Scripture: Psalm 84
Video Link: https://youtu.be/T0b7x_uOo7Q
Key Point: God is our home
Introduction:
Good morning everyone.
A question for you. Who came up with this quote?
“One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness”
[Wait] Apparently it was C.S. Lewis, from his book The Pilgrim’s Regress.
Today’s message is based on Psalm 84. Psalm 84 is about the road that leads home to God. From verse 1 we read…
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 favour 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 favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. 12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
God is referred to more than 20 times in the 12 verses of this psalm and references to God’s dwelling crop up about 10 times. The main idea seems to be: God is our home.
A home is different from a house. A house is a building but a home is a place of belonging and connection, a place of sanctuary and refuge, a place of comfort where we can let down our defences and be ourselves.
Home, in the best sense of that word, meets the needs of our soul. When we are away from home we ache for it.
God is our home:
During the 19th Century, Elizabeth Browning wrote this poem…
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Browning wrote this sonnet for her husband Robert Browning. It is about her love for him, a love which is multifaceted and which she hopes will transcend death. Their love is not just physical, it is spiritual.
Elizabeth Browning’s poem is an expression of deep, heartfelt feeling. It is unrestrained and unashamed, her heart on the page. Robert is her home.
As well as being a poet, Elizabeth Browning was also a campaigner against slavery and human trafficking. She was an advocate for those who had lost their home through injustice.
Elizabeth Browning’s poem parallels the feeling of the poet in Psalm 84. Psalm 84 reads like a love poem, only the author isn’t writing for their husband or wife. They are writing for God and in particular his presence symbolised in the Jerusalem temple.
From verse 1 we read: 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.
When the psalmist describes God’s dwelling place as ‘lovely’, he doesn’t just mean how nice or pleasant. The sense is more like, ‘How dear to me is your dwelling place. I love it so much’.
But it’s not primarily God’s house that the psalmist holds dear. It is the one whose presence is found in the house; it is God himself that the psalmist longs for. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. In other words, my whole being aches for you God. You are my home.
Or as Elizabeth Browning would say: How do I love you [Lord]? Let me count the ways. I love you to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.
Verse 3 provides an image full of warmth where it says: 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.
If even sparrows and swallows can make a home in God’s temple, then how much more does the psalmist belong. The psalmist knows God is his home.
Sparrows and swallows normally mate for life. They are loyal to their mate. Perhaps the psalmist is intimating that he worships only one God and he is loyal to the Lord his God for life.
Sparrows don’t generally leave home. They tend to stay in the same place pretty much all their lives, if they can. In contrast, swallows tend to travel long distances in migration. The image of the sparrows and the swallows suggests that both those who have never left home and those who have wandered far and wide can find a home with God.
As verses 4 & 5 say: 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.
These verses might be saying, whether you stay at home with God, like the sparrow, or whether you travel a long way to draw near to God, like the swallow, you are blessed.
Some people grow up in a Christian family. They go to church all their life and never stray far from the Lord or his people. They are blessed, they are fortunate. Others don’t start life knowing about God or going to church. They may learn about God’s love and become followers of Jesus later in life. They may have further to travel but they too are blessed.
And then there are those who, for whatever reason, spend time in the wilderness, when God seems a long way away. Maybe the wilderness wanderings are of their own making, like the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable. Or maybe the wilderness years are not their choice, like a forced exile. Either way, there is strength and blessing for those whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
My great-grandfather served with the New Zealand expeditionary forces in Egypt, Turkey and England during the First World War. He was overseas for around four years during which time he kept a diary of his experience. Nothing too deep, more of a record of what he did each day.
In those times, over 100 years ago now, troops were transported by ship, rather than plane. Each day, on the boat ride home, Albert had only one entry; the number of miles the ship had travelled that day. Albert’s heart was set on home. He’d had enough of war and couldn’t wait to get back to New Zealand.
This is what it is like for those in Psalm 84 whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. They can’t wait to get back home to the Jerusalem temple, the special place of God’s presence.
You may recall, the heart in ancient Hebrew thought refers to a person’s inner life, their mind basically. And a pilgrimage is a special road trip or journey to draw near to God. Ancient Jews tended to make literal pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the various religious festivals, like Passover and Pentecost.
Going a little deeper though, to have one’s heart set on pilgrimage is to have a mind-set or an orientation directed toward God. Or to say it another way, to set your heart on pilgrimage means to have a highway in your mind to God.
So, for example, when something goes wrong the first thing we think to do is pray and ask God to lead us in accordance with his will. And when something goes well, the first thing we think to do is thank God for his grace. And when we have some spare time, our preference is to spend that time enjoying God, looking for signs of his presence, like divine finger prints on the day.
Verses 6 & 7 describe what it is like for those 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.
My grandfather was a well driller. He did all sorts of drilling but his main work was putting down water bores for farmers and whoever else wanted one.
Drilling water wells is something life giving for people and stock. Once a well is put in place it is fairly permanent. You can’t really take the water well with you when you leave the farm. A water well is a lasting legacy.
The Valley of Baka (in verse 6) is thought to be a dry and arid place. The road back home to God’s presence is not easy in places. Drawing close to God through pilgrimage may feel tiring and dry and inhospitable at times. But those who believe that God is their home make what would otherwise by a dry journey a place of springs.
For Jewish pilgrims of old this may have meant digging physical wells in dry places. For the followers of Jesus (Christian pilgrims) this equates to being a blessing to God’s world. As we journey through this world we are to dig wells, or leave a life giving legacy, for those who follow after us.
Jesus’ life and teaching (recorded in the gospels) is the deepest well, with the purest water. But there are other wells we can draw from too.
Perhaps the point of application for us is: how might we dig wells in dry places as we journey through life? We do this by sharing the gifts God has given us.
Elizabeth Browning’s poetry is a well for those who take the time to dip into it. C.S. Lewis’ writing is a well for those who read his books with thoughtfulness. The people who paid for and built this church auditorium have left us a well to gather around for worship. The musicians who wrote the songs we sing in church have left wells for us to be refreshed by as we sing their songs.
When you dig deep in giving your time and love to someone else, particularly a child or a young person, you are digging wells of refreshment which they can draw from long after you have gone. Our Deacons do quite a bit of spade work too, in the form of careful decision making to help our congregation both in the present and the future.
What gift has God given you to share? What kind of well (or legacy) can you leave for those who come after you?
Verse 7 says of these pilgrims: They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
You know when you are on a long hike through the bush or up a mountain, there comes a point when you feel a bit weary. Then, as the end gets closer, you find a second wind. The hope of reaching your goal spurs you on with new strength and a vigour you did not know you had.
Zion is another word for the city of God. Ancient Jews probably thought of the earthly Jerusalem as Zion, God’s holy city. For Christians though, Zion refers to the heavenly Jerusalem. To appear before God in Zion is a way of talking about returning home to God.
We belong with God. God is our home, our sanctuary, our refuge, the one with whom we can be ourselves.
In verses 8 & 9 the psalmist offers a prayer to God, saying: Look on our shield,O God; look with favour on your anointed one.
The phrase anointed one refers to the king of Israel, the leader of God’s people. The king is also referred to as our shield. In ancient times it was the king’s job to protect the nation, and that’s why he is called a shield. The psalmist is asking God’s favour or grace for the king because when the king is supported by God the whole nation prospers.
In Greek ‘anointed one’ translates as Christ and in Hebrew as Messiah.
For Christians, Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah, God’s anointed one. Jesus is our king and our shield. We look to Jesus for leadership and protection.
What we find though is that Jesus does not necessarily protect us from military or political threat. Rather, Jesus protects us from the power of sin and death, bringing us home to eternal life with God.
Verse 10 reads: 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.
Psalm 84, was written by the Sons of Korah. The Sons of Korah were Levites, part of the tribe of Levi (nothing to do with denim jeans by the way).
In ancient Israel, God appointed the Levites to serve in his temple. The Levites were not authorised to make sacrifices like the priests. Instead they did things like, being on door duty and singing in the choir.
The Sons of Korah were most likely descended from the same Korah who led a rebellion against Moses in the wilderness. Korah was killed for his disobedience when the ground opened up and swallowed him whole, in Numbers 16. But some of his descendants survived and were appointed by David to lead the temple music. [1] It is a lovely story of redemption.
I imagine the descendants of Korah felt some shame because of what their great, great granddaddy did. But God did not hold it against them. The Lord bestows favour and honour.
Some listening to this may carry a sense of shame because of what someone else in their family has done. Let me say to you, God does not hold the actions of your parents or your grandparents against you. We cannot deny the past but we are free to follow a different path from our forebears.
Verse 11 says: For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
To say that God is a sun means that God is the source of all that is life-giving and good. And to say that God is a shield means that God is in fact our King, our protector, our security.
Being blameless, in Hebrew thought, means to be whole or wholehearted. Not two faced but having integrity, so that what you say is one with what you do. Not behaving one way at church on a Sunday and then a different way at home or at school or at work the rest of the week.
Being blameless then is not about being perfect and never making a mistake. Being blameless is about being the real deal, the genuine article. Not being phoney, not being a chameleon.
In the Marvel (movie) universe, Thor was blameless (in the sense of being wholehearted), while Loki was two faced. And in Jane Austin’s Pride & Prejudice, Mr Darcy was wholehearted, while Mr Wickham was not.
The Sons of Korah are not faking it. They are wholehearted in their musical worship and in the walk (or rhythms) of their daily lives.
Verse 11, where it talks about God not withholding any good thing, reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 where the Lord says…
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
This is in keeping with the idea that God is our home. Jesus wants us to understand that God is a loving Father who knows how to give good things to His children. It does not necessarily follow that we will always get what we want though.
The 19th Century German artist, Caspar Friedrich has a painting called, “Wanderer above the sea fog”. It shows a man standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking a rugged landscape shrouded in fog. The wanderer cannot see a clear path ahead but he looks quite relaxed. One gets the sense he will find his way home through the fog.
The band U2 have a song called Walk On. It is about home and exile, among other things. Bono has a line in the song where he sings: Home, hard to know what it is if you’ve never had one.
That line resonates. Our collective sense of home has been severely eroded. In the developed world homes are ripped apart by domestic violence, separation and divorce. Hundreds of thousands of kids grow up without any sense of security or any idea of what a functional home life looks like.
And in other parts of the world people are forced to flee their homes because of war or famine. Literally millions of people are displaced through no fault of their own. Hundreds of thousands of kids grow up in refugee camps.
Home, hard to know what it is if you’ve never had one.
I’m not sure what you feel when you hear me say, ‘God is our home’. Maybe you feel confused because you’ve never really experienced anything approximating a real home. Or maybe you feel angry because you had a home once but then it was taken from you.
Or maybe you feel hopeful because you are looking forward to that day when you will finally be at home with God, in Zion.
In another part of that same song by U2, Bono sings a line pregnant with hope: We’re packing a suit case for a place none of us has been. It’s a place that has to be believed, to be seen.
Our eternal home (with God) is a place that has to be believed to be seen. We can’t really imagine it yet. The best we can do is trust God.
Psalm 84 finishes with another beatitude: Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Trust is more difficult for some than others. If you have been let down or betrayed by those close to you, or had your home ripped out from under your feet, then you may find it hard to trust. Trust is a gift from God.
Most of you are here this morning (or listening to this on-line) because you do trust God, or at least you want to trust him, even if it is a struggle at times.
I believe trusting God is worth the risk. We all have things that go wrong in our life and reasons not to trust. But a lot of things go well also, or at least are not as bad as they might have been.
Conclusion:
The journey home to God requires us to make a choice every day to trust God. We have to believe that God will guide us through the fog. Trust is the foundation on which our home is built.
The good news is that we do not make the journey alone. Jesus gives us his Spirit to guide and help. In John 14, the night before his crucifixion and death, Jesus said to his disciples…
“Do not be worried and upset. Believe in God and believe also in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you.”
Let us pray…
Father God, you are our home. Help us to trust you regardless of the changing circumstances of our lives. Be our sun and our shield. Guide us and protect us. When the way home is dry, give us strength to dig deep and leave wells for those who follow in our steps. Make us a blessing to others and bring us into your presence with honour and joy. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.
Questions for discussion or reflection:
What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
- What is the difference between a home and a house? What was your home life like growing up?
- What might the psalmist be wanting to convey by using the image of sparrows and swallows? Which bird to do you identify with more, the sparrow or the swallow? Why?
- What does it mean to have your heart set on pilgrimage?
- What gift has God given you to share with others? What ‘well’ can you leave as a life-giving legacy to those who come after you?
- How do you feel when you hear the phrase, ‘God is our home’? Why do you feel this way? What did Jesus have to say about home?
- Take some time to look at and reflect on Caspar Friedrich’s painting “Wanderer above the sea fog”. Alternatively, listen to the song “Walk On” by U2. Do either of these pieces of art resonate with your experience? How?
[1] Derek Kidner, 49-50
Tawa Baptist 