May the Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob, our King and our God, fulfil all His goodness to us in these things, by creating in us a longing thirst and desire, which shall be converted into prayer, and trust, and real possession. ( G. F. Pentecost, D. D. ) Delight in God's house Monday Club Sermons. The great truth which underlies this psalm is that God reveals Himself especially in the sanctuary. In the house of God we find — I. PARDON. II. PEACE. As its walls shut out the noises of the world, so its worship shuts out earthly confusion and strife. III. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH. Hearts fail, consciences yield, life-strings snap, because men do not seek the God of Jacob to strengthen them out of Zion. We must bear hardships and sorrows. Every road, from the cradle to the grave, leads through the valley of Baca; but pilgrims to Zion change barrenness to bloom, singing together as they go. IV. SPIRITUAL JOY. Such delight is wholly disconnected from earthly advantages; it flourishes upon their loss. Pascal wrote, "Happiness is neither within us nor without us; it is the union of ourselves with God." There is no necessary limit to this joy, none except the capacity of the human spirit. Practical inferences: — 1. A church should be built to manifest God. 2. The worship of the Church should seek the same end. Music, Scripture, prayer, teaching, have but one objects — to draw the soul nearer to God. 3. There is no substitute for the sanctuary. Bigotry may close its doors, but the early Christians consecrate a chapel in the catacombs, and Covenanters make cave or barn or sea-beach a temple. Neglect of the sanctuary proves not abundance, but lack of spiritual life. ( Monday Club Sermons. ) A psalm of exile E. Johnson, M. A. We seem to see here a spirit chastened by grief, taught by suffering to sing and to pray and to hope. And such is the general tone of the psalms of the dispersion. They remind us of the old and deep lesson, that the chastisements which seem not to be joyous but grievous in the present, will yield hereafter the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. The psalm falls naturally into strophes. 1. In the first of these, containing the first four verses, he calls to mind and enthusiastically describes his feelings in thinking of the Temple. Nothing is left to the exile but the solace of memory, faith and hope. And memory and imagination, acting by the law of association, call up the details of the scene. He dwells fondly upon the birds nestling as they have been from time immemorial permitted to nestle in the Temple. This thought, that the God of the Temple afforded shelter to the birds of the precincts, swallows, doves, storks, etc., was held by Gentiles no less than Jews. Men of Kyme, says Herodotus, went to the Temple of Apollo, near Miletus, to inquire concerning one who had taken refuge with them from the Persians what they should do, and the oracle replied that he was to be given up to the Persians. One of the men of Kyme ventured to treat the oracle as false, and himself made renewed inquiry. But the same answer was returned. He then went round the Temple, and disturbed the sparrows and other birds who had built their nests in the Temple. Meanwhile there came a voice from the sanctuary to Aristodikos, saying, "Most profane of men, how durst thou do these things? Dost thou overthrow my suppliants from the Temple?" "O King," was the retort, "it is thus that thou succourest thy suppliants, for thou biddest the men of Kyme give up a suppliant." There is something very beautiful in the idea of the Divine Being as the protector of small, helpless creatures like the house-haunting birds, and we at once remember the words of Jesus, "Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father." If God takes thought for sparrows, much more does He for men. 2. From the birds his thoughts glances to the worshippers, who are still able to frequent the Temple; and he recalls the pilgrim throngs on their way thither. "Blessings on those who dwell in Thy house; still will they praise Thee. Blessings on the men whose strength is in Thee, who love to think of the pilgrim way." Those whom he mentions as dwelling in Jehovah's house — i.e. in the Holy City — are under the yoke of a foreign conqueror in these last years of Judah, and in a very depressed condition. Yet the psalmist anticipates that they will still be able joyfully to sing of the Divine victory. And then, as to the believers scattered about in foreign lands, and who will travel up to Zion by the pilgrim caravans, they will have manifold hardships by the way; but confidence in Jehovah will give them strength, and they will overcome them all. With lively sympathy he thus depicts them — "They passing through the Baca valley," etc. We may compare the imagery with that in Isaiah where he depicts the desert solitudes as bursting out into rose blossoms, and being filled with songs; the parched land transformed into a pool; its thirst satisfied with springs of water; the haunts of dragons becoming green with reeds and rushes. Upon a great highway the ransomed people of Jehovah are seen returning, and coming to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads ( Isaiah 35 .). And the thought and the imagery are very similar when the prophet Hosea speaks of the Valley of Achor (woe) being transformed into a Door of Hope, and the people singing there as they did in the days of yore when they came up out of the land of Egypt. These things are for us allegories or parables of the soul. It is in the soul, and the soul alone, that we are to look for these wondrous transformations of deserts into gardens, and parched valleys into springs of living water. It is through undying trust and hope and love, cherished in the midst of every suffering scene of life's pilgrimage, that these marvels must be wrought. 3. And now, from these soothing exercises of memory and imagination, the royal poet turns to himself, and composes his spirit in an attitude of deep humility and holy prayer. "O Jehovah, God of Hosts, hear my prayer: attend, O Jacob's God. O God, our shield, behold, look upon thine anointed's face!" This, then, is the language of a king. In virtue of his high office and dignity he would have enjoyed in former days a place of high honour in the Temple. But rather, he says, he would be as the humblest menial in a great house, and, after the Oriental custom, prostrate himself in the dust in the presence of his Master, than dwell, as he is dwelling now, possibly in circumstances of comfort or even of luxury, among the heathen. For supposing this psalm to have been composed by King Jeconiah, while he was in honour and esteem at the Court of Babylon, the language is peculiarly impressive as an evidence of the piety of his spirit. "Sun," he proceeds, "and shield is the eternal God! Grace, glory will Jehovah give; will not refuse happiness to those who walk in innocency." And then the psalm ends, as it were, with a sigh of relief and repose, betokening that the flow of feeling has found its true outlet and rest. "O Jehovah of Hosts, blessings on the men who trust in Thee!" We may draw a few simple lessons from the beautiful psalm. We need to see the blessings and the privileges of our life in perspective, at a distance, before we can truly realize their worth. The youth knows not how happy he has been at home, feels not in all its preciousness the blessing of a mother's love, till he looks back upon the early scene from some distant place, and from amidst scenes that are strange to his heart. And so of those scenes of worship in which our spirit was educated for eternity. The afterglow of Sundays, the reflection amidst busy hours on songs and sermons that have been listened to not always with interest at the time — these are experiences often the most enriching. It follows, that all our diligence in attending to spiritual things now must secure for us a far-off interest of good — memories of sweetness and refreshment, it may be, in some distant land or scene of suffering, like that of the psalmist in exile. But there are other lessons. The soul deprived of its wonted props, its associations of place and circumstance, is taught more entirely to throw itself upon the spiritual resources. His soul was east down within him at the hill Mizar, and it is cast down in Babylon. Yet why so? He knows that God is to be sought and found there no less than in the Temple. What are space and time to the worship of the Spirit? And what is the use of the glorious faculty of imagination but that we may, in a sense, cancel time, and live in fellowship with the great and good of the past — that we may break down the bounds of space and pass to our friends across seas and deserts, and join with all saints in that worship which is invisible and unending, and is fixed to no particular spot of earth? As Fenelon says, "We may be very near to one another without meeting, or be far apart while occupying the same room." God unites all and obliterates the greatest distance where hearts united in Him are concerned. In that Centre be who is in China or Japan and those in France meet one another. But perhaps the thought that most naturally offers itself from the study of the psalm is the blessedness of religious memories. ( E. Johnson, M. A. ) Mingled music T. Spurgeon. This psalm has well been called "The Pearl of Psalms." It shines with mild, soft radiance, comparable to that precious gem. I would myself speak of it as being full of mingled music, and mingled music is sometimes of the sweetest. For the most part the note is high, and the strain is sweet; yet there is a tone of sorrow underlying and interleaving all. David sings, indeed, but he sings of his sorrows. Happy is the man who can sing in the time of grief, and turn his very sadness into themes for melody. I. "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts." This is a EULOGY of the house and worship of the living God. Whereever David may have been in person, his heart was yonder. The windows of his soul were ever open towards Jerusalem. Is not the title which David applies to God instructive? "O Lord of Hosts." The tabernacle of the sanctuary seemed to David like the pavilion of the King or general, in the very centre of the camp, and he, as one of the King's mighty men, looked towards that pavilion, gazed at its waving signal, and longed to be soon beneath its very shadow. The Church of the living God, the God of Hosts — for He is still the God of battles, and a Man of war — is the place wherein the soldiers refurnish themselves, and refurbish their arms. The worship of His house, the means of grace, these are as the armoury whence the shield the helmet, the breastplate, the sword, the preparation of the Gospel of peace for the feet, are all provided. It is also as the refreshment place, where God succours and sustains the weary warriors, wells breaking up and leaping forth at their very feet, as they did at Samson's, if needs be. II. Then follows AN ELEGY (ver. 2). David was bereaved indeed. He had lost the sanctuary. He was away from the place where God revealed Himself particularly. They tell me that those who have dwelt among the glorious mountains of Switzerland cannot bear to live away from them. They pine and die, away from their native land. After some such fashion David looked Zionward. Absence made his heart grow fender still. What was it that he longed for? For the courts of the Lord. Ah, burner for the sake of the courts themselves. What are the courts without the King? He seeks not the place, but the presence; not the courtiers, but the monarch; not the subjects, but the Lord Himself. III. AN ALLEGORY (ver. 3). The birds were free to visit the sacred place. "Oh," thought David, "would I were as privileged as they." He would not change places with them. He did not wish he were a bird, but he wished he had the access they enjoyed, and the familiarity and temerity that characterized them. What birds were they? Only sparrows, merely swallows, the one the most worthless and the other the most restless of birds; yet were they privileged to be where David at that time was debarred from going. Oh, prize your privileges. Make God's house your home. Love it not only for the benefit you may get from it yourselves, but for the blessing it may bring your children. "The swallow hath found a nest for herself, where she may lay her young." Thank God for the church, and the Sunday school, and the Bible classes. Despise none of them; they will bless both you and your households. IV. AN AUGURY (ver. 4). The birds dwelt in the precincts of the Holy Place, and, according to their nature, they praised, they sang. Swallows and sparrows are not song birds, you say. Ah, but they chirped and chattered, and this was their best praise to God. Now just as the Roman augurs pretended to foretell coming events by the flight of birds and other means, so it seems to me — perhaps it is a quaint conceit — David ventures to prophesy that all who dwell in the Lord's house will be still praising Him. "Why," he says, "there are those birds chattering, chirping, twittering all the while, So long as they have so secure an abode, their hearts go forth in praise to God. There also are the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim, the servants of the priests, surely so long as they have a hand in this work they will be full of praise to God." Certainly this is true of the upper world. I do not know that I could suggest a better epitaph for the happy Christian who praised God on earth, but is praising Him better still on high, than this word or two from our closing verse. What are they doing yonder? "Still praising, still praising." I would fain have it on my own tombstone. I could not wish a better word than that, "Still praising." "Still praising." Yes, when eternity grows old, "Still praising." They practised here, and rehearsed on earth, and now they can see Him face to face, and praise Him more than angels can. Oh, begin His praises here, that you may continue them hereafter. ( T. Spurgeon. ) The beauty of the house of God A. G. Brown. I. WHEREIN LIES THE BEAUTY OF THE HOUSE OF GOD? It does not consist in mere outward loveliness. In proportion as one learns to worship God in the spirit he becomes unconcerned about the particular architecture of the building. As a piece of workmanship he may admire it as much as any, but as a place of worship it possesses no more charm than the country barn devoted on the Lord's Day to the preaching of the Gospel. I fear that in the present day reverence for mere bricks and mortar is becoming a very fashionable error. Beauty of design in the sanctuary walls is thought more of than beauty of holiness in sanctuary worship. This is the result of a religion that goes no deeper than the eye sees. But to the man educated of God, mere external symmetry will be powerless to evoke the psalmist's exclamation of "how amiable are Thy tabernacles." He wants something more. Something that touches the inner springs of the soul. A house of God without worship is a fiction and a lie. II. WHEN THIS BEAUTY IS MOST SEEN. The amiability of God's tabernacle is not always equally perceived. There are times when we are led to utter the words of our text with a deeper emphasis than usual. Seasons when an unprecedented glory fills the house. I will just mention a few times when God's house seems to possess a charm almost beyond description. Certainly we must place first on the list the few Sabbaths immediately following conversion. What a blessed freshness there is about the worship then; it is something so new, so different to any joy experienced before that its very novelty lends enchantment. The beauty of the sanctuary is also wonderful when there is that in the service specially suited go our present experience. III. THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE BEAUTY IS APPRECIATED, AND THE ONLY MAN WHO CAN APPRECIATE IT AT ALL. The first word of the text gives us an idea of the extent of David's appreciation, and well may the verse close with a note of admiration. The psalmist felt that it was impossible to tell in words the beauty of the place. He could but exclaim "how amiable" and leave it for hearts which have felt the same to fathom the depths of the word. This we know, however, that in his eyes the tabernacle made of skins outshone in beauty all the silken tents of luxury and sin, and one day in its Courts was worth more to him than a thousand spent elsewhere. The "how" defies all measurement and description. The only man who can behold this beauty is also learnt from one word — the little word "thy." It was because the tabernacle was God's that its beauty appeared so great. Now, no alien from God can find a joy in anything because it is God's. He who loves not a person can never see a beauty in that person's house simply because it is his. Affection for the inhabitant must precede love for the habitation. ( A. G. Brown. ) The believer's love for the sanctuary S. Bridge, M. A. The Christian loves the sanctuary — I. BECAUSE IT IS THE DWELLING-PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH. In the works of creation and providence we behold Him coming forth as a God of ineffable goodness, unable, as it were, from the graciousness of His nature, to withhold unnumbered good things even from the fallen. But it is the sanctuary which is the tabernacle of His glory. There He specially reveals Himself as the God of all grace; there is the mercy-seat; there, sinful though we be, we may draw nigh to the God of our spirits through the High Priest of our profession, the Son of His love. II. BECAUSE HE FEELS PLEASURE IN ITS HALLOWED EMPLOYMENTS. He knows by experience that as in Ezekiel's vision the healing waters flowed from the sanctuary, and imparted life and fertility to every region through which they wound their way, so the gifts and graces of God's Holy Spirit, descending from the heavenly Zion, pour their refreshing and sanctifying current through the courts of the Lord's house, and that from its services, as from consecrated channels, he drinks of that stream which makes glad the city of God. III. BECAUSE IT IS THE SYMBOL OF BETTER THINGS TO COME. Our mental joys within these earthly temples are but the beginnings and the foretastes of the joys of heaven; our songs in the assembly of the great congregation, they are but the representative of the vast multitude who are even now singing the new song of the redeemed; and all the privileges which surround us, and in which we now delight, are the only outline of the final state of perfection when we appear in that land of which the Lord God is the light, and the glory, and the sanctuary. Oh! how glorious shall be that service compared with this! ( S. Bridge, M. A. ) My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Psalm 84:2 The profoundest hunger of human nature Homilist. The words "soul, heart, flesh," are here used to represent the whole man, human nature in its entirety; and this human nature is here longing, craving, hungering, crying out for the "living God,' nothing less. This means — I. That NOTHING LESS WILL SATISFY HUMANITY. Not a whole universe, not a million pantheons of dead gods; it is the "living God." II. That humanity REQUIRES NO LOGIC TO PROVE THAT THERE IS A GOD. So inwrought into man is the belief of His existence, that the whole being cries out for Him. III. That ANTI-THEISM IS ANTI-HUMANITY. Anti-theism is a lie to our common nature. ( Homilist. ) The heart's cry after God A. G. Brown. I. THE DESIRE OF HEART AND FLESH — THE LIVING GOD. Sibbes well observes that the desires of the heart are the best proofs of saintship; and if a man wishes to know whether he is really a saint or no, he can very soon find out by putting his finger upon the pulse of his desires, for those are things that never can be counterfeit. You may counterfeit words; you may counterfeit actions; but you cannot counterfeit desires. 1. Every saint has within his breast that which is actually born of God, and therefore it cries out after its own Father. 2. Every believer has the Spirit of God dwelling within him, and if he has the Spirit of God dwelling within him, it is only natural that he should desire God. 3. The experience of earth often makes you long more for God. After you have discovered the hollowness, the disappointing nature of the world. II. THE INTENSITY OF THIS DESIRE. 1. It is an intensity that drowns all other desires "Crieth out for God." I passed a little child the other day being led by the hand by a kind-faced policeman; and as the little thing walked by his side, I could hear it amidst its sobs, continually crying, "Father! father! father! father!" Yes, in this great city-full of people, the only face the child waned to see was the face of its father. He knew he had lost a father's hand, for he had wandered from a father's side, and he wanted father back again. "My heart and my flesh crieth out for God." Just as a lost child cares not for a million faces it may meet along the road — it wants to look at its father's face — so the true born child of God can rest satisfied with nothing short of a sight of his God. "My heart and my flesh crieth out for God." 2. It is an intensity of desire that creates pain. The language of our text is the language of a soul which can bear its anguish no longer in silence. It is a cry extorted by inward pangs. ( A. G. Brown. ) The soul's want of God A. A. Livermore. The chief want of man is God. The soul is for God, and God for the soul. What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 1. The first step in this answer to the deepest want of human nature is the conviction that God is — that God lives. Heart and flesh cry; where is the response? Joyful is the moment in the soul's experience when the reality of God's being comes over us with its full power. The first need of the soul is to feel that God is real — the great reality and essence of all things. And if sin had not shut up and darkened the windows of our being, this gracious light would flow in on every side. 2. Then we are to feel that He is Present and Living. The belief of not a few seems to be in a past God, a deceased, departed Deity, and the world as a huge skeleton out of which all the soul has gone, not an abode for the indwelling Power, but the ruins of His former stately palace. But He has not made the world and then retired from it. He is not an absentee proprietor. He is the present Creator, the living God, as on the world's first morning. He dyes the flower, and ripens the corn. Laws are but His uniform modes of working. Forces are but the heavings of the indwelling Almightiness. He is, and He is present. He overflows creation. He is all in all. 3. But the heart and flesh have another note in their cry, and it is for a Good Being, or, as our Saxon has it, God, that is, the Good, whom we may love. God, the Good, is in all systems, all beings, and in all working according to His own being, that is, for good." Father is His proper name. Nature, Providence, Jesus, all teach this comforting lesson. And When the heart in its hopes and affections, and the flesh in its griefs and pangs, cry, the response comes from every side, and is echoed and re-echoed in endless and harmonious sounds — God is good. 4. The want of the soul is not only for a good, but for a great God, whom we may adore. It admires greatness with an even earlier and intenser admiration than goodness. Our tastes change very much from youth onward. Things we once passionately admired cease to move us. The soul has got beyond them. It exhausts one thing after another. But there is one youthful sentiment that is never outgrown — that rises with our intellectual stature, and spreads with our moral expansion, and soars with our spiritual aspirations — and that is our faith in the Great God — "And, as it hastens, every age But makes its brightness more divine." 5. The nature of man has been so created as to seek after a Wise and Infinite Intelligence. We admire with huge respect the men even who have been able to pocket a little science, who can read a dozen languages, who are largely conversant with affairs, and know things as they are. A skilful invention is heralded from hemisphere to hemisphere. He who has read one of the characters in Nature's alphabet, or spelled out a few syllables or words in her mighty lore, is hailed with all the titles of glory. But no libraries, geniuses, scientific or literary associations, no fragments and crumbs that fall from the table of knowledge, can meet the unextinguishable thirst of man for the spiritual and the immortal. Let him not think to fill an infinite craving with anything less than the Infinite. But if I have at all rightly interpreted the significance of this cry, which is for ever ascending from the breast, and seeking after God, you may ask, How shall it be satisfied? I would not dogmatize, and say by any one way, but rather by all ways. It is more in the waiting, receiving, and teachable state of the soul, than it is by methods, cultures, churches, and dispensations. Seek, then, for the truth, and in the truth God will ever be coming, and entering in and taking possession of the soul, and driving out every darkness and weakness. Rest not short of God. ( A. A. Livermore. ) The religious sense A. Cowe, M. A. What is the secret of the enduring charm, the comforting and ennobling influence of the psalms? Is it not to be found, in part at least, in the frank revelation made by the psalmist of his own personal experience and aspiration? His prayers are not addressed to the congregation I In rapturous praise and in fervent prayer he pours out his soul unto God. So wide and varied is the range of his experience that alike in joy and sadness, in exultation or contrition, in victory or defeat, we find in his confession of sin, his jubilant gratitude, his martial ardour, his triumphant faith, the best statement of our own sin and failure, expectation and yearning. Thus to the very depths of our nature does he go down when, as in the text, he exclaims, "My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." I. MAN HAS A RELIGIOUS SENSE. It is customary to speak of the "five senses"; but modern physiologists affirm the popular enumeration to be defective. It does not take into account, we are told, the sensations of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, or the sensations of organic life. Neither does it recognize the "muscular sense," whereby we measure and regulate our bodily activities. We hear also of an "internal sense," or the mind's knowledge of its own operations. Then, again, we occasionally hear of the "aesthetic sense," whereby we have the perception or feeling of beauty. Philosophers, as Shaftesbury, have affirmed the existence also in man of a "moral sense," meaning that moral distinctions are not due to reasoning processes, but are recognized by a kind of feeling, or "an immediate and undefinable intuition." In like manner may it be affirmed that man has a religious sense. Just as we are constituted to taste and touch, to have a sense of the beautiful, and to have a sense of right and wrong, so are we constituted to feel after God. "Wherever man is there religion is," said Max Muller, who also affirms, "I maintain that religion, so far from being impossible, is inevitable if only we are left in possession of our senses." Just because you are a man, made by and for God, the religious element within you constrains you, in spite of yourself, to exclaim of all earthly pursuits and pleasures promising satisfaction and peace, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." II. THE RELIGIOUS SENSE NEEDS TRAINING. Whatever be the stage of moral and spiritual experience, the limits of development have not been reached. The religious sense can always be "touched to finer issues." By neglect it pines and withers. Through disuse the facility of speech in a foreign tongue lessens and disappears, and how completely the mastery has been lost may not be known till on some sudden emergency, to our utter humiliation, we find the words will not come when we "do call for them"; and we who once could swiftly weave

Benson Commentary Psalm 84:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! Psalm 84:1-2 . How amiable are thy tabernacles — That is, thy tabernacle, termed tabernacles; either, 1st, Because it consisted of several parts; or, 2d, To denote its excellence; as behemoth, or beasts, is put for one eminent beast, ( Job 40:15 ,) and wisdoms for excellent wisdom, Proverbs 1:20 . My soul longeth, &c. — With vehement desire, to tread again the courts of the Lord’s house, and join with his people in the holy worship there performed. Yea, even fainteth — So the Seventy, reading ???????? ; the Hebrew, however, ??? ???? , vegam caletha, is literally, yea, even is consumed, namely, with grief, for want of thine ordinances, with ardent longings to enjoy them, and with the delay of this comfort, and the disappointment of my hopes and expectations. My heart and my flesh crieth out — My soul and body are pained; or the passion of my heart maketh my tongue cry out; for the living God — To know and love him, and to enjoy his favour and communion with him. Psalm 84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Psalm 84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Psalm 84:3 . Yea, the sparrow hath found a house — That is, a habitation, namely, a nest, as it follows. Even thine altar — Or nigh thine altar, as the Hebrew particle, ?? , eth, often signifies, and is rendered by the Seventy and the Chaldee, Jdg 4:11 . In the Hebrew it is altars, namely, that of burnt-offerings, and the other of incense: near which these birds might be truly said to have their nests, if, as is probable, they were either in some part of the tabernacle or temple, in which the altars were; or in some buildings belonging to or near them. Thus Bishop Patrick understands the verse, whose paraphrase is, “It grieves me, O mighty Lord, whose subject I am, and infinitely engaged for thee, to see the very birds, who know nothing of thee, enjoy that liberty which is denied me; who am here lamenting my distance from thee, when the sparrows and the ring-doves” (Hebrew, ???? , deror, which the Seventy render ?????? , a turtle, and others a wild-pigeon) “have their constant residence at thy house; and there live so undisturbed, that they build their nests, and bring forth their young in the rafters of it.” The passage, however, is interpreted somewhat differently by several expositors, who read it thus: My heart, &c., crieth out for the living God, ( yea, as a sparrow, till she finds a house, and a swallow a nest for herself, where to lay her young,) for thine altars, &c., that is, my heart, &c., crieth out for thine altars, &c. Or thus, “The sparrow findeth a house, &c., but when shall I find access to what I far prefer to a house of my own, the house of God?” Others again read, Even as the sparrow, that is, with the same joy and delight as the sparrow findeth her house, and the swallow (or wild-pigeon ) her nest, where she hath laid (so ???? , shata, properly means) her young; so should I find thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. This last seems the most just and easy exposition of the words. But whichsoever of the interpretations may be preferred, “the design of the passage,” as Dr. Horne has justly observed, “is evidently to intimate to us, that in the house, and at the altar of God, a faithful soul findeth freedom from care and sorrow, quiet of mind, and gladness of spirit; like a bird that has secured a little mansion for the reception and education of her young. And there is no heart endued with sensibility which doth not bear its testimony to the exquisite beauty and propriety of this affecting image.” Psalm 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. Psalm 84:4 . Blessed, &c. — “Here the metaphor is dropped, and the former sentiment expressed in plain language;” are they that dwell in thy house — That constantly abide in, or frequently resort to, thy house; intending either the priests and Levites, who kept constant watch there; or such devout Jews as Anna, Luke 2:37 , who were there continually. They will be still praising thee — They are constantly employed in that blessed and glorious work, of praising and serving thee, in the place which thou hast appointed for that end. Observe, reader, “Blessed are, not the mighty and opulent of the earth, but they that dwell in God’s house, the ministers of the eternal temple in heaven, the angels and the spirits of just men made perfect; their every passion is resolved into love, every duty into praise; hallelujah succeeds hallelujah; they are still, for ever, praising thee. And blessed, next to them, are those ministers and members of the church here below, who, in disposition, as well as employment, do most resemble them.” — Horne. Psalm 84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them . Psalm 84:5 . Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee — Who trusteth in thee as his only refuge, strength, and portion. Or, who had strength in, or rather, for, (as the Hebrew ? , beth, frequently signifies,) thee; that is, who hath (or who useth, for having is sometimes put for using: see Matthew 13:12 ; 1 Corinthians 7:2 ) ability of body, and mind for thee, and for thy service; or for that journey, which he here seems to insinuate, and which in the following words he particularly describes. For it must be remembered, that all the males of Israel were required to come to the tabernacle or temple thrice every year, Exodus 34:23-24 ; and that some of them lived at a great distance, and consequently, if they went, had to take a long and troublesome journey, which also might sometimes be attended with danger, and other inconveniences; and therefore such as wanted either courage or bodily strength, might be discouraged, or hindered from undertaking it, and so might be deprived of the benefit of enjoying God in his solemn and public worship. Which, though in some cases it might not be their sin, yet surely was a great affliction and infelicity; and, consequently, it was a blessed thing to be free from those impediments, as the psalmist here observes. In whose heart are the ways of them — That is, of those men, who passing, &c., as in Psalm 84:6 . But these words, of them, are not in the Hebrew; and, as several learned men have observed, disturb or obscure the sense. Others therefore seem to render the clause better, and more agreeably to the Hebrew text, thus: In whose heart are thy ways, (the pronoun thy being often understood,) namely, those ways which lead to thy house; or, the ways, so called, by way of eminence, the ways of, or to, Zion, (as they are called, Lamentations 1:4 ,) as appears from Psalm 84:7 . Thus the meaning is, Blessed are they whose thoughts and affections are strongly fixed upon the highways leading to Zion, and upon their journeys thither; who have both strength of body, as is said in the former clause, and readiness of mind, as is here added, to go to Zion; which are the two qualifications requisite for that journey. Blessed are they whose hearts are so set upon Zion, that they are, from time to time, exciting themselves and others, saying, Arise, let us go up to Zion, unto the Lord our God, Jeremiah 31:6 . “Such a company of sojourners are true Christians going up to the heavenly Jerusalem: such ought to be their trust in God, and such the subject of their thoughts.” — Horne. Psalm 84:6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. Psalm 84:6 . Who passing — Or, being used to pass; for he seems not to speak of one particular act, but of a common course or custom; through the valley of Baca — A place so called, which some Jewish and other writers affirm to have been a very dry place, and therefore incommodious for travellers in those hot countries, and in hot seasons. Which place may be here mentioned, not exclusively of other ways; for this highway being but one, and on one side of Jerusalem, could not be a general way for all the Israelites thither; but synecdochically for all places of like nature, which made their journey to Jerusalem unpleasant or inconvenient. But their zeal for God’s service did easily overcome this and other difficulties. Or the clause may be rendered, the valley of tears, as this valley might be called, for the trouble or vexation which travellers found there by reason of drought, or other inconveniences. Make it a well — Or, wells; that is, they dig divers little pits or wells in it for their relief. This trouble they willingly undertook, rather than to neglect the opportunity of going up to Jerusalem at their solemn times. And possibly they did this, not only for themselves, but for the benefit of other travellers who came after them; whereby they showed both their piety and charity. The rain also filleth the pools — God recompenseth their diligence in making pits, or cisterns, with his blessing, sending rain wherewith they may be filled, and the thirsty travellers refreshed. It may be proper to inform the reader, that the words may be rendered more agreeably to the Hebrew text, yea, or also pools, or cisterns; that is, they make pools or cisterns, which the rain filleth, or, may fill; which may receive and keep the rain that God sendeth for the refreshment of these travellers, whose great numbers made the provision of water more necessary. But it is not necessary to understand this, and the foregoing clause, of what these passengers did for their own use, as they travelled through this, or such like places; but it may be meant of what pious persons had done before that time; who, having their hearts set upon God’s house, and the ways leading to it, and being desirous to advance the worship of God, and to encourage the people to come to Jerusalem, endeavoured to make those ways easy and convenient; and particularly because those eastern countries were hot and dry, and springs of water were scarce there. Psalm 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. Psalm 84:7 . They go from strength to strength — The farther they travel onward in that way, instead of being faint and weary, as travellers in such cases are wont to be, they grow stronger and stronger, being greatly refreshed with the comfortable end of their journey, expressed in the following words. Or, they go from company to company. For they used to travel in troops or companies, for many reasons, and some companies were before others accordingly as they were nearer to the place of worship, or more diligent or more expeditious in travelling. And such as were most zealous would use their utmost endeavours to outstrip others, and to overtake one company of travellers after another, that so they might come with the first unto God in Zion. Every one appeareth before God — This is here added, as the blessed design and fruit of their long and tedious journey, as that which put life into them, and made them bear all inconveniences with great cheerfulness — they are all graciously admitted into the presence of God in Zion. But the words are and may be otherwise rendered, until every one of them appears before the God of gods in Zion. Or, the God of gods shall be seen (or, useth to appear, or, manifest himself ) in Zion. Which is mentioned in the close, as the reason of that affection and industry which are described in the foregoing passages. Psalm 84:8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Psalm 84:8-9 . O Lord God of hosts — Who canst easily remove and subdue those enemies who banish and keep me from the place of thy worship; hear my prayer — In restoring me to thy house and service; which is my chief desire, Psalm 84:2-3 . Behold, O God our shield — Look graciously upon me, O thou that takest thy people under thy peculiar protection, pursuant to thy covenant with Abraham our father, and who hast hitherto been our defence against the most powerful enemies; and look upon the face of thine anointed — Upon me, who, though a vile sinner, am thine anointed king. Or, by God’s anointed, he may mean Christ, whose proper name is the Messiah, or, the anointed One. So the sense may be, Lord, I deserve not one kind look from thee, because, by my great wickedness, I have procured thy just displeasure and this banishment; but look upon thy Christ, whose coming and meritorious passion, though future to us, are present to thee, and for his sake look upon me. Psalm 84:9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. Psalm 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalm 84:10 . A day in thy courts is better than a thousand — Namely, elsewhere; which is necessary to complete the sense; or, in the tents of wickedness; which may be supplied out of the next clause. Such ellipses are usual in Scripture. “One day spent in meditation and devotion affordeth a pleasure, far, far superior to that which an age of worldly prosperity could give. Happier is the least and lowest of the servants of Jesus than the greatest and most exalted potentate who knoweth him not.” I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God — Which was generally considered as a mean and contemptible office, and belonged to the common Levites, 1 Chronicles 9:19 ; and 1 Chronicles 26:1 , and therefore might seem very dishonourable for David; than to dwell in the tents of wickedness — Than to live in the greatest glory, and plenty, and pleasure; which is often the lot of the wicked, Psalm 17:14 ; Psalm 73:6-7 . “He is no proper judge of blessedness who hesitates a moment to prefer the condition of a penitent in the porch to that of a sinner on the throne. If this be the case upon earth, how much more in heaven! O come that one glorious day, whose sun shall never go down, nor any cloud obscure the lustre of his beams; that day, when the temple of God shall be opened in heaven, and we shall be admitted to serve him for ever therein!” — Horne. Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11 . The Lord God is a sun — To enlighten, quicken, direct, and comfort all his people; whereas they that live without God in the world walk in darkness and know not whither they go, as is said John 12:35 ; and shield — To defend them from all their enemies, and from those dreadful and destructive miseries which attend all other men. The Lord will give grace — His favour and friendship, which are better than life. Psalm 63:3 . And all the blessed fruits of it, especially the influences, gifts, and graces of his Spirit; and glory — Not the vain glory and splendour of this world, of which David would not have spoken so magnificently, because, upon all occasions, he expresses a great contempt of these things; but the honour which comes from God here, and that eternal and ineffable glory laid up for God’s people in the future world. No good thing will he withhold — Nothing that is truly good in itself, and which would be good for them. This should be well observed, because sometimes afflictions, which are evil in themselves, are good, and necessary, and highly advantageous to good men; while the good things of this world, as they are called, would be very hurtful to them, as is verified by frequent experiments. From them that walk uprightly — That worship and serve God sincerely, and order their conversation aright. Which clause David seems to add designedly, to prevent or remove an objection against what he had now advanced, which might be taken from his own case, whereby it appeared that God was no such sun or shield to him, but exposed him to great and sore calamities. Of which, as being certain and evident, David here assigns the true reason, which was, not any defect in God’s goodness and all-sufficiency, but only his own gross misconduct, whereby he had clouded this sun, and cast away this shield, and forfeited these privileges by departing from his integrity. Psalm 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 84:12 . Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee — Who, though he be deprived of the opportunity of paying that outward worship to thee which is appropriated to thy house; yet giveth thee that inward worship which is more valuable in thy account, and places his chief trust, and hope, and happiness in thee alone. Apply these two verses to the Lord Jesus: “He is a sun to enlighten and direct us in the way, and a shield to protect us against the enemies of our salvation; he will give grace to carry us on from strength to strength, and glory to crown us when we appear before him in Zion; he will withhold nothing that is good and profitable for us in the course of our journey, and will himself be our reward, when we come to the end of it. While, therefore, we are strangers and sojourners here below, far from that heavenly country where we would be, in whom should we trust to bring us to the holy city, the new Jerusalem, of which the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple, but in thee, O Saviour and Redeemer, who art the head of every creature, the captain of the armies of heaven and earth, the Lord of hosts, and King of glory? Blessed, thrice blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.” — Horne. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 84:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! Psalm 84:1-12 THE same longing for and delight in the sanctuary which found pathetic expression in Psalm 42:1-11 and Psalm 43:1-5 , inspire this psalm. Like these, it is ascribed in the superscription to the Korachites, whose office of door keepers in the Temple seems alluded to in Psalm 84:10 . To infer, however, identity of authorship from similarity of tone is hazardous. The differences are as obvious as the resemblances. As Cheyne well says, "the notes of the singer of Psalm 42:1-11 and Psalm 43:1-5 are here transposed into a different key. It is still ‘ Te saluto, te suspiro ,’ but no longer ‘ De longinquo te saluto ’ (to quote Hildebert)." The longings after God and the sanctuary, in the first part of the psalm, do not necessarily imply exile from the latter, for they may be felt when we are nearest to Him, and are, in fact, an element in that nearness. It is profitless to inquire what were the singer’s circumstances. He expresses the perennial emotions of devout souls, and his words are as enduring and as universal as the aspirations which they so perfectly express. No doubt the psalm identifies enjoyment of God’s presence with the worship of the visible sanctuary more closely than we have to do, but the true object of its longing is God, and so long as spirit is tied to body the most spiritual worship will be tied to form. The psalm may serve as a warning against premature attempts to dispense with outward aids to inward communion. It is divided into three parts by the Selahs. The last verse of the first part prepares the way for the first of the second, by sounding the note of "Blessed they," etc., which is prolonged in Psalm 84:5 . The last verse of the second part ( Psalm 84:8 ) similarly prepares for the first of the third ( Psalm 84:9 ) by beginning the prayer which is prolonged there. In each part there is a verse pronouncing blessing on Jehovah’s worshippers, and the variation in the designations of these gives the key to the progress of thought in the psalm. First comes the blessing on those who dwell in God’s house ( Psalm 84:4 ), and that abiding is the theme of the first part. The description of those who are thus blessed, is changed, in the second strophe, to those in whose heart are the [pilgrim] ways," and the joys of the progress of the soul towards God are the theme of that strophe. Finally, for dwelling in and journeying towards the sanctuary is substituted the plain designation of "the man that trusts in Thee," which trust is the impulse to following after God and the condition of dwelling with Him; and its joys are the theme of the third part. The man who thus interpreted his own psalm had no unworthy conception of the relation between outward nearness to the sanctuary, and inward communion with the God who dwelt there. The psalmist’s yearning for the Temple was occasioned by his longing for God. It was God’s presence there which gave it all its beauty. Because they were "Thy tabernacles," he felt them to be lovely and lovable, for the word implies both. The abrupt exclamation beginning the psalm is the breaking into speech of thought which had long increased itself in silence. The intensity of his desires is expressed very strikingly by two words, of which the former (longs) literally means grows pale, and the latter fails, or is consumed. His whole being, body and spirit, is one cry for the living God. The word rendered "cry out" is usually employed for the shrill cry of joy, and that meaning is by many retained here. But the cognate noun is not infrequently employed for any loud or high-pitched call, especially for fervent prayer, { Psalm 88:2 } and it is better to suppose that this clause expresses emotion substantially parallel to that of the former one, than that it makes a contrast to it. "The living God" is an expression only found in Psalm 42:1-11 , and is one of the points of resemblance between it and this psalm. That Name is more than a contrast with the gods of the heathen. It lays bare the reason for the psalmist’s longings. By communion with Him who possesses life in its fulness, and is its fountain for all that live, he will draw supplies of that "life whereof our veins are scant." Nothing short of a real, living Person can slake the immortal thirst of the soul, made after God’s own life, and restless till it rests in Him. The surface current of this singer’s desires ran towards the sanctuary; the depth of them set towards God; and, for the stage of revelation at which he stood, the deeper was best satisfied through the satisfaction of the more superficial. The one is modified by the progress of Christian enlightenment, but the other remains eternally the same. Alas that the longings of Christian souls for fellowship with God should be so tepid, as compared with the sacred passion of desire which has found imperishable utterance in these glowing and most sincere words! Psalm 84:3 has been felt to present grammatical difficulties, which need not detain us here. The easiest explanation is that the happy, winged creatures who have found resting places are contrasted by the psalmist with himself, seeking, homeless amid creation, for his haven of repose. We have to complete the somewhat fragmentary words with some supplement before "Thine altars," such as "So would I find," or the like. To suppose that he represents the swallows as actually nesting on the altar is impossible, and, if the latter clauses are taken to describe the places where the birds housed and bred, there is nothing to suggest the purpose for which the reference to them is introduced. If, on the other hand, the poet looks with a poet’s eye on these lower creatures at rest in secure shelters, and longs to be like them, in his repose in the home which his deeper wants make necessary for him, a noble thought is expressed with adequate poetic beauty. "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air roosting places, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." All creatures find environment suited to their need, and are at rest in it, man walks like a stranger on earth, and restlessly seeks for rest. Where but in God is it to be found? Who that seeks it in Him shall fail to find it? What their nests are to the swallows, God is to man. The solemnity of the direct address to God at the close of Psalm 84:3 would be out of place if the altar were the dwelling of the birds, but is entirely natural if the psalmist is thinking of the Temple as the home of his spirit. By the accumulation of sacred and dear names, and by the lovingly reiterated "my," which claims personal relation to God, he deepens his conviction of the blessedness which would be his, were he in that abode of his heart, and lingeringly tells his riches, as a miser might delight to count his gold, piece by piece. The first part closes with an exclamation which gathers into one all-expressive word the joy of communion with God. They who have it are blessed," with something more sacred and lasting than happiness, with something deeper and more tranquil than joy, even with a calm delight, not altogether unlike the still, yet not stagnant, rest of supreme felicity which fills the life of the living and ever-blessed God. That thought is prolonged by the music. The second strophe ( Psalm 84:5-8 ) is knit to the first, chain-wise, by taking up again the closing strain, "Blessed the man!" But it turns the blessedness in another direction. Not only are they blessed who have found their rest in God, but so also are they who are seeking it. The goal is sweet, but scarcely less sweet are the steps towards it. The fruition of God has delights beyond all that earth can give, but the desire after Him, too, has delights of its own. The experiences of the soul seeking God in His sanctuary are here cast into the image of pilgrim bands going up to the Temple. There may be local allusions in the details. The "ways" in Psalm 84:5 are the pilgrims’ paths to the sanctuary. Hupfeld calls the reading "ways" senseless, and would substitute "trust"; but such a change is unnecessary, and tasteless. The condensed expression is not too condensed to be intelligible, and beautifully describes the true pilgrim spirit. They who, are touched with that desire which impels men to "seek a better country, that is a heavenly," and to take flight from Time’s vanities to the bosom of God, have ever "the ways" in their hearts. They count the moments lost during which they linger, or are anywhere but on the road. Amid calls of lower duties and distractions of many sorts, their desires turn to the path to God. Like some nomads brought into city life, they are always longing to escape. The caged eagle sits on the highest point of his prison, and looks with filmed eye to the free heavens. Hearts that long for God have an irrepressible instinct stinging them to ever-new attainments. The consciousness of "not having already attained" is no pain, when the hope of attaining is strong. Rather, the. very blessedness of life lies in the sense of present imperfection, the effort for completeness, and the assurance of reaching it. Psalm 84:6 is highly imaginative and profoundly true. If a man has "the ways" in his heart, he will pass through "the valley of weeping," and turn it into a "place of fountains." His very tears will fill the wells. Sorrow borne as a help to pilgrimage changes into joy and refreshment. The remembrance of past grief nourishes the soul which is aspiring to God. God puts our tears into His bottle; we lose the benefit of them, and fail to discern their true intent, unless we gather them into a well, which may refresh us in many a weary hour thereafter. If we do, there will be another source of fertility, plentifully poured out. upon our life’s path. "The early rain covers it with blessings." Heaven-descended gifts will not be wanting, nor the smiling harvests which they quicken and mature. God meets the pilgrims’ love and faith with gently falling influences, which bring forth rich fruit. Trials borne aright bring down fresh bestowments of power for fruitful service. Thus possessed of a charm which transforms grief, and recipients of strength from on high, the pilgrims are not tired by travel, as others are, but grow stronger day by day, and their progressive increase in vigour is a pledge that they will joyously reach their journey’s end, and stand in the courts of the Lord’s house. The seekers after God are superior to the law of decay. It may affect their physical powers, but they are borne up by an unfulfilled and certain hope, and reinvigorated by continual supplies from above; and therefore, though in their bodily frame they, like other men, faint and grow weary, they shall not utterly fail, but, waiting on Jehovah, "will renew their strength." The fabled fountain of perpetual youth rises at the foot of God’s throne, and its waters flow to meet those who journey thither. Such are the elements of the blessedness of those who seek God’s presence; and with that great promise of certain finding of the good and the God whom they seek, the description and the strophe properly ends. But just as the first part prepared the way for the second, so the second does for the third, by breaking forth into prayer. No wonder that the thoughts which he has been dwelling on should move the singer to supplication that these blessednesses may be his. According to some, Psalm 84:8 is the prayer of the pilgrim on arriving in the Temple, but it is best taken as the psalmist’s own. The final part begins with invocation. In Psalm 84:9 "our shield" is in apposition to "God," not the object to "behold." It anticipates the designation of God in Psalm 84:11 . But why should the prayer for "Thine anointed" break in upon the current of thought? Are we to say that the psalmist "completes his work by some rhythmical but ill-connected verses" (Cheyne)? There is a satisfactory explanation of the apparently irrelevant petition, if we accept the view that the psalm, like its kindred Psalm 42:1-11 and Psalm 43:1-5 , was the work of a companion of David’s in his flight. If so, the king’s restoration would be the condition of satisfying the psalmist’s longing for the sanctuary. Any other hypothesis as to his date and circumstances fails to supply a connecting link between the main subject of the psalm and this petition. The "For" at the beginning of Psalm 84:10 favours such a view, since it gives the delights of the house of the Lord, and the psalmist’s longing to share in them, as the reasons for his prayer that Jehovah would look upon the face of His anointed. In that verse he glides back to the proper theme of the psalm. Life is to be estimated, not according to its length, but according to the richness of its contents. Time is elastic. One crowded moment is better than a millennium of languid years. And nothing fills life so full or stretches the hours to hold so much of real living as communion with God, which works, on those who have plunged into its depths, some assimilation to the timeless life of Him with whom "one day is as a thousand years." There may be a reference to the Korachites’ function of door keepers, in that touchingly beautiful choice of the psalmist’s, rather to lie on the threshold of the Temple than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Whether there is or not, the sentiment breathes sweet humility, and deliberate choice. Just as the poet has declared that the briefest moment of communion is in his sight to be preferred to years of earthly delight, so he counts the humblest office in the sanctuary, and the lowest place there, if only it is within the doorway, as better than aught besides. The least degree of fellowship with God has delights superior to the greatest measure of worldly joys. And this man, knowing that, chose accordingly. How many of us know it, and yet cannot say" with him, "Rather would I lie on the doorsill of the Temple than sit in the chief places of the world’s feasts!" Such a choice is the only rational one. It is the choice of supreme good, correspondent to man’s deepest needs, and lasting as his being. Therefore the psalmist vindicates his preference, and encourages himself in it, by the thoughts in Psalm 84:11 , which he introduces with "For." Because God is what He is, and gives what He gives, it is the highest wisdom to take Him for our true good, and never to let Him go. He is "sun and shield." This is the only place in which He is directly called a sun, though the idea conveyed is common. He is "the master light of all our seeing," the fountain of. warmth, illumination, and life. His beams are too bright for human eyes to gaze on, but their effluence is the joy of creation. They who look to Him "shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." What folly to choose darkness rather than light, and, when that Sun is high in the heavens, ready to flood our hearts with its beams, to prefer to house ourselves in gloomy caverns of our own sad thoughts and evil doings! Another reason for the psalmist’s choice is that God is a shield. (Compare Psalm 84:9 ) Who that knows the dangers and foes that cluster thick round every life can wisely refuse to shelter behind that ample and impenetrable buckler? It is madness to stand in the open field, with arrows whizzing invisible all round, when one step, one heartfelt desire, would place that sure defence between us and every peril. God being such, "grace and glory" will flow from Him to those who seek Him. These two are given simultaneously, not, as sometimes supposed, in succession, as though grace were the sum of gifts for earth, and glory the all-comprehending expression for the higher bestowments of heaven. The psalmist thinks that both are possessed here. Grace is the sum of God’s gifts, coming from His loving regard to His sinful and inferior creatures. Glory is the reflection of His own lustrous perfection, which irradiates lives that are turned to Him, and makes them shine, as a poor piece of broken pottery will, when the sunlight fails on it. Since God is the sum of all good, to possess Him is to possess it all. The one gift unfolds into all things lovely and needful. It is the raw material, as it were, out of which can be shaped, according to transient and multiform needs, everything that can be desired or can bless a soul. But high as is the psalmist’s flight of mystic devotion, he does not soar so far as to lose sight of plain morality, as mystics have often been apt to do. It is the man who walks in his integrity who may hope to receive these blessings. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord"; and neither access to His house nor the blessings flowing from His presence can belong to him who is faithless to his own convictions of duty. The pilgrim paths are paths of righteousness. The psalmist’s last word translates his metaphors of dwelling in and travelling towards the house of Jehovah into their simple meaning, "Blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee." That trust both seeks and finds God. There has never been but one way to His presence, and that is the way of trust. "I am the way . . . No man cometh to the Father but by Me." So coming, we shall find, and then shall seek more eagerly and find more fully, and thus shall possess at once the joys of fruition and of desires always satisfied, never satiated, but continually renewed. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.