As you sit down to read this devotion read (Psalm 84). Now we as believers in Jesus Christ is what is called the Church. Nobody who does not know God by being born again through faith in His gospel is part of His Church. So we are His Church. This we understand. So what is it that drives you to go to the (church building), that place where we the Church fellowships together? Why are you there on Sunday morning’s service, and the weekly bible studies, etc. Why do you pray? If you read the Bible, why do you do that? Is it out of duty? Do you feel you have to do it? If you don’t, do you think that God will be mad at you? I hope not!
My hope is that we, as true believers and followers of Christ, would DESIRE to pray, DESIRE to read the Word of God, DESIRE to give of our resources and time, DESIRE to preach and teach the gospel, DESIRE to serve, DESIRE to worship, and that there is an excitement to come to Church every Sunday.
The Psalmist who penned this Psalm is thought to have been David, and it is thought that he wrote it during the time that he was fleeing from Absolum. It became a Psalm that was sung as a worship song during three festivals, the Passover, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths). Written to the Sons of Korah (descendants of Levi) who were gatekeepers and musicians in the temple at Jerusalem, this Psalm teaches us the excitement (joy) that a person would have as they journeyed up to Jerusalem, then to the temple to celebrate one of these feasts.
If it was David, we have some insight into his heart concerning his love for the Lord and His Tabernacle. For the Psalmist (David), the Tabernacle was the place he desired to be the most, in God’s presence, with God’s people. To him there was no place on this earth so special as that one place where the Lord had chosen to place His Name and demonstrate His presence to His people. Now we know that the Lord doesn’t dwell in the Jerusalem Temple anymore, but that He dwells in us, His Church (1 Corinthians 3:16) (2 Corinthians 4:6-7) (2 Corinthians 6:16) (Galatians 1:15-16) (Galatians 2:20). Yet there is something exciting about getting ready all week to come to our local sanctuary to worship Him. Does it excite you? It is the highlight of the week, at least it should be in the Christian’s life.
Look at how the psalmist starts the Psalm. “How lovely is your tabernacle (dwelling place), O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (84:1-2). Notice the passion he brings to meet God. Do we bring such passion for God when we worship on Sunday mornings? I don’t mean something people do so others will notice them or be impressed by a show in some way. But bringing our mind, our heart and our will to be fully engaged in the worship of God.
The Psalmist soul longs for God in the same way we long to see the one we love, with great anticipation. His desire (his love) was to be in God’s presence, with His people, giving praise to Him. That is what the Psalmist loved, that is what he looked forward to.
The Christian of today should possess the same desire, the same passion, the same hunger to go to church as the Psalmist had in going to the temple, if not more, since Jesus is the fulfillment of all these feasts. But the reality of the times we live in and the love many have for the world, allows for a lukewarm love for the things of God, rather than fainting for the courts of God. Yet the things that made the Tabernacle special to the Psalmist ought to be the same things that make the church and where we meet special to us.