Anticipation

Read Psalms 84:1 - 3

Today’s Psalm is found in chapter 84 and is a song of anticipation and celebration.  There is no question among Bible teachers that this Psalm was originally one that celebrated the pilgrimage of the Jew as he traveled to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple.  It was intended to be one that would encourage people to prepare for the delight, joy and privilege of being a special guest in the House of God.  It it a Psalm of anticipation.  As the traveler journeyed to his destination he would think about the awesomeness of worshiping in the temple and the joy of dwelling in the presence of God.
 
Vs 1:  The dwelling place of the Lord refers to the Temple in Jerusalem.  The Psalmist declares that it is lovely; not because of the architecture or its massiveness, but because it was the place that represented God's dwelling place.  The presence of God was present in the Temple and the Psalmist longs to be in this place, to worship in the presence of Almighty God Himself.
           
Vs 2:  “My soul longs, yes faints for the courts of the Lord…”  These are words spoken by a man who has no other desire but to be with the Lord most High.  Every part of his being cries out for God’s presence in his life.  The true object of the Psalmist devotion is not the actual Temple, but it is the God of the Temple.
 
Vs. 3:  One can almost hear the envy in the Psalmists words as he looks to the sparrow as she can freely enter the presence of God and make her home at the altar of the Lord.  In his desire we see his deepest longing is to be in the presence of God all the time.