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_____________________________________________________________________ We all know and love this psalm 84. It is a song that touches a chord in our hearts, full of deep longing for the Lord, and for that place, representing that state of utter holiness, in which He has desired in his people to forever dwell. Fenton translates the opening words, "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of Hosts." We know that often in the Hebrew the plural is used as a form of emphasis or of majestic splendour, and so it may well be used here, but we also know, because Jesus has told us, that wherever dwells the Spirit of the Lord there does He reside, there He is at home. So is the Father. John 14:23 "...If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him". It is the very atmosphere or Spirit of God's own presence that beautifies His dwelling place. The psalmist is singing with intense desire for the first sight of that holy place at Jerusalem, and he longs for that blessed moment he will stand within its walls. We too long for home and rest within that happy place that Jesus calls "My Father's House." Notwithstanding our acknowledged weaknesses, it is this longing that is both known and precious to our Lord. In such a heart already He is at home. The saints have the mind of Christ, the anointing of the Anointed. Our Father delights in such a mind. Let us seek to bless Our Father now by indulging in that attitude of heart that He has wrought. And this, by His Grace, we will attempt by meditations prompted by this song of desire. Psalm 84:1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! Might we commence on this first verse by pondering a moment just what is it that so appeals to me about "My Father's House."? We might with some sense of trembling, and certainly with deepest awe, anticipate that moment when we shall appear before Him, Whose utter holiness fills eternity. But such natural fear has been overcome by love. We have so many tokens of that love. The most precious thing in existence, the blood of His dear Son, He gave that we might draw close to Him. The table of Our God is richly laid. - How precious to us is the Truth! We have tasted therefrom such delicacies of delight, so many beautiful glimpses of truths still beyond out full comprehension. Enough to stimulate our appetite for all He is waiting now to share with hearts that will then be made able to bear such heavenly fare. Whatever glory welcomes there beyond that veil, the child of God longs most of all to gaze upon his Father's face. The Lord Himself, our God, the Spring of all our joy, He is the great attraction there for you and me. We have such special reason both to know and love that Grace divine. For we note the title of this psalm.. "For sons of Korah." What right had they to any place so near to One Whose holiness had swallowed up their natural father's rebellious heart? And yet we read in Numbers 26;11, that, notwithstanding their father's sin, "the children of Korah died not." What wondrous grace! And for these very ones was found a place of service of the Lord as keepers and porters of the Tabernacle. These were to be the Gate keepers of the House of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 9;19. & 26;1 to 19. 2 Chronicles 20;19, calls them singers in the Temple of the Lord. "And the children of the Korhites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with loud voice on high." Our father Adam once rebelled and lost for every member of his seed all right to dwell in nearness to His Holiness above. Yet thus we came to know our Father's love, and we may boldly claim to enter His very courts, and to draw near to that great Source of mercy - without fear. "Who think you loved him most?" The Master's words have meaning to our ears. So great a debt He bore for me, that I should daily learn to live with Heavenly Grace. Each day we taste this goodness of the Lord. How this makes us long to look on our Dear Father's face, and find that Source of such abounding love. In the desert of Edom it is said that David sang the words of Psalm 63. We read now a translation from the Vulgate.. Psalm 63; 1 to 5. "O God, Thou art my God; to Thee at dawn I keep vigil, body and soul athirst for Thee, a hundred ways, in this parched and trackless wilderness. See, I have made pilgrimage to Thy sanctuary, scene of Thy great acts, scene of Thy glory! To win Thy mercy is dearer to me than life itself; my songs of praise can no more be withheld. So all my life long, I will bless Thee, holding up my hands in honour of The name; my heart filled, as with some rich feast, my mouth, in joyful accents singing Thy praise.." "Gladly (verse 8) I take shelter under Thy wings, cling close to Thee, borne up by Thy protecting hand.." What a beautiful spirit belongs to the David class, beloved of God. "How wonderful, O Lord of Hosts, Thy dwelling place to me. With what great yearning, how great love, I long that Home to see." If our treasure is there, our heart is already there, and the Father knows and reads such signs. That great appeal, His beauty, reflects in their eyes, a savour sweet indeed to Our dear Father's heart. He it was Who primed such yearning in our minds that only He can fill and satisfy. What is it that so appeals about "My Father's House."?' The centre of that appeal is our Father, -- the strength of that appeal is the bonding even now taking place between His heart and mine. Psalm 84:2, describes that intensity of our desire which makes His dwelling-places so beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. Psa 84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. "My soul faints with longing.." In the words of the Song of Solomon 2;5 & 5;8, - "I am sick out of love." Q. Are such intense longings, brethren, essential to our attainment ? The entry of the priest into the Holiest of all was preceded by the incense. This was wonderfully true concerning Our great High Priest, Jesus. Q. Is this depth of our desire our preceding incense, as body members ? This incense is intrinsically related to the preciousness of our hope. Hope is the means the Lord gives us whereby we taste today the joyful bliss of tomorrow. Nothing can ever replace hope as our source of strength, and encouragement to press on towards that prize, even in the darkest hours. It is not all a triumphant march. Sometimes we get weary, brethren. ..Weary with the battle, when you feel that that inch you gained in overcoming -- you just lost, and yet again must fight to win it back? It is like that fight with Amalek in the wilderness journey. Exod 17:9-13 9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Consider Him, our Captain, Who, at hour of desperate struggle, found in hope, that forward-looking joy, the source of His victory. . . . Lest ye be weary and faint along the way. The battle is so designed as a school of learning the power of yearning. The course is mapped, and every hurdle planned, with a view that What is set before us means more to us than all else beside. Hope has to become more bright, more blessed to our eyes, than whatever it may take or cost to fit us for that holy place. One of the most beautiful aspects of fellowship is when we find not only others who share our hope, (and that is wonderful enough in these dark days,) but to find one who shares hope with such intense desire as something so precious to the heart,-- that is fellowship indeed! That is a sharing that goes deep, a sharing that kindles and inspires in other hearts that sacred flame of love and deep desire for things above. Such is the Spirit of Jesus. Leviticus 16;12 & 13, speaks of that yearning love so precious to our Father's heart, in the language of incense rubbed and sprinkled over living coals, an incense that enters into heaven itself before the veil is reached and passed. Again in Revelation 8, the same choice language there in symbol shows that sweet savour of Christ our Head intrinsically blended with the longing prayers of saints. - And there that sacred cloud ascends to God Himself, a token rare and dear, and by Our Saviour made acceptable and perfect in Our Father's sight. It has to be a solemn thought that the number of martyrs laid in just one great tomb in the catacombs of Rome totals no less than 147,000. The overcomers of the age ( and we believe that word ) number 144,000. What concept this affords of the standards thus involved in acceptable offering. And could it be that for the Name of Christ so many were prepared to die a painful death, yet lacked in the incense? "Though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth nothing." We know no other way that we shall pass beyond that veil --- except those longings burning in our soul first penetrate and win our Father's smile, Who put them there. The veil is parted for each saint by the preceding incense. And then in verse 3, of our psalm 84:- (Q.) How does that swallow's nest compare with the holy altar of the Lord? How does the sparrow's house intrude upon such holy thoughts? Psalm 84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Was the Temple in such disuse and disrepair that sparrows actually nested in the sacred altar? Rather the Psalmist seems to be comparing the special place that a nest has to the bird -with the special place of God's altar in our own lives. Such small and helpless creatures have no might, but, like the dove, owe victory to flight.. and so do we. Where do they fly, but to that place of rest. Such is the thought that fills the psalmist's mind, and in this simple fact of life he illustrates that central truth on which our all depends. The altar of the Lord was the only place where an offering could be made to Him acceptably. The altar represents, therefore, the perfect Will of God. Such an altar did the blood of Jesus sanctify for us. It is visible only to those who walk within the linen curtains of the court. It is the justified, those with living faith in Christ, who see therein a token of love so real, so meaningful and dear. And such it is to those that mourn for sin, who groan for weaknesses within, and long to dwell in oneness with their Holy God. Here is our only rest, that perfect Holy Will of Him Who gave His Son ----- for me. And only in that place, and by that means, in strict accordance with that Will, and by the blood of Jesus shed thereon, can any offering of any kind, acceptably be made, or any drawing near to God. And in that Holy Lamb of God we find that perfect Will displayed for you and me. - The blood of Jesus was the offering of uttermost devoted love. It marks the place, that altar, now made our altar, where we might yield, not just in part, but now entire, that which He has made alive to God. At that same altar do we yield, like Jesus, all we have and are, a sacrifice of love and praise. It is at that altar that His desire and mine --- merge together as one. In Psalm 40; we have the words of the David class, Christ in the flesh, "drawn from the miry pit.." verse 6, of that Psalm, again translated from the Vulgate, reads; "0 Lord my God, how long is the story of Thy marvellous deeds! There is no wisdom like Thy wisdom. Mine to proclaim it, mine to utter it, great beyond all measuring. No sacrifice, no offering was Thy demand; enough that Thou hast given me an ear ready to listen. Thou hast not found any pleasure in burnt-sacrifices, in sacrifices for sin. (He speaks of ritual formal offering substituting true worship) To do Thy Will, O My God, is all my desire, to carry out that law of Thine which is written in my heart." And so in Psalm 116;7, we read; "Return unto thy rest, my soul.." .. -- The altar of the perfect Will of God, our resting place and refuge. For there it is His Will and mine must intertwine. That concept of a Will too wise to err, too sensitive to His dear one's pain to ask His child to bear alone a burden far too great, but to assure him He is there to share, and take the load of every care. That altar is the meeting place of the desires of our heart with those heart- desires of our God. Did we try living somewhere else outside that nest, the kind of life man lives without that rest. . . How empty then our life ! How do they cope, who lack that refuge? - no God, no perfect Will, no rest, no hope ? Our hearts are deeply touched by so much pain, so many tears now shed. ----Mankind, as sheep without a Shepherd, lost, and prey to enemies of the soul beyond control of man. Our comfort is to know that He will yet complete what He began, for all creation too, and will pronounce it "Good!" Then every lamb for whom the Saviour died, will find that comfort and that rest, secure within a Father's arms, as we have found. "He will carry them in His bosom." Jesus is in the bosom of His Father. So are the members that complete the Christ. Their privilege, above the most honoured of all men, to know, and by the grace of God supplied, to do, that perfect Holy Will. In hearkening, and obeying, and committing all without exception in our life, thus experimentally do we learn, that flight, with dove-like wings, into that secret place of perfect trust and rest. Yes, we have found our nest. How beautiful Psalm 84 verse 4. the happiness unspeakable of those who dwell within the House of God, who never cease to praise His Name. Psalm 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. Q. How and when do we reach to that state of continual praise ? Whenever this shall be then shall we know indeed we are not far from everything on which our hearts are set. For such a state of mind can only mean that we have reached those sacred blessed realities that through eternity will satisfy the holiest desires of perfect minds. Our hearts, --- no longer can they wait for union completed with the Lord. They grow impatient, and impetuously out-run this poor old flesh. Our flesh will never make it there anyway. Already have our hearts gone on before, to sit with Christ within those heavenly realms. By Jesus do we offer now to God, the sacrifice continual of praise. Hebrews 13:15, is a reference to the peace-offering of thanksgiving, not the typical one of the Law, but the full reality of all that type foretells. The peace offering was not to make peace with God. That required the blood of the sin offering. The peace-offering spoke of blood-bought fellowship with God, and the feast of love. As the hymn puts it... "Just to simply move in the conscious calm enjoyment of a Father's love." Again we sing... "So shall no part of day or night From sacredness be free; But all my life in every step, Be fellowship with Thee." Have we reached it, brethren, that stage in our march to Zion where every day is fellowship with God, every day a love-feast ? This love-feast, once commenced, gets richer every day, as the appetite grows for the bread of heaven, and as new spiritual senses of discerning palate increase our joy, until that day we feast with Him anew. We may indeed speak often one to another of the joy we feel today, yet know that He has yet reserved the best wine to the end, the wine of joy unspeakable He waits to drink --- with every overcomer. The Lord, He it is Who has put gladness into our hearts. But blessed most the gift He gave of eyes of the heart to see so many causes to rejoice and thank our God. Oh what a joy it is to meet such thankful souls, who thank the Lord for EVERYTHING, yes everything that happens in their lives. So many blessings, sometimes crudely wrapped in form of trials, yet quick is the heart to recognise on each the stamp.. "Sealed with a kiss".. "This thing is from Me." Once did we know a sister, dear, with cancer problems, who thanked the Lord for this, and for any means that He may use to thus perfect His work within. Oh what a vision was hers, for she could see a Father's hand wherever she looked, and never seemed to miss the lesson of even the darkest hour. Her Shepherd's rod and staff she knew so well, and every day those faithful sheepdogs kept their charge. Their names she knew. - "Mercy" and "Goodness". There was a "surely" in her life, and it was for this and everything that served that deepening awareness of His love that she praised God continually. Behind all chastening lies the blessed truth of heavenly love, and purpose thus to be achieved, that pure affinity with Light itself, --- partakers --- of His holiness. These things they know, whose lives are full of praise. They knew them long ago when first they heard a talk upon the theme, or read it in a book, but now they know, as only they can know, who in the Father's hands have learned to yield. These in a Father's love believe when evidence of natural sight seems just as scarce --- as once at Golgotha. And they have learned contentment in whatever state, and need no help from natural sight, nor do they base their comfort on some tangible support, or health, or anything of earth. For they have found, and know the joy, of faith alone, a faith in furnace tried, that brings forth gold of changelessness, a nature shared with God Himself. There are such saints, and privileged indeed are those of us who have met them in the Way, and know the witness of a face upturned to God, and of a heart absorbed --- in heaven's love. Thus shall ye know them, for no bushel ever hides the light that shines through these. You shall know them by that special fruit so choice, endearing them as vessels of such grace.. "They will be ever --- praising Thee." Beyond the veil, amid that glorious scene, with Jesus and the Father perfectly at home, the saints still sing the songs of praise they learned to sing below, songs of ascent towards the heavenly realm.. See Paul is there, and brother Silas too, for even in the darkest pit, - those chains could not restrain their songs of praise. In 1Chronicles 9;33 we read.. "These were the chief singers, chosen out of the Levite families, to dwell forever in the Temple precincts, and perform day --- and night." The Lord is looking --- for His chief singers. Psalm 84;5 "How blessed is the man who finds his strength in Thee! He sets his heart on an upward journey.." The Hebrew reads.. "in whose heart are Highways.." The Hebrew for "ways" means "highways" here. Q. What are these Highways, the Highways of Zion ! and how and why are they in his heart ? The roads leading up to Mount Zion were highways well cast up, with bridges where needed. They were carefully inspected, we are told, before each feast of the Lord, and kept in good repair. They were roads well known and loved by those who saw them as their means of access to the Sanctuary on Zion's hill. "The Way that leads to My Father's House ye know." said Jesus.. He is the Way, and this most precious truth is treasured in the hearts of pilgrims of that Way. They trace those footprints of the Master as their guide, and trust the Captain of salvation Who has gone before to lead them every step, as Shepherd leads His little flock. Those Highways that lead unto the Father --- are the Ways of God, ways higher by far than any way of man. The meek He guides in judgement. His Word and Spirit tells them what to do and how to do... and the meek He teaches His Ways. And they wait upon that Word, and look to Him for leading in their lives. --- Nor do they look in vain. It is indeed a daily walk with God, through pasture land, or wilderness, and each step --- leads to closer walk. This Highway is essential preparation for that final goal. Thus, in scenes of glory, the heart in which He dwelt in humiliation's vale will find itself at home, --- and in tune, --- with all the beauty of that holiness awaiting there. Each pilgrim has to learn to live with glory now, as step by step he learns to walk with God, --- Whose glory fills his heart. Thus does each pilgrim breath the very atmosphere of heaven, and learn the language of those who worship at His throne. God knows the ones whose hearts are truly in this Way. That gracious invitation His Eliezer brings, has caused a burning deep within, that nothing now can quench, save face-to-face full union with their Lord. "Use any means", they sing, "to lift me up.".."even though it be a cross." Any means ? Can such poetic language truly tell those depths of inmost feeling in the soul, when the pathway to the goal gets hard, and the flesh shrinks back at such demands ? "Is THIS the path to glory?" - do I ask ? Or should I look around for other ways less costly, more congenial, a smoother path, that still retains some semblance of the Christian way? He understands such agony of mind that hesitates before accepting such dark pain and humbly asks.."Is this cup really from My Father*s Hand? Is this the Way, the only Way, that wondrous purpose to achieve ? Yes, that is all we need to know if His Ways are really in our hearts, and our hearts are truly in His Ways. Are ye able to drink of My cup.. ? With such blessed prospect in the mind perhaps too hastily we replied, not knowing what that cup might hold. But when the Spirit cleared the mind of human thought and, blessed with Spirit vision, we beheld the face of Him Who suffered so for us. How precious then the Master's final word.. "Ye shall indeed.." Yet even now He kindly veils the eyes from what our future holds this side of the veil, and what demands on faith may yet await in order to complete that final climb. We only know we long for holiness of mind and thought, that will - our will, - in perfect concord with that Will divine, and full expression of that love of God within. Each day brings greater comprehension of that end He has in mind, and with it deeper longing and desire. We know, whatever befalls, we shall not pray "Lord save me from this hour." but "glorify Thy Name." For we have learned to love the Way our Master trod, that way He treads today afresh --- with every son He leads to glory realms. "How can it be?" The question asked by Mary says it all. "The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." The more that "holy thing" is formed within, - that new life given of our God, - the more the wonder grows. -- That He could have me in His sight when choosing beggars from the dunghill, things that are nothing in their own and every other eye but His, from such to make the jewels to form that crown of glory to His grace. -- Such knowledge is too wonderful. His ways are lovely to behold. We cherish every stage His wisdom and His love required to thus perfect His work, and with the vision in our hearts we know that all His ways are pleasantness and all His paths are peace. If this pathway leads through trial it is that each might explore the grace and the strength that comes from him alone. So reads our text. Psalm 84:6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. The Vulgate reads.. "He sets his heart on an upward journey, that leads through a valley of weeping, but to his goal." The Hebrew reads.. "When he passes through a valley of weeping, he turns it into a well." We learn that those who journey from the northern parts of the land to go up to Mount Zion, the last part of the way, would enter a narrow gloomy valley where graves are dug. And yet that vale of death contained a stream of water flowing from beneath those very rocks that formed the sepulchres. Our question on verse 6.. Q. What is it that transforms for these that very arid wilderness to watering place? Q. How are those tears transformed to springs ? The ancient versions read in place of "tears" "the vale of mulberry trees.".. The mulberry is a hardy tree that thrived tenaciously even in such desert parts, if it could find some hidden spring. Its fruit would cheer the pilgrims on their way. In either case the pilgrims knew that through this region they must pass if they would reach the place of their desires. This was the path, no other way would take them to their goal. This only was the course which they must take, with full determination and resolve. Yet even in this most unlikely spot they found the signs of reassuring love and heavenly providence. Conformed unto His death Who went before, they found that Source of Life which they in turn expressed, just as their Master, in their earthly course. It is a time for faith to grow so strong, that link, that bond between their hearts and those eternal things above, that does not lean on earthly things, but to the Lord tenaciously it clings, like limpet to its rock. Have I a faith like this? Have I a living faith that glows in darkness, finds in trial - fertile ground, and, watered by tears, produces precious fruit for which our Father waits ? How patiently the Husbandman now tends the tiny seed of trust until it grows from 'little faith' to 'faith so great', and worthy of His Name. Some pilgrims have already found the place where every earthly stream runs dry, and there have found a Fountain in the Lord alone. We only ask that when that moment comes that we are called to walk that gloomy vale, the tale that other pilgrims tell, of hitherto unfathomed heavenly springs then to their hearts revealed, abundantly beyond their every need, WE may discover too. Thus reaching out in darkness may faith find that Well. The pilgrim 's progress is the story of a Father's work within each vessel of His wondrous grace. Each one is conscious of another Hand than theirs in their affairs. Each morning they awake to common round and task. "Does this relate to spiritual growth, and to my change ?" .. They do not need to ask, for this they know, although we barely understand how this is so. So imperceptibly each day we grow, and each day change from what we were before, towards that goal the Father has in mind. Until He looks upon His work within our hearts, and smiles and says "The work is done, the process is complete, the victory won." "From glory unto glory.." What meaning have these words in me? - That first expression of new life as spiritual babe, when those who know for what to look glimpse something of our Father there.. - To that growing likeness in the spiritual child who watches everything his Father does and seeks to imitate. - And on to that mature and fruitful stage of graceful age, absorbed in God, and unaware that others see His image there. So on from strength to strength the pilgrims go, until in Zion's height they now appear before their God. Psalm 84 verse 7. "They go from strength to strength until in Zion each one appears before his God." "From strength to strength..." - - - How does this work, we ask, this renewal of the pilgrim's strength ? - And will it work when natural strength has failed ? - And will it then increase, when age takes hold upon this frame ? In course of time the pilgrim notes along the way the signs that he is nearing home. At first, perhaps, a distant glimpse of that last turn upon the road, beyond which point he knows the vision in his heart will find reality. How these signs stir the mind, and with what fresh energy the weary pilgrim presses on towards his goal. Strength is the power latent within our frame to undertake and carry out each task. - Sufficient is it for each day, but at its close we gratefully retire unto our beds. And then the miracle takes place, and we awake refreshed, renewed, and ready for the new demands the new day brings. The Song of Songs 1 verse 7, is so beautifully expressed in our hymn.. "Where dost Thou at noon-tide resort with Thy sheep, to feed in the pastures of love..?" We need the hours of spiritual rest. We need the spiritual food, and time to draw apart to be with Him our soul so loves. He is our Source of heavenly strength, Who never fails nor tires, though weariness He knew when at the well He sat, and spoke of that endless source of strength within each heart that the Spirit fills. "They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isa 40;31 Psalm 20;2. "The Lord send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion." Psalm 43;3, "O send out Thy Light and Thy Truth; let them lead me, let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy Tabernacles.." Each step of the Way is one step nearer to the Source of everlasting strength, and this truth is so dear to every saint, it stimulates and cheers, and gives fresh courage for that one last climb. There is a light upon the path that brighter grows. ..Just few more steps, one more ascent. Will it be labelled that last trial? --- "This is your final test." ? And will we know, that last step of the Way, that we are there ? Perhaps we shall, or maybe in Our Father's way that day shall come upon us as a sweet surprise. - One moment here, the next - - - beyond the veil. Perhaps the twinkle in the eye of saintly pilgrims now so near that goal, is there to tell us something we shall better know when at that 'twinkle of an eye' our walk with God transfers from earth to heaven. Then in the light of that sweet hour of victory in our Father's arms we may reflect upon this pilgrim way, and understand so many things that puzzle us today. _______________________________________________________________________ And now this pilgrim must confess that we have dawdled on the way and will not end this psalm nor fully spy the land before that signal that our course is done. Here we must pause in route, knowing we have not yet arrived, yet reaching out, both arms out-stretched, must yet run on as one that shall obtain, straight for the goal. _____________________________________________________________________ e-mail pilgrim@dholliday.worldonline.co.uk |
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