Longing For Home
Opening Prayer
Father, through Your Word, lift my eyes to our true home and deepen my longing to be there.
Read Psalm 84
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 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.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
10 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.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
When was the last time that you truly longed to be with God more than anywhere or with anyone else?Ancient Jewish believers were expected to make the treacherous journey every year to the Temple in Jerusalem. It was an iconic place because it was where their sins blocking them from God’s presence were wiped away. Notice how the psalmist’s longing is focused on a “place near the altar” (3). That is where he truly belongs, because that is his access point to God.
So he journeys there, through all kinds of perilous terrains (6)—but so good is the pilgrims’ destination that even deserts are given life as they pass through them!
As he walks, the psalmist’s thoughts drift towards the anointed king whom God has raised up to lead them (9). He is another sign of God’s goodness to them. And the psalm ends with a longing to know
enough of God to want to be with him more (10,11).
This psalm can also be read about the pilgrimage of the Christian life, for the anointed one is ultimately the one who sacrificed himself on the altar for our access to God—and with whom we long to be forever!
Apply
Take some time to “dwell” in the presence of God. Ask him to give you a longing desire for the things of God.
Closing prayer
My King and my God, set my heart on following after You. May my strength be in You today.
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