So, how do you feel about participating in public worship tomorrow? I suppose we all remember back in the Spring of 2020 when we needed to stay home to keep others from getting sick. And wasn’t it a relief to be able to get out again, to go shopping or to parties, just to be around other folks? So, why do so many congregations around the country report that many of their members still haven’t come back to public worship?

For that’s really what Psalm 84 is about. Sure, in the days that the sons of Korah first sang this song, it was important to go to the Temple to worship. After all, that’s the only place that sacrifices could be offered, and God’s people understood that unless the blood of a sacrifice was shed, there could be no forgiveness of their sins (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22).

But because Jesus has already offered His own blood as the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for all the sins of all His people (Hebrews 10:10), we don’t have to go into a particular building to feel close to God. Instead, all those who love and trust Him have become part of His Body – together, as so many living stones, we form the true Temple of the Lord (I Peter 2:5).

So, do we long for the fellowship of the saints the way the sons of Korah longed to go into the courts of the Lord (verse 2)? Do we feel blessed to be able to gather with fellow believers and sing God’s praise (verse 4)? Does worship refresh us the way springs of water and rain replenish the earth (verse 6)? The psalmist would rather stand at the door of the Sanctuary rather than “dwell in in the tents of wickedness” (verse 10) – does that describe our priorities?

For the truth is that God does an even better job than the sun in lighting our way, giving us the guidance we need in these dark and confusing times. He is the shield who protects us even from the worst of our dangers. And He has promised to give everyone who trusts in Christ everything we need today, just as He will show us His grace and share His glory with us when He returns to reign over the world He has created (verse 11).

So, why shouldn’t His worship be our top priority? Could there be a better source of blessing for anyone?

Psalm 84 (NASB)

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 The bird also has found a 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.
4 How blessed are those who dwell in Thy house! They are ever praising Thee. Selah.
5 How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
6 Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring, The early rain also covers it with blessings.
7 They go from strength to strength, Every one of them 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, And look upon the face of Thine anointed.
10 For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God, Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in Thee!