LHC Midday Word: PSALM Eighty Four

For the director of music.

According to gittith.

Of the Sons of Korah.

A psalm.

How lovely is your dwelling-place,

Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

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,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion.

Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;

listen to me, God of Jacob.

Look on our shield, O God;

look with favour on your anointed one.

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.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favour and honour;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose way of life is blameless.

Lord Almighty,

blessed is the one who trusts in you.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 84: “doorkeeper” (v.10)

Do you have a position in your church? Do you even have somewhere you think of as ‘your church’?

Not all church fellowships could be described as “lovely” (v.1); we’re not talking about the building, but the people who meet there. However, if our focus is on the folk, we’re off track; what matters most is “my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (v.2).

When you relish his blessing you’ll feel, “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).

That’s how to enjoy church!

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READINGS

PSALM 84

Read by Sir David Suchet