How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Psalm 84 presents us with a vibrant vision of a man whose ultimate treasure is the Lord. He finds soaring joy in the presence of God. This is a beautiful poem that speaks of the beauty of the courts of the Lord and the blessings of those who dwell there. “My soul longs, yes faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” (v.2) “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.” (v. 10) The psalmist gushes forth with deep emotion as he expresses in these familiar verses his love for God and the wonder of living intimately with Him.
He goes on to describe how “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
That last phrase, “those who walk uprightly,” gives me pause. Is all of this only for the one who walks “uprightly?” The NIV makes this sound even more ominous by translating this word as “blameless.” In spite of all my best efforts, that certainly does not describe me. Blameless and upright sound like a standard I can’t meet perfectly.
Fortunately, for anyone who believes the gospel, the uprightness and blamelessness of Christ have been credited to our account. We are deemed to be the righteousness of God in Christ. Now, we can fully rejoice with the psalmist and know that the Lord bestows favor (grace) and honor on us because of the righteousness of Christ.
How can Jesus not be our greatest treasure?
