Turning Tears Into Triumph
Religious folks are not generally thought of as wild and crazy guys. As a matter of fact, there was a rabbi who around 300 A.D., suggested: “When you have an impulse toward frivolity (silliness), resist it with the words of the Torah that is, THOUS SHALT NOT GIGGLE.”
Thankfully, Christianity is not as dull and dead as a religion. It’s a RELATIONSHIP, a reunion with a Father from whom we were separated at birth. True Christianity is taking up our cross to follow Christ, but Jesus also said “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Psalm 84 is called the “The Psalm of the Sanctuary.” Another good title for it could be “The Joy of Dwelling with God.” The Psalm was written for the “sons of Korah.” They were Levites who were responsible for the services in the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Apparently they had been separated from the Temple for an extended period. For some reason they were not able to attend Temple services. This is a song that describes their longing to meet in God’s house again.
MAN!! WHAT A CONTRADICTION TO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY.
Many of God’s own people today look for any excuse not to come into His house. To some it’s a task, a chore, and many end up coming more out of obligation to the church than adoration of our Lord.
The Truth is if you are truly saved, you are going to love the place where God’s people meet. This Psalm is a song of praise and thanksgiving to God for blessing us with a place to worship Him.
Psalm 84:2, “I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.” This psalm divides itself into 3 distinct parts. Praise to God, Provision of God, Our Position in God.
PRAISE TO GOD
Most believe that this was a psalm that was being sung by the sons of Korah on their pilgrimage en route to the Temple. When you look at the first four verses of this psalm, the writer is praising God for His house of worship and for His presence. There are two central elements in the first two verses. The first one is his love for the sanctuary and the other is his longing for the sanctuary. The psalmist was not merely loving the stones and building materials. He was aware that the building was only a means to an end. He would go to the temple so that he could more purely, more earnestly, more specifically praise and worship the living God.
We live in the time of the complacent church. A place of worship on every corner. If one does not satisfy, maybe the next one will. People go into God’s house for worship with a “Bless Me If You Can” attitude. It ought not to be so. We should enter God’s house with the attitude “Nothing Is Going To Keep Me From Praising God Today.” Too many people today are looking for excuses not to enter the sanctuary. The people who criticize the organized church most are those never go. But if we ever lose the freedom to attend or be forced to stay away from God’s house then you can be assured, Your Heart Will Long For The Fellowship Of God’s People And For The Sanctuary.
The desires and longing of the psalmist were centered in the presence and praise of the living God. Now while the first part centers around the praise of God, the 2nd centers around the:
Provision Of God
Psalm 84:5-7, “What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings. They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.” For those who love the Lord and desire His presence, and rejoice in the opportunity to dwell and worship in His sanctuary, there are distinct benefits and blessings. When the Lord Himself is your priority, blessing will flow. In verse 6 we see, “When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.” The psalmist is describing a group of happy pilgrims passing through a parched dessert. A place of tears and hardship. But because of their love for God and His sanctuary He provides them with blessing and rain. In other words, because of their love for God instead of tears in the valley of weeping there is JOY.
At one time or another all of us will pass through the valley of weeping. You may be in it now!! The question is what will it be for YOU? Will it be a valley of tears and hardship, or will it be a pilgrimage of Joy as you trust God for His provision. Paul Bunyan spent many years in the valley of weeping. He did not waste away in the valley of tears, but he brought out of it Joy in the writing of “Pilgrims Progress.” Robert Browning wrote a poem about a girl named Pippa. She worked in a sweatshop and lived in a terrible ghetto, but everyday on her way to work as she passed through the streets of this place of doom and despair she would sing. As she sang from her heart the shutters in the houses begin to open, and for a single moment this valley of tears became a place of JOY. If you love the Lord there will be provision for you when you enter into the valley of weeping.
The last thing that I see in the writings of the psalmist is:
Position In God
Verse 10 says, “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.” The psalmist is saying, “What a Joy it is to be in Your presence; what a Joy it is to be a part of Your family, to walk in Your will and to live according to Your Word. The word “better” in this text means: It Don’t Get No Better Than This. Contrary to what the commercial said, having God in you and you in God is even better than drinking Budweiser and eating crawfish. Billy Joel in his 1978 hit “Only The Good Die Young” said, “I’d rather laugh with the sinner than cry with the saints; the sinners have much more fun.” But Billy Joel did not know my Jesus and the Joy of His salvation. The world is deceived into believing that the sanctuary is a place of bondage, a place of burden. When in reality it is a place of Joy and a place of blessing. The psalmist was full of Joy even in his valley of tears. The reasons why are evident Here.
BECAUSE OF HIS PRAISE OF GOD (HE LONGED FOR HIS PRESENCE)
BECAUSE OF THE PROVISION OF GOD (HE TURNED TEARS INTO TRIUMPH)
BECAUSE OF HIS POSITION IN GOD (HE EXPERIENCE IN FULL THE JOY OF HIS SALVATION
AWESOME Pastor Dan, simply AWESOME. Our Lord and God speak so clearly through you. Thank you and PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD.