Psalm 84:5-10 “I’d Rather be a Gatekeeper!”

This post was originally posted on my pastoral blog at Our Long View

Text: Psalms 84:5-10

5 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.

Comments:

On Sunday, I wasn’t the scheduled preacher, but as we transitioned from singing our praise to the Lord to a posture of listening to the encouragement of the message, I read briefly from the Psalms and made a couple of simple devotional points that I would like to share here.

Our songs emphasized our desire to be in the presence of the Lord and our need for Christ to set us free from the chains that bind us—be they spiritual, emotional, or physical.

I read from Psalm 84 that gives voice to much the same sentiment. It was written by the “Sons of Korah” who are typically concerned with being in the presence of the Lord.

Verses 1-2 give voice to their desire to be in God’s presence. It really wasn’t about their being in the temple, but that by being in the temple they were in the presence of God. It was a place designated as a place of prayer for all the nations and was illustrated by the nesting birds in the temple compound (v. 3-4). However, this week I focused on v. 5-12 for a couple of reasons.

First, in verse 6, the psalmist describes the transforming pilgrim attitude of those who seek the Lord, 
"As they go through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs." 
Literally, the “Valley of Baca” means “Valley of Weeping,” but pilgrims of God, or disciples (as we describe them in the New Testament), dig wells and pray for rain in a way that benefits those who come behind them. Hopefully, we have all listened to speakers who have done this well—sharing from their own seasons of dryness and how the Lord delivered them. It is what we all should be doing. We all have a history and it is with the comfort that we have received from Christ that we can turn and comfort others—not as perfect people, but as those who are flawed, have been wounded, but who also have received the comfort of Christ. As Paul wrote,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. (2 Cor. 1:3-5)

Secondly, in Psalm 84:10 the Sons of Korah express that they wanted to be in the temple,

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.

Often we focus on the comparison between the one day and the thousand, for something is to be said about the quality of the day, not just the quantity. However, what jumped out to me this week was the phrase in v. 10 “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God.” What we need to remember is that the authors of this psalm had been assigned as doorkeepers (1 Chron. 26:1, 19).

What I am saying is that there is something about being where God wants you, doing the job that he has given you to do, which is more significant than we realize. Doing that job brings a sense of fulfillment and joy. Even the “outside” times of discomfort and labor as a part of God’s mission are far better than dwelling inside and at ease but surrounded by those who are wicked. Our jobs are appointed by the Lord so let’s rejoice at an opportunity to perform our daily duties as worship to the Lord and as service to his people. 

Remember, this desire on the part of the Sons of Korah was not one of withdrawal from the world, but rather it was one of engagement through their assigned role. For them, all of life was sacred when lived unto the Lord. Their work was fully integrated into their faith.

Let’s allow the Lord to use us whether in the "Valley of Weeping" or in the "Door of his House", to bless those who might come behind us. 

Psalm 31: “Into Your Hand”

It has been a long time, too long since I have written for this blog. My other blogs either for school (Compelled2) or for the church (Our Long View) have demanded all discretionary writing energy. Now I have the privilege, in this season, of doing some freelance writing on the life of David from 1 & 2 Samuel. This also affords me the opportunity to revisit the psalms and ponder the circumstances in David’s life that accompany their writing.

Psalm 31:1-5

¹ In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
² Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
  Be a rock of refuge for me,
        a strong fortress to save me!

³ For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;
⁴ you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

Comments:

While for the sake of this post, I will only be addressing the first five verses, I would encourage the reader to read this entire psalm, hearing three different voices as you do so. 

• First, read it while listening to David speaking to God about of challenges and disappointments of his life’s journey. 
• Second, read it while listening to the voice of Christ in his Passion Week culminating on the cross. 
• Finally, hear the voices of the faithful martyrs mingling with our own as we seek to follow the example of trust set for us.

David’s Patient Voice

En Gedi, one place
where David hid from Saul

David’s life was full of situations where he might have written this psalm, yet it is not explicitly tied to any one of them. In a sense, it is a psalm for all seasons of need. John Phillips in his commentary, Exploring the Psalms, titles this psalm, “Life’s Ups and Downs.” That certainly covers David’s life. If we have read 1 Samuel 16-31 and 2 Samuel 15-20 then when we read Psalm 31 it is not hard to hear David voicing this prayer in a number of different contexts as he continually chose to surrender his fate into the hands of the Lord. This was especially true in terms of the timing and circumstances of David’s becoming king of Israel.

David did not ascend the throne by subtlety and strength but by surrender: “Into Thy hand I commit my spirit.” Because he was such a surrendered man, such a submissive man, God saw to it that he ascended the throne—and by power. But not by his own power!

...It was God’s power that preserved David during his fugitive years and God’s redeeming power that raised him to the throne.” (Phillips, Exploring the Psalms, Vol. 1, 234)

Jesus’ Passionate Voice

We know that Jesus quoted verse 5’s “Into your hand I commit my spirit” as he died on the cross (Luke 23:46). However, I am not sure that we take the time to consider the entire psalm in light of that fact. Patrick Henry Reardon in his book Christ in the Psalms wrote,

It is the prayer of “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2), speaking to His Father in the context of His sufferings and death. This psalm is part of his prayer of faith…

In this psalm, we enter into the sentiments and thoughts of Jesus in His sufferings. We see the Passion “from the inside,” as it were. [p.59]

As Evangelicals, sometimes we view the atonement too transactionally and not incarnationally enough. Jesus’ entire life was part of the atonement mission of God, not just the last few hours. In his approximately 33 years on earth, he redeemed every stage of human life from infancy to adulthood. As we listen to this psalm through the voice of Christ, we will see how much he identified with and experienced our condition. One verse might require a note of further explanation. The last part of verse 10 says,

“my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and my bones waste away.”

We know that Jesus was tempted in every way like we are yet was without sin (Heb. 4:15), so how could this verse represent the prayer of Jesus? The Bible says that Jesus not only died for our sins but that he became our sin on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). Taken in that context this line makes perfect sense.

Our Voice (in Perspective)

If the Lord is to be our rock and our fortress, leading and guiding us, and rescuing us from the hidden traps of the enemy (v.3-5) then it is contingent upon our confession of need and calling on him for help. The first two verses introduce David’s prayer at a time when he was oppressed by others.

 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

It is my belief that we will sooner or later “be put to shame” unless we cry out to the Lord in prayerful dependence as did David. But if we make it our practice to keep talking to the Lord, trusting our lives into his hand, and allowing him to lead and guide us through all the circumstances of our lives. We are not immune to the sorrows of life, but we need not be alone or without hope. While at the time of David, there was no certain understanding of a resurrection and eternal life; because of the work of Christ, we have a more complete understanding and a broader application of this passage.

The psalmist sought (v.18) and received deliverance from death and trusted in the coming of such deliverance; Jesus, on the other hand, gave expression to the same statement of trust as he died. He anticipated not deliverance from death, but trusted God even in dying and death (a trust that was later fulfilled in resurrection). It is in light of the use of the psalm in the worlds of Jesus that its transformation for contemporary faith becomes clear. The psalmist prayed for life, for deliverance from death, and that is the psalm’s fundamental and legitimate sense. But in the context of resurrection faith, the psalm may also be used as a prayer in death, expressing trust and commitment to the life lying beyond the grave. [Craigie, WBC Psalms 1-50, 263]

I am comforted to know that Jesus not only knows what it is like to face unjust attacks, lies, and rumors but walks with us (by the Holy Spirit’s presence) when we face the same. May our voices echo those of David and Jesus as we pour out our hearts to the Lord, and trust everything of this life and the next to the God who is there for us!

“Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”