[0:00] Please open your Bibles and join me in Psalm chapter number 84. We've read the passage, but we'll continue looking forward. First thing that grabs my attention out of this passage is that without the Lord's presence, the city would be an ordinary city and the sanctuary would not be lovely or desirable.
[0:18] Who would we be tonight without that lovely Jesus that we just sung about? What would this meeting be all about? What would my family be all about? Who would I be without the presence of Jesus?
[0:30] Can you imagine? Can you think a moment? If God had not had saved you, if God had not transformed your life, what we would be? What would we be tonight as a group of people? Would be a group of people trying to earn favor with God, doing good in the community.
[0:45] Without the presence of God, we would be an ordinary city and a sanctuary where that was not lovely or desirable. Have you ever been to a place that lacked the presence of God?
[0:55] I know it's not true in you, right? The Holy Spirit lives in you, so he arrives when you do in that sense. But we also know what it's like to know when you're the only believer in a place or when God uses you to bring God into a moment.
[1:08] When something's happening and then God speaks through you and the presence of God is brought there and people become aware of it. So there's three different ways that this psalm, more than three, but three ways that the word blessed is used in this psalm.
[1:22] If you go through it, we've already read it, but when we get to it, you want to circle the word blessed. And there's three ways in which I want to tell you that you are blessed tonight. The time that I took this morning, you're getting back tonight because I can't preach very long.
[1:33] And Caleb Sunkel told Carson before a church, he says, you should come to Spanish church. My dad doesn't preach as long as yours does. He said, their services are shorter, all right?
[1:43] And so we can't get that. I'm going to have to convince Jimmy to preach longer or meet him halfway. And so three different ways here. We are blessed to worship in his presence. We've done that tonight, most certainly.
[1:54] It isn't confined to this building, but it happens here. And it's wonderful. That's why I'm thankful that walls are painted because this is a special place because special people meet here for a special purpose.
[2:05] We're blessed along the journey to know him as well. So we're blessed to be in his presence. We're blessed along the journey. And then we're blessed to have an opportunity to have a safe place to put our trust.
[2:17] We're not walking around trying to put some place to put it. Would you take it? Would you take this from me? I need to place my trust. What a burden would be upon us if we did not have Jesus to say here, my trust is completely in you and give him everything.
[2:31] A little background. This is the sons of Korah. You hear a lot about them. They write a lot of Psalms. They're involved in it. In 1 Chronicles 9, verse 17 and 19, it tells you that the son of Korah, the brethren of the house of the fathers over the work of service, the keepers of the gates of the tabernacles and their fathers being of the house of the Lord were keepers of the entry.
[2:51] 1 Chronicles 9, 19. Keepers of the entry. That was the family job. That inside of the tabernacle, inside the temple, they were the people that worked the door. They were the Walmart greeters of the tabernacle.
[3:04] They were the greeters of the door. That was what they were to do and to keep it. And so, when they're describing the temple and the tabernacle, they're people that had a job right inside of it. They're describing what they had seen as they had watched when they're writing it.
[3:19] So, when you think about these words, you know that they're seeing this. They're experiencing it. Just like David, who would talk about a shepherd in the Bible, because he had been a shepherd. He knew what sheep were like.
[3:29] So, when he said, the Lord is my shepherd, he knew all the care needed for sheep. So, when these people talk about the tabernacle or the temple, they are talking about something that they had worked inside in the door.
[3:41] And so, when you read a passage like verse 4, blessed are they that dwell in the house, they will still be praising them. Or when we talk about betterism, one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere.
[3:54] Or it's better to be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. They had done both. The sons of Korah knew what it was like. They knew that it was like to be a keeper of the entry of the house of God and what it was like to see people dwell in the wickedness in those tents there.
[4:14] And so, remember that. They loved to be in God's presence. We had Psalms. We've already looked at Psalm 42, a well-known one. As a heart panteth after a brook. My soul panteth after me. My soul is thirsty for God.
[4:26] He's a living God. Where should I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night. And I continually say, where is thy God? We know what it's like to hunger and the thirst after God.
[4:36] To long for Him. As we saw one of the purposes in fasting is there. And then we also have that desire to get back to Zion. Psalm 43, the next chapter. It said, O sin, thy light and thy truth, and let them lead me.
[4:48] Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, unto thy tabernacles. People knew what it was like to be away from the tabernacle and just want to get back to it. Want to get back into the presence of God.
[4:59] To know what it was like to be far away from it. And just to be thirsty for it. Just to be hungry for it. Reminds us of our passage today. But this presence was not just only in the temple.
[5:10] 1 Kings 8, 27. But will God indeed dwell on earth? This is Solomon speaking. Behold, the heavens and the heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this house that I have built in.
[5:22] God, even in the Old Testament, was not confound, only kept to a building. We find that. But it was the presence of God. It wasn't the building, but it was the presence. The temple is a love place because God's presence is there.
[5:35] Other than that, in Psalm 84, verse 3, Yea, the sparrow has found a house and a swallow and nest for herself. And where she may lay her egg, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God.
[5:46] Speaking about Zion and the place, it's beautiful. But apparently there was some birds that were up in there. It wasn't that the building was magnificent. It wasn't that it was the Taj Mahal, it was that the presence of God was experienced there.
[6:00] And this is such a beautiful thing about the nest that was made in the sparrow. The presence of God is a place where the humble find a home. It's really a great description, when you think about it, of the people of God.
[6:13] Humble, lowly, common people who find majestic meaning in gathering before God. When I was a little kid and I went to this church, we would sing this little song.
[6:25] If I was a kangaroo, I would want to hop right up to you. If I was a fish in the sea, I'd wiggle my tail. I didn't plan on saying this. I'd wiggle my tail and giggle with glee. And if I was a bird, I'd want to be a sparrow that had a nest in the place where God's presence abound.
[6:42] People, we're humble and we're simple people. But when we join together in the presence of God, it's something that's wonderful. And so here I see a bunch of crazy birds all gathered together in the presence of God.
[6:55] And what a beautiful picture. The picture's found in the Bible. It's not from me. It's not from books outside of the Bible. But the Bible is sufficient to teach itself. I've been trying to tell this to Brother John for years. He's really got it now.
[7:07] And that's part of the Bible Institute. But read about the sparrow before this. And then get the psalm. And you'll understand why the sparrow is being chosen there. He loved the singing of God's presence.
[7:17] 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. That may not sound like singing to you, but to me and Brother Ty, that's singing right there, right?
[7:28] My heart and my flesh, they cry out for a living God. It's a description, Psalm 66, a joyful noise unto the Lord. They loved it. They loved to sing in God's presence. Thank God we're a singing people.
[7:40] Thank you, Morgans, for helping us be even more a singing people. We want to do that. Because people like Ben Mize are being indoctrinated in God's Word by singing God's Word. They're being discipled.
[7:52] And so that when the Morgans need somebody to replace them, a kid who's still singing the songs that he learned 20 years ago is teaching another generation to sing it. Music's important to us.
[8:02] Don't give it up. You know, as a youth pastor, I'm supposed to rant and rave about music much. And I don't do that. But now I'm going to bring it to you. If you're not listening to Christian music, you're really just missing out.
[8:13] And you can listen to songs for entertainment. You can tell me Mary had a little lamb. You can find different enjoyment of music. But the greatest purpose that music will ever have is to sing of our Redeemer.
[8:23] And it ought to be part of the daily rhythm of your life, the saying unto Jesus. And I pray that you will. It's been a blessed journey. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, whose heart are the ways of them.
[8:33] That's verse 5. That God sustains us. Whose heart are the ways of them. Whose man whose strength is in thee. What a wonderful place to be. Have you ever been able to say, so what's sustaining you?
[8:47] And say, only the strength of God is sustaining me? I would love different circumstances. But I wouldn't want a different condition.
[8:59] Why would we want to be sustained by anything other than God? Why would we want our lives to be held up and find strength in anything else? And so our God who sustains us. And then they just walk through this chapter here.
[9:10] In verse number 1 we see about a covenant keeping Lord. We look at the Lord of hosts in verse number 2. We look at a living God. We look at a God, my King, verse 3. We look at the God who is my God. We look at a God who is only my God.
[9:22] We look at a God that is a faithful God. We look at a God who is a provider, verse 6. We look at a God who is a shield and a protection. We look at a God who showers His people with His grace.
[9:33] A God who surrounds His people with His glory, verse 11. And a God who shows His people in all His goodness. In verse number 11. For the Lord is a son and shield and the Lord of grace and glory.
[9:44] No good thing will be with hope from them that walk uprightly. This chapter just walks through descriptions of God. Good music walks through descriptions of God. Our lives walk through descriptions of God.
[9:57] I didn't grow up in a tradition where people used different names for God. And they were on banners around the wall. And I won't even begin to say them because just like intermediate or intermittent, I have trouble with anything that has more than a few vowels in it, right?
[10:12] But I wish I knew more. And I want to know more about the names of God. I want to know about El Roy and about El Shaddai. And I want to know about all the different names of Him when I talk about Him.
[10:24] I want to be able to address Him in the different name and the ways that are described of Him. And here in the psalm, in the presence of God, they recognized Him and they knew Him in so many different ways. In verse number 6, which we could spend a lifetime on, Who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well, the rain also filleth the pools.
[10:41] Even in a desert place there was water. You probably have heard before that this is the valley of valley of tears. That even in the valley of tears, God takes the tears and He makes a fountain from it.
[10:52] Even in a place where there's sun and it's beating down upon them, God provides water. That God can sustain us and He can give us grace and He can give us strength and He can give us encouragement.
[11:05] Even when there's nothing around us that seems that it ought to be providing it for us. Because why? Because we're trees planted by the rivers of water. And that God can take us and He can meet our needs.
[11:16] And the third blessing here is blessed to be a people who have a God who is worthy of our trust. Verse 12, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts us in thee.
[11:27] We are so blessed to have a place to put our trust. I was going to ask, but for the sake of time, I would ask, do you have a testimony of this? A testimony of when you're able to put your trust in God?
[11:40] I hope every one of you do. First of all, in salvation, certainly. But after that, your whole life ought to be a life of just trusting Him. And say, God, I'm going to do what is right.
[11:50] Regardless of our proximity to the temple, we are blessed to trust in God. Even through the valley, even though we feel far from the presence of God, even when we're not able to meet with the people of God in the place and we're separated, we can meet with God and God can meet with us.
[12:08] And our tears can be turned into fountains of joy. And so God came and He dwelt with us. Better than going to the temple, the temple came to us. John 1.14, and the Word was made.
[12:19] Let me tell you, believers, you know exactly where I'm going, but that ain't going to stop me. I'm going to say what you know, and it's wonderful. John 1.14, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us when we beheld His glory. The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
[12:32] The temple came to us. The presence of God came to us because we don't live as we didn't all get to be the sons of Korah and get to work in the temple. Not all of us were there. Some of us were far away.
[12:43] Some of us were in a dry and thirsty land, but the temple came and found us. The God of heaven left the glory of heaven and came down here in His presence. And He dwelled among us. He tabernacled among us.
[12:54] He made Himself among us. He took on a robe of flesh like you have so that He could be with us. So better than going to the temple in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the temple came to us.
[13:07] But in the words of that guy on the late night infomercials, that's not all. There's more, all right? Who was that guy, all right? And He was the temple because He is God. John 2.19, Jesus answered, said unto them, Destroy the temple, and in three days I will raise up.
[13:20] The temple came. The presence of God came. But He's leaving. And the disciple says, You can't leave us. But He says, If I leave you, I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I'm not going to leave you without me. I'm going to give you.
[13:31] The Holy Spirit is going to come. And so people that could go into the temple, into His presence, the temple came to them. And then 1 Corinthians 6.19, What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not of your own.
[13:46] Better than being a doorkeeper in the building. The building comes to us, and then now we are the temple. Can it get any better? The presence of God lives inside of me.
[13:59] And as I can hear my heartbeat, and I can feel it right now, the presence of God lives and moves inside of me. And He does that for you. And if He does it, He can today, that you can become a temple, and that you can have all those wonderful blessings that are mentioned that will be found in the presence of God.
[14:20] Some years ago, in college, I went to a job interview. I think the name of the company was called Manpower, and I went in there, and I said, okay, I want a job. And they said, I said, what do you guys, I said, what do you do? And they say, we help people get jobs, and we do interviews.
[14:32] I'm like, I can do that. And they said, no, we're trying to help you get a job. I'm like, no, I want your job. I didn't understand how a temp service worked. I was trying to get a job from them, but I didn't know they were trying to get rid of me to another company. And it was just a real long, awkward conversation before I realized there's people that will take you and give you a job and take some of your money.
[14:49] Genius, all right? And so I went to them. Can you imagine, though, a person comes up to the person at the tabernacle, the doorkeeper, and he says, in the Old Testament, getting to see the full picture of what God's going to do in the New Testament, and says, wouldn't you love to have my job?
[15:04] Wouldn't you love to work here in the doorway all the time and hear the singing that goes on and feel the presence of the job and say, nope, I don't want your job. I don't want to be working the door.
[15:15] I want to be the temple. Could you imagine? It would have just blown their minds that that's what they were going to get, that they were going to get that continual presence of God wherever they went, that they would become the temple, the doorkeeper saying, I want to be interviewed.
[15:30] What job do you want? I want to become the building. It would have been so confusing for everybody, right? But that's what has happened to us today. So I'll tell you, we are so blessed. Period.
[15:42] We are so blessed. So blessed. So blessed. No matter what you bring to me, you're not going to change that about me. Because blessed is a man whose sins are not imputed unto him. I'm so blessed.
[15:53] We get to worship in his presence. I got to do it right now with you, and I got to do it when the music was happening, and I got to do it when kids were giving testimonies. It's not limited to music. I got to do it and that.
[16:04] But I get to take the temple with me. And I get to go home, and I can worship him at any time. And if you haven't found that rhythm in your life, you're going to be destroyed. I have such comfort.
[16:15] I have a hard time giving Tuesdays to Jesus. I have a hard time giving Wednesday afternoons to Jesus at times. But I know this first day of the week, it belongs to Jesus. And I meet with God's people.
[16:26] And that rhythm of life keeps us sane to enter into his presence. We are blessed on our journey to get to know him in a more real and meaningful way.
[16:37] Every step of the journey, we get to know him as a king and as a god, as faithful and as a provider, as a protector, and all of his goodness. And we are blessed to live a life of trust that is fully given to him.
[16:51] We have found a place to put our trust. We are such blessed people. And that's what this passage says, and you need to respond to that. You need to be blessed. Maybe this is where the Bible hits you right now.
[17:03] You're not recognizing you're blessed. You're wrong. You are. Okay? First step. Now, what are we going to do about that? How are we going to rejoice? How are we going to worship him? And I want us to do that. All right?
[17:15] No announcements tonight. We're going to go. We're going to have a time of prayer for those that would like to have it and some rooms that are set up. And so I want to end. Stephen, I want to sing a song.
[17:25] All right? Stephen's like, man, this is not going to work out good. All right? That I'm calling audibles. I want to sing a song. All right? I want to sing a song unto the Lord. If you need to respond in a different way during the song, most certainly do.
[17:37] If God's calling upon you to pray there in your seat or come to the altar. But I want to sing a song. I want to sing a song that says that I am blessed and that I am thanking God so much.
[17:48] I could have Chris Waydo. I got so much, so much to be thankful for from VBS. I don't think that one's appropriate. But just like in Old Testament, there were people that were giving the music. At our church, we have people that are giving the music.
[17:59] And so I don't know what the song is for the night. But we don't sing a song that wouldn't be appropriate around here. And so we're going to sing one tonight. But I don't want to limit your response. If you want to pray at the altar of doom, if you want to pray there in your seat.
[18:11] But I want to sing because I am blessed. I am blessed. And so are you. People, one more time, okay? One more time. I want to make sure you get it, okay?
[18:23] So there was people that got to go into the temple. And they got to experience the presence of God. But then the temple came to us. And then he died for us. And then he left and the Holy Spirit came. And then you became the temple.
[18:35] We are so blessed. What are we going to sing? Complete in the yes. All right. We're going to sing. Let's all stand together afterwards. Those that want to pray, we will be in these other rooms.
[18:46] And respond to the Lord as he would have you to do. Amen.