“Earth contains no sight so refreshing to us as the gathering of believers for worship. Those are sorry saints who see nothing amiable in the services of the Lord’s house” – Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. How do we view our worship of God each week? What does going to church mean to us? Come Sunday, what thoughts cross our minds as we approach God in the sanctuary?

Psalm 84, written by David, is a beautiful expression of love to the sanctuary, as felt by all who love the Lord. As we meditate on this meaningful psalm, it is my prayer that we will treasure the privilege of worshipping the Lord, and respond appropriately.

Overwhelmed by the greatness of his desire for God’s house, and unable to express it in direct terms, David fell to wondering as reflected in his heart cry: “How amiable are Thy Tabernacles, O LORD of Hosts!” Indeed, how lovely is the holy sanctuary to the eyes of all who are truly sanctified!

“Why the plural form – “Tabernacles”? The Tabernacle had been pitched in several places. Moreover, it was divided into several courts. Throughout their journeys in the wilderness, the Israelites had to carry the tents of the Tabernacle with them. It was the portable sanctuary where God dwelt among His people. To the Jews, the Tabernacle was a provisional meeting place where God met with His people. It signified God’s presence, and relationship with them. Later, King Solomon laid up the Tabernacle in the Temple which he built in Jerusalem (I Ki. 8: 4). In the dedication ceremony, God’s presence filled the Temple which subsequently became the focal point of Jewish worship.

It is evident from this psalm that David was deprived, for some cause, of the privileges of the sanctuary. Quite likely, he was in exile (possibly fleeing as a fugitive from his son Absalom) and absent from the place of worship. The latter had not only usurped David’s throne, but sought to kill his father as well.

Some commentators believe that it might be a period of sickness that had kept the psalmist from the sanctuary. Notwithstanding, one cannot help but sense that deep yearning in his heart “for the courts of the LORD.” He must have wished he was free not only to return home but also to return to his God. How he longed to once again savour the courts of the Lord and the joy of being in His presence. His longing was so intense as to make him faint; the word “fainteth” signifies “to be consumed with longing”; it has the idea of “pining away” or “being exhausted with desire.” The Latins have this expression “deperire aliquem amore” (he is dying of love) that is, he loves so passionately and is enflamed with so great a desire to obtain the loved object that he wastes and pines away unless his wish is gratified; it is an ardent longing that torments and burns the mind that “flesh and marrow waste away, so long as it is not permitted to enjoy the things desired” – Mollerus.

David longed with all his heart to stand again in the sanctuary. If we truly love the Lord, we, too, will desire to be in the Lord’s house.

The psalmist yearned with his whole being, with every faculty and affection – “heart and flesh.” In his distress, he “crieth out”: “O that I might know Him, the Living God, and be again taken into communion with Him!” “Crieth out” in the original, denotes a strong cry, as when a child is hungry – “for every whit of the child cries, hands cry, and face cries, and feet cry” – Thomas Brooks.

David had deeply missed those blessed moments of drawing nigh unto the Lord, of quiet communion with his God. He wished with all his heart to be in the sanctuary. Brethren, do we find God’s house amiable? Do we long to be there each week? Do we love to worship the Lord with His people? Do we come with a heart desirous of communing with Him? May the Lord bless our gathering in worship of Him each week. Amen. (… to be continued)

- Pastor