WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.960 I'm going to invite one of our deacons, Kevin Clennan, to come and to read to us our scripture reading this morning. 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:10.599 It's from Psalm 84, Kevin. 00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:14.940 Let's read together from Psalm 84. 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:20.019 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.500 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:26.740 My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. 00:00:27.900 --> 00:00:33.320 Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, for she may lay her young. 00:00:33.839 --> 00:00:36.780 At your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:41.160 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:46.500 Blessed are those whose strength is in you and whose hearts are the highways to Zion. 00:00:47.900 --> 00:00:51.679 As they go through the vale of Baca, they make it a place of springs. 00:00:52.340 --> 00:00:54.600 The early rain also covers it with pools. 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:56.480 They go from strength to strength. 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:58.700 Each one appears before God in Zion. 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:01.560 O Lord of hosts, hear my prayer. 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:03.240 Give ear, O God of Jacob. 00:01:04.020 --> 00:01:05.280 Behold our shield, O God. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.040 Look in the face of your anointed. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.280 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:15.040 I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:17.379 For the Lord God is a sun and shield. 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:19.439 The Lord bestows favor and honor. 00:01:19.960 --> 00:01:22.540 No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:26.299 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you. 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:30.719 Well, it's so nice to see you all here this morning. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:38.060 When I was reading through Psalm 84 just this week, I kept coming back to this feeling that I've had at certain points in my life. 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:40.679 And I wonder if you've had this feeling too. 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:46.980 This feeling like a homesickness, but it's not homesickness. 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:50.040 It's a longing, but not for home. 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:53.140 It's for a place that you've never been before. 00:01:54.060 --> 00:01:56.880 I didn't want you all to think that I was really weird when I said that. 00:01:56.940 --> 00:01:58.840 So I googled it to make sure that it was a thing. 00:01:59.060 --> 00:02:00.180 And it turns out it is a thing. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:03.080 And the Germans have a word for it. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:04.400 They call it Fernweh. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:08.000 I did French in school, so you have to apologize for my pronunciation. 00:02:08.700 --> 00:02:12.500 It's a yearning for a far-off place that you've not yet visited. 00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:14.360 It's not Wanderlust. 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:17.379 Wanderlust is fancy for adventure. 00:02:17.540 --> 00:02:18.340 That's something different. 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.939 It's not an excitement, but an ache. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.680 It's something like far sickness. 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:31.340 A longing for a place that you know deep down inside that's real, but you can't locate it on a map. 00:02:31.340 --> 00:02:37.099 And at no point in your life have you ever fully actually arrived at it. 00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:39.520 Have you felt that ache? 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:47.780 Maybe the day after everyone goes back home after you've all met up with family for Christmas, you felt that ache. 00:02:48.580 --> 00:02:54.039 Or maybe as you turn over the last page, the final page of your favorite book, you get that longing. 00:02:54.039 --> 00:03:03.879 Or maybe, like just last week, the musicians who've written the soundtracks to a lot of our lives pass away, they die, and they move on. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:07.799 And you feel this feeling like there's something beyond. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:09.900 That thirst, that longing. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.060 That all your life you haven't been able to satisfy. 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:15.180 And maybe you've tried. 00:03:15.180 --> 00:03:23.420 Maybe you've tried to satisfy it with the respect and the authority that comes from building a successful career. 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:31.000 Or maybe you've tried to extinguish that longing through deep friendship, where you can be truly open and honest with people. 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:33.460 You can bare your soul and know that you're still safe. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.379 Or maybe you've amends yourself in beauty. 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:40.200 The beauty of nature or of music. 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:44.379 You've sought out emotive experiences. 00:03:45.099 --> 00:03:47.539 Or you've sacrificed yourself for your own art. 00:03:48.959 --> 00:03:51.899 C.S. Lewis, he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. 00:03:52.179 --> 00:03:53.379 He was a Christian writer too. 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:56.359 And he wrote a book called Mere Christianity. 00:03:56.579 --> 00:03:58.759 And in it he wrote this famous line. 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:04.560 If I find myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, 00:04:05.219 --> 00:04:09.639 the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world. 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:12.219 Have you felt it? 00:04:13.239 --> 00:04:14.500 I think we all have. 00:04:15.899 --> 00:04:18.699 And as we read this 3,000 year old song, 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:23.120 it takes this universal human truth. 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:26.759 This place, this thing that the world's never seen. 00:04:26.819 --> 00:04:27.639 And it gives it a name. 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:29.300 It gives it a face. 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:33.319 And in Jesus, it gives us an answer. 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:37.060 We're going to look through the psalm together in three movements. 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:42.519 This, longing for God, walking with God, and finally dwelling with God. 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:44.780 So first of all, longing for God. 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:49.019 This song, it doesn't start with theology, but it starts with longing. 00:04:49.899 --> 00:04:52.840 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts. 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:56.639 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:01.639 My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:06.659 The psalmist is wrapped up in this all-encompassing ache for God. 00:05:06.939 --> 00:05:10.740 Notice he speaks about his soul, the place of his deepest desires, 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:14.539 and his heart, his inner self, and his flesh. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:18.899 Even his body is aching, longing for God. 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:21.719 And it tells us exactly what he's longing for. 00:05:21.819 --> 00:05:25.939 At first, it looks as though he's longing for a place, a building. 00:05:25.939 --> 00:05:29.620 God's dwelling place is lovely, he says. 00:05:30.339 --> 00:05:32.759 But he doesn't talk about the beauty of the temple. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:37.719 He doesn't mention the architecture, or the design, or the ornamentation. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:41.220 He doesn't talk about the beauty of the activities that take place there. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:46.560 He doesn't say how moving is the liturgy, or how impressive is the choir. 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:49.980 This place is not beautiful. 00:05:50.159 --> 00:05:51.839 It's not lovely because of what it is. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:55.179 It's beautiful because of who is there. 00:05:56.259 --> 00:06:00.699 The place where God dwells is lovely, because this is the home of God. 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:03.359 And this is the key to this psalm. 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:06.279 And the entire Bible. 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:11.519 In the entire Bible, we read about what a human being is made for, 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:13.839 what that longing is that exists in all of us. 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.899 We're not merely made to admire beautiful buildings, 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:18.359 although we're thankful for them. 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:22.720 We're made to live in the presence of God. 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:27.340 Centuries before Lewis, St. Augustine, he wrote the line, 00:06:27.900 --> 00:06:34.800 you've made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:42.139 But in irresolvable longing that you feel for beauty, for belonging, for home, 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:48.099 it's not a design flaw in human beings that we need to medicate away. 00:06:50.099 --> 00:06:54.120 It's the hole in every human heart that only God can fill. 00:06:55.719 --> 00:06:56.659 And he's singing. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:57.899 He's singing for joy. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.560 That can be accurately translated in the original as crying out, 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:04.800 crying out to be with God. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:08.060 And look how he addresses God. 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:12.740 He calls him the Lord of hosts twice in the first four verses. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:18.400 And that title, Lord of hosts, it's prominent throughout all of the Psalms, 00:07:18.900 --> 00:07:21.180 all of the songbook in the Bible. 00:07:21.939 --> 00:07:28.560 And it carries this idea that God is at the same time the terror of his enemies 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:34.480 and the foundation, the security, the delight of his people. 00:07:35.699 --> 00:07:38.139 And then in verse 2, the Psalmist calls God the living God. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.740 You see, the Psalmist is not longing for a concept, 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:45.920 the idea of what a God might be like 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:49.620 if only somebody was in control of all this chaos in the world. 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:50.939 That's not what he's saying at all. 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:54.840 He's truly aching for the presence of God 00:07:54.840 --> 00:07:57.139 who made himself known to his own people. 00:07:57.139 --> 00:08:02.360 who made them, who's so far above them, so different from them, 00:08:02.419 --> 00:08:07.620 but yet at the same time entered into a binding relationship with his people, 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:08.120 a covenant. 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:11.139 In verse 3, the writer says, 00:08:11.719 --> 00:08:14.740 even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:18.459 where she may lay her young at your altars, O Lord of hosts, 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:20.439 my God and my King. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:22.719 The writer's saying even the lowest, 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:26.860 the least powerful creatures in all the world find a home here. 00:08:27.139 --> 00:08:28.259 In God's temple. 00:08:29.620 --> 00:08:33.199 Probably he's literally seen birds flying around, 00:08:33.319 --> 00:08:36.199 making nests in the eaves or on the roof. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.220 But I think it's also like the writer's identifying himself 00:08:40.220 --> 00:08:43.720 with the least powerful, the least impressive of all God's creatures. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:45.720 And he's saying something like, 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:48.220 these tiny little birds have a home here. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:51.360 Even the least impressive characters like me 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.500 can find a home with God too. 00:08:55.040 --> 00:08:55.740 Verse 4 says, 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:57.340 blessed are those who dwell in your house, 00:08:57.399 --> 00:08:59.019 ever singing your praise. 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:02.019 This word blessed is a happiness, 00:09:02.019 --> 00:09:02.220 happiness. 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:07.799 But it's not that fleeting happiness that comes and goes. 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:10.919 It's not waking up to a sunny morning, 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:12.579 if you can imagine what that might be like. 00:09:13.079 --> 00:09:15.579 Or an unexpected visit from an old friend. 00:09:15.699 --> 00:09:17.819 It's not that kind of happiness he's talking about. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:19.220 There's elements of those things, 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.240 glimpses of this happiness in those things. 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:27.340 But this is a deep joy that lives really low inside of us. 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:29.759 And it outlasts our circumstances. 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:31.460 No matter what we're going through, 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.799 we have this happiness, this joy that carries us through. 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:39.340 And we look then at the end of this little section. 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:42.200 No wonder the writer wants to dwell in God's house. 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:46.680 Everyone who does experiences the fullness of God's favor. 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:49.720 So in these first four verses, 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:53.500 the psalmist is unashamedly crying out with joy 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:57.759 because he's enraptured by the loveliness of God 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.259 and longs to be where God is. 00:10:01.160 --> 00:10:03.460 And that makes us ask ourselves, doesn't it, this morning, 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.600 is this us today? 00:10:06.920 --> 00:10:09.820 Do we spring out of bed on Sunday morning, 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.759 hearts alive at the thrill of getting to come 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.220 and worship God with God's people? 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:19.019 Do we really long for the presence of God? 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:23.500 Or do we find ourselves more often than not thinking 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:25.500 about the things that God can get us 00:10:25.500 --> 00:10:27.759 rather than God himself? 00:10:29.340 --> 00:10:31.019 C.S. Lewis says that the problem is 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:34.940 that it's not that we expect too much from God 00:10:34.940 --> 00:10:37.000 or that we ask too much from God. 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:39.460 It's that we're too easily pleased. 00:10:39.860 --> 00:10:42.139 We're too easy to settle for less. 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:44.120 We set our desires too low. 00:10:45.699 --> 00:10:46.360 C.S. Lewis said, 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:48.879 we want to go on making mud pies in a slum 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.120 because we can't imagine what it means, 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:55.480 what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. 00:10:56.319 --> 00:10:58.819 God's not merely somebody who brings us good things. 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:01.519 He's the very source of all blessing, 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.939 all happiness, all joy. 00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:06.920 So Christianity is not fundamentally 00:11:06.920 --> 00:11:08.840 about getting things from God. 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:11.760 The greatest gift that God could ever give us 00:11:11.760 --> 00:11:12.960 is himself. 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:16.240 So if we're longing for the presence of God, 00:11:16.300 --> 00:11:17.460 how do we actually get there? 00:11:17.760 --> 00:11:19.820 Well, the psalmist taps into this 00:11:19.820 --> 00:11:21.040 in verses five to seven 00:11:21.040 --> 00:11:24.920 when he introduces us to the idea of pilgrimage. 00:11:26.520 --> 00:11:29.040 So point number two is walking with God. 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:30.720 Verse five says, 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:32.480 blessed are those whose strength is in you, 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:35.779 in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:38.500 So suddenly the writers transported us 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:42.279 from this place of longing to enter the temple, 00:11:42.800 --> 00:11:43.899 the place where God is, 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:47.259 to the image of pilgrims being on their way 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:48.840 to that place. 00:11:49.660 --> 00:11:51.740 Taking the Israelites would have, 00:11:53.920 --> 00:11:56.080 in this generation, 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.200 they would have walked towards Jerusalem 00:11:58.200 --> 00:11:59.480 to keep the annual feasts. 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.860 Zion, it says Zion in the passage, 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:04.680 but Zion's another name for Jerusalem 00:12:04.680 --> 00:12:05.680 where the temple was, 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:06.820 where God is. 00:12:06.899 --> 00:12:07.560 So these people, 00:12:07.899 --> 00:12:09.800 they've got their hearts set on God 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:13.220 as they journey through these difficult terrains. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:15.840 And their strength is in him, 00:12:16.300 --> 00:12:17.080 not in themselves. 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:18.920 The psalmist tells us something remarkable 00:12:18.920 --> 00:12:20.259 about the route. 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:23.920 It says that as they go through the valley of Baca, 00:12:24.539 --> 00:12:26.159 they make it a place of springs. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:29.539 The early rain also covers it with pools. 00:12:30.199 --> 00:12:32.480 So these people are heading for the temple, 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:36.199 but they're passing through the valley of Baca. 00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:38.679 This is probably a real valley. 00:12:38.839 --> 00:12:40.559 There's a few potential places people, 00:12:40.899 --> 00:12:42.600 commentators think it might be. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:44.959 But Baca, the word Baca, 00:12:45.199 --> 00:12:47.740 sounds like the Hebrew word for weeping. 00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:50.500 So we could think about this maybe 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:52.120 as the valley of weeping. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:54.740 It's a dry, thorny, 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.299 waterless ravine. 00:12:58.500 --> 00:12:58.840 And yet, 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:01.399 it's made into a place of springs. 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.299 The autumn rains cover it with pools. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.340 It brings refreshing and life, 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.600 despite the arduous journey 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:10.960 and the difficult circumstances. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:14.519 This word pools that we've got translated in English 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:16.000 as pools could be translated, 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:17.800 it's translated in other places as blessing. 00:13:18.900 --> 00:13:22.220 So rain in dry land is a blessing 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:24.080 from God to his people. 00:13:25.060 --> 00:13:26.000 And this verse, 00:13:26.100 --> 00:13:27.259 this section of the psalm, 00:13:27.300 --> 00:13:29.820 it does something really important theologically, 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.280 something that we have to grasp. 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.280 Because as the people are journeying 00:13:35.280 --> 00:13:36.800 to the temple to God's presence, 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:40.159 God doesn't lift them on a detour 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:43.179 around the valley of weeping. 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:45.579 He leads them right through it. 00:13:47.839 --> 00:13:48.919 The psalm shows us that God 00:13:48.919 --> 00:13:51.519 doesn't promise an easy path 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:55.259 towards the road of the presence of God. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:58.139 He promises us a road 00:13:58.139 --> 00:13:59.899 that goes right through sorrow, 00:14:00.379 --> 00:14:01.199 right through pain, 00:14:01.959 --> 00:14:03.599 right through disappointments and loss. 00:14:04.699 --> 00:14:05.319 And yet here, 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:06.740 in the valley of sorrow, 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.439 or pain or disappointment or hurt, 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:10.859 through the driest valleys 00:14:10.859 --> 00:14:11.859 and the hardest terrain, 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:14.620 God supplies blessing. 00:14:15.659 --> 00:14:17.859 That's vital for us to hear this morning. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:20.399 Because which one of us, honestly, 00:14:20.719 --> 00:14:21.879 we put our hands on our hearts, 00:14:21.959 --> 00:14:23.740 can say that we're, 00:14:24.359 --> 00:14:24.679 spiritually, 00:14:25.099 --> 00:14:27.120 that we're standing in the courts of God 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.139 with unbridled joy? 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:33.199 Aren't most of us somewhere along the path 00:14:33.199 --> 00:14:34.620 in the valley of Baca? 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:38.259 Aren't most of us journeying somewhere 00:14:38.259 --> 00:14:40.940 through bereavement or sickness 00:14:40.940 --> 00:14:42.960 or broken relationships 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.360 or a difficult diagnosis? 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.480 Well, the first thing to know 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:50.600 is that if you're trusting in the Lord, 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:52.740 this is real hardship. 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:56.060 It's not making less of these things. 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:59.479 But it's not because you've taken a wrong turn. 00:15:00.619 --> 00:15:03.019 God's not taken his eye off you 00:15:03.019 --> 00:15:05.819 and allowed you to wander in the wrong direction. 00:15:06.979 --> 00:15:08.159 Psalm 84 doesn't tell us 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:09.399 that the valley's a detour 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.099 from the pilgrim's path. 00:15:11.819 --> 00:15:13.179 The valley tells us the valley of, 00:15:13.619 --> 00:15:15.199 the psalm tells us the valley of weeping 00:15:15.199 --> 00:15:16.399 is the pilgrim way. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:20.039 As we walk through this valley, 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:22.519 we're reminded that we're walking towards the God 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:23.759 who's going to turn every valley, 00:15:24.579 --> 00:15:25.919 every difficult challenge, 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:26.860 into a spring, 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:27.539 into a pool, 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:28.799 into a blessing. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:31.480 King David wrote very famously, 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:33.059 we sang a paraphrase of it, 00:15:33.620 --> 00:15:34.919 even though I walk through the valley 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:35.779 of the shadow of death, 00:15:35.819 --> 00:15:36.600 I'll fear no evil, 00:15:37.299 --> 00:15:38.319 for you're with me. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:39.679 Your rod and your staff, 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:40.500 they comfort me. 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:43.259 The second thing to know 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:44.720 about this journey 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:48.000 is that this is not our final destination. 00:15:49.100 --> 00:15:49.860 I love the singer, 00:15:50.059 --> 00:15:51.500 the singer-songwriter Tom Waits, 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:52.539 and he's got a song called 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:54.039 Come On Up to the House. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:55.720 And in it he says, 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:57.460 this world is not my home, 00:15:57.779 --> 00:15:58.960 I'm just a passing through. 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:00.419 He sings, 00:16:00.899 --> 00:16:02.600 does life seem nasty, 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:03.980 brutish in short? 00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:05.899 The seas are stormy 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:07.259 and you can't find no port. 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:09.240 You've got to come up to the house. 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:11.299 Yes, the world is not my home. 00:16:12.060 --> 00:16:13.100 I'm just passing through. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:16.639 And then in verse 7, 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:18.680 we see this upside-down logic 00:16:18.680 --> 00:16:20.720 of pilgrim theology. 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:23.019 Despite walking through 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:24.060 the valley of weeping, 00:16:24.680 --> 00:16:26.639 they're going from strength to strength. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.399 Now this is a stunning statement, 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:30.940 because when we think about journeying 00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:31.940 through a difficult journey, 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:33.680 we think we start off fresh 00:16:33.680 --> 00:16:35.320 and we become gradually weaker 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:36.159 and weaker. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:38.320 We go from strength 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:39.660 and positivity 00:16:39.660 --> 00:16:41.300 to exhaustion 00:16:41.300 --> 00:16:42.540 and despondency 00:16:42.540 --> 00:16:43.820 as we become tired. 00:16:44.180 --> 00:16:45.220 But this is not 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:46.760 about a physical journey, 00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:49.060 it's about a spiritual one. 00:16:49.920 --> 00:16:51.600 And it defies worldly logic. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:54.200 When our spiritual walk 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:55.460 is with God, 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:57.379 it doesn't drain us, 00:16:58.140 --> 00:17:00.260 it actually fuels us. 00:17:01.020 --> 00:17:02.420 This is a joyful paradox 00:17:02.420 --> 00:17:03.500 for Christians. 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:05.460 Even while our bodies, 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:06.579 our minds, 00:17:06.779 --> 00:17:08.299 all the things around us 00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:09.680 that we see and touch 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:10.200 and feel 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:11.880 seem to be falling apart, 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:13.460 becoming weaker and weaker, 00:17:14.100 --> 00:17:16.220 our spirit is being renewed. 00:17:17.420 --> 00:17:18.480 In the New Testament, 00:17:18.620 --> 00:17:19.880 the Apostle Paul writes 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:21.259 to the Corinthians, 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:23.059 the church in Corinth, 00:17:23.140 --> 00:17:23.759 and he says, 00:17:24.299 --> 00:17:25.160 though the outer self 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:26.000 is wasting away, 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:27.100 our inner self 00:17:27.100 --> 00:17:27.900 is being renewed 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:29.000 day by day, 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:31.039 not by our own strength, 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:33.519 but by relying on God's. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:35.960 And then the second verse, 00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:37.480 the second half of verse seven, 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:39.420 it gives us this incredible hope 00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:40.599 to grab onto 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:42.480 that no matter 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:43.680 what your circumstances 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:44.980 are right now, 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:46.119 no matter what you're going through, 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:47.299 no matter how hard 00:17:47.299 --> 00:17:48.619 your valley of weeping 00:17:48.619 --> 00:17:49.680 is today, 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:51.720 this psalm says, 00:17:51.879 --> 00:17:52.799 each one appears 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.400 before God in Zion. 00:17:54.819 --> 00:17:55.680 Every pilgrim 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:56.660 who's on the way 00:17:56.660 --> 00:17:57.480 to God's presence 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:58.400 will arrive 00:17:58.400 --> 00:17:59.799 in God's presence 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:00.759 fully and completely. 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:03.119 This is a hard course 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:03.559 to walk, 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:05.220 but it's a course 00:18:05.220 --> 00:18:06.900 you'll not fail to complete 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:09.339 because that's God's promise 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:10.339 to us in this psalm. 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:12.879 And then as we come 00:18:12.879 --> 00:18:14.960 towards the final point 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:15.759 that we have this morning, 00:18:16.299 --> 00:18:17.000 we need to look at 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:18.640 verses eight and nine 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:20.039 because these two verses, 00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:21.240 they're a prayer 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:23.019 that unlocks so much 00:18:23.019 --> 00:18:23.460 about the way 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:24.759 that we understand this psalm. 00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:27.240 Verses eight and nine reads, 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:28.940 O Lord God of hosts, 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:29.779 hear my prayer, 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:30.399 give ear, 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:31.339 O God of Jacob, 00:18:31.639 --> 00:18:32.019 Selah. 00:18:32.339 --> 00:18:33.440 That's a musical note, 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:34.240 it's a note to musicians, 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:34.720 we think. 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:36.700 Behold our shield, 00:18:36.899 --> 00:18:37.279 O God, 00:18:37.579 --> 00:18:38.660 look on the face 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:39.399 of your anointed. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:41.559 So he's just described 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:42.359 pilgrims, 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:43.079 those journeying 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:44.779 through this difficult terrain, 00:18:44.899 --> 00:18:45.899 this difficult life, 00:18:46.420 --> 00:18:47.279 as going from strength 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:47.940 to strength. 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:49.500 And then immediately, 00:18:50.139 --> 00:18:51.399 he admits that he can't 00:18:51.399 --> 00:18:52.879 carry on the rest of the way 00:18:52.879 --> 00:18:54.319 through his own strength. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.579 The walk through the valley 00:18:56.579 --> 00:18:58.019 isn't designed 00:18:58.019 --> 00:18:59.960 to make you self-sufficient, 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:01.639 self-reliant. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:03.579 It makes you someone 00:19:03.579 --> 00:19:05.399 who prays all the harder 00:19:05.399 --> 00:19:07.019 and brings you 00:19:07.019 --> 00:19:08.019 all the closer. 00:19:09.619 --> 00:19:10.460 Where it says, 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:11.480 look on the face, 00:19:11.539 --> 00:19:12.079 look on the face 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:12.579 of your anointed. 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:13.960 That phrase means 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:15.879 to look favorably, 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.779 to bless this person. 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:20.919 And look at who he asks God 00:19:20.919 --> 00:19:22.799 to look favorably on 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.059 because it's not himself. 00:19:24.059 --> 00:19:24.980 The writer's not saying 00:19:24.980 --> 00:19:26.019 look favorably on me, 00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:27.019 but he's saying, 00:19:27.419 --> 00:19:29.059 look favorably 00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:30.579 on your anointed. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.599 This is the king, 00:19:32.879 --> 00:19:34.000 the one who's been appointed, 00:19:34.179 --> 00:19:35.440 anointed to lead 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.799 and rule over the people. 00:19:39.159 --> 00:19:41.159 The logic's something like this. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.200 Look favorably on the king 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:47.019 because the destination, 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:49.460 the destiny of pilgrims 00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:54.620 is inextricably tied up 00:19:54.620 --> 00:19:57.299 with the destiny 00:19:57.299 --> 00:19:58.279 of the king. 00:19:59.299 --> 00:20:01.039 The king is like a mediator, 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:02.039 an intermediary, 00:20:02.620 --> 00:20:03.799 the one through whom 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:05.740 the people will be blessed. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.319 Look favorably on him 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:10.600 and let us be accepted 00:20:10.600 --> 00:20:11.480 for his sake, 00:20:11.840 --> 00:20:13.860 is what the psalms saying. 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:14.720 You see, 00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:15.759 access to God's presence 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.039 was never going to rest 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:19.539 on the pilgrim's own worthiness. 00:20:20.379 --> 00:20:21.579 No matter how much 00:20:21.579 --> 00:20:22.920 he longed to be in the temple, 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:24.619 no matter how much 00:20:24.619 --> 00:20:25.480 he had to endure 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:26.920 as he journeyed towards it, 00:20:28.159 --> 00:20:29.099 it had to rest 00:20:29.099 --> 00:20:30.379 on somebody else. 00:20:31.399 --> 00:20:32.000 And that brings us 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:32.799 to our final point, 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:34.480 dwelling with God. 00:20:35.700 --> 00:20:36.420 This is maybe, 00:20:36.700 --> 00:20:37.519 we arrive now, 00:20:37.659 --> 00:20:39.299 the most quoted line 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:39.920 from this psalm. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:40.759 If you've been in church 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:42.059 for any length of time, 00:20:42.099 --> 00:20:43.180 you'll have heard this before. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:43.879 It says, 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:44.940 for a day in your courts 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:46.740 is better than a thousand elsewhere. 00:20:47.320 --> 00:20:48.620 I'd rather be a doorkeeper 00:20:48.620 --> 00:20:49.860 in the house of my God 00:20:49.860 --> 00:20:51.560 than dwell in the tents 00:20:51.560 --> 00:20:52.400 of wickedness. 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:53.880 So again, 00:20:53.980 --> 00:20:55.080 the psalmist is defying 00:20:55.080 --> 00:20:56.160 the way that we think. 00:20:56.860 --> 00:20:59.540 We calculate value differently. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:01.720 He teaches us about 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:03.520 quality over quantity. 00:21:04.600 --> 00:21:06.280 One day near God 00:21:06.280 --> 00:21:08.100 outweighs a thousand 00:21:08.100 --> 00:21:09.140 anywhere else, 00:21:09.300 --> 00:21:10.040 the psalmist says. 00:21:10.360 --> 00:21:11.320 He'd rather hold 00:21:11.320 --> 00:21:12.820 the most lowly position 00:21:12.820 --> 00:21:13.660 he can think of. 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:15.440 A doorkeeper. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:16.760 Someone who doesn't even 00:21:16.760 --> 00:21:18.040 get to enter into 00:21:18.040 --> 00:21:19.660 the heart of the court. 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:22.120 Who merely stands 00:21:22.120 --> 00:21:22.960 at the threshold 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.480 as others pass by. 00:21:25.600 --> 00:21:26.520 He'd rather that 00:21:26.520 --> 00:21:27.780 than dwell 00:21:27.780 --> 00:21:28.860 in the camp 00:21:28.860 --> 00:21:30.220 of the wickedness. 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:31.020 Even if he could go 00:21:31.020 --> 00:21:32.040 right to the center, 00:21:32.520 --> 00:21:33.500 prized place, 00:21:33.780 --> 00:21:35.640 and all the good things, 00:21:36.040 --> 00:21:36.960 the perceived goodness 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:38.380 that comes from that. 00:21:40.340 --> 00:21:41.420 This is personal 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:42.600 for the person 00:21:42.600 --> 00:21:43.500 who's written this psalm. 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:45.600 Because the sons of Korah, 00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:46.600 it tells us at the beginning, 00:21:46.700 --> 00:21:47.160 they wrote 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:49.400 a bunch of psalms. 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:50.440 They wrote this psalm. 00:21:51.260 --> 00:21:52.880 But they are descendants 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:55.380 of a man 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:57.220 who wanted 00:21:57.220 --> 00:21:59.340 more for himself 00:21:59.340 --> 00:22:00.740 than he had already 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:01.680 been blessed with. 00:22:02.040 --> 00:22:03.260 He was chasing more. 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:05.700 and in his sinfulness, 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:10.200 he tried to step over others 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:11.400 in order to get it. 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:13.160 And what that led to, 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:13.980 it led to destruction, 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:15.039 it led to separation 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:16.359 for him from God. 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:17.639 So the psalmist knows 00:22:17.639 --> 00:22:18.299 what it's like 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:19.719 to be on the proximity 00:22:19.719 --> 00:22:20.719 of God's house. 00:22:21.619 --> 00:22:22.399 And he's telling us 00:22:22.399 --> 00:22:23.359 it's worth more 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:24.959 than all the comfort, 00:22:25.179 --> 00:22:25.779 all the blessing 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:26.819 that we think 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:27.479 we can find 00:22:27.479 --> 00:22:28.299 anywhere else. 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:30.919 The psalm closes 00:22:30.919 --> 00:22:32.759 with a description 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:33.659 of his God. 00:22:34.699 --> 00:22:35.419 And he says, 00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:37.320 God is a son 00:22:37.320 --> 00:22:38.019 and shield. 00:22:38.840 --> 00:22:39.539 He's the giver 00:22:39.539 --> 00:22:40.600 of life and light. 00:22:41.180 --> 00:22:41.640 He's the one 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:43.000 who guards and protects. 00:22:43.600 --> 00:22:44.660 He bestows favor 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:45.240 and honor 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:46.060 and withholds 00:22:46.060 --> 00:22:46.820 nothing good 00:22:46.820 --> 00:22:47.240 from those 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:48.380 who walk uprightly. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:50.580 So the psalm began 00:22:50.580 --> 00:22:51.700 with longing 00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:53.240 and it ends 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:54.759 with blessing 00:22:54.759 --> 00:22:55.980 to those 00:22:55.980 --> 00:22:56.920 whose faith 00:22:56.920 --> 00:22:57.539 leads them 00:22:57.539 --> 00:22:58.480 into God's presence. 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:00.840 So for the psalmist 00:23:00.840 --> 00:23:02.380 3,000 years ago, 00:23:03.140 --> 00:23:04.759 this is all bound up 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:05.640 in a building, 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:06.539 in a place. 00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:07.460 His longing, 00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:08.059 his pilgrimage, 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:09.440 his doorkeeping, 00:23:09.879 --> 00:23:10.740 it's all pointing 00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:12.359 towards the physical temple 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:13.359 that existed 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:13.900 that was built 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:14.559 in Jerusalem. 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:16.599 A temple 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:17.180 that was made 00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:17.819 of stone 00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:18.980 where people 00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:19.920 would come to gather 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:20.799 to worship God, 00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:21.980 where God's presence was. 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:23.200 See, but here's 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:24.440 the problem for us 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:26.000 if we read this today. 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:28.480 God later 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:29.879 allowed that temple 00:23:29.879 --> 00:23:31.379 to be destroyed. 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:33.960 So if Psalm 84 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:35.220 is only about 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:36.559 a material building, 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:37.759 only about stone building, 00:23:38.360 --> 00:23:39.860 then the story 00:23:39.860 --> 00:23:40.720 of this song 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:42.180 ends in tragedy. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:44.259 The temple collapses, 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:45.440 the sparrows 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:46.059 and the swallows, 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:47.259 they fly away, 00:23:47.340 --> 00:23:47.980 they make their nests 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:48.720 somewhere else. 00:23:49.600 --> 00:23:50.920 And our far sickness, 00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:52.680 the ache 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:53.480 in our hearts, 00:23:53.620 --> 00:23:54.299 that longing 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:55.319 for that place 00:23:55.319 --> 00:23:56.380 we've not yet been 00:23:56.380 --> 00:23:57.960 remains unfulfilled 00:23:57.960 --> 00:23:58.799 forever. 00:24:00.140 --> 00:24:01.079 But the whole Bible 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:01.740 tells us, 00:24:02.439 --> 00:24:03.019 that the temple 00:24:03.019 --> 00:24:04.539 was never the destination. 00:24:05.299 --> 00:24:06.259 It was merely 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:07.279 a signpost. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:09.039 And it wasn't 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:09.740 the only one. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:10.859 So when God 00:24:10.859 --> 00:24:11.579 made Adam and Eve, 00:24:11.639 --> 00:24:12.139 he placed them 00:24:12.139 --> 00:24:12.659 in a garden. 00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:14.220 And the garden 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:14.899 was perfect, 00:24:15.259 --> 00:24:15.740 and so God 00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:16.379 could be present 00:24:16.379 --> 00:24:17.179 with them there. 00:24:17.939 --> 00:24:19.139 But because they fell, 00:24:19.199 --> 00:24:19.939 they sinned 00:24:19.939 --> 00:24:20.819 against God. 00:24:21.379 --> 00:24:21.819 They were put 00:24:21.819 --> 00:24:22.480 out of the garden. 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:24.139 And there was 00:24:24.139 --> 00:24:25.099 separation between 00:24:25.099 --> 00:24:26.039 God and mankind. 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:28.359 Then later, 00:24:29.099 --> 00:24:29.839 God dwelt 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:30.460 with his people 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:31.859 in the tabernacle, 00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:32.920 a tent 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:34.700 that lived 00:24:34.700 --> 00:24:35.339 in the midst 00:24:35.339 --> 00:24:36.119 of the people 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:37.019 who wandered 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:37.920 aimlessly 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:39.099 in the wilderness. 00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:41.099 And then came 00:24:41.099 --> 00:24:41.720 the temple 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:42.579 that we're talking 00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:43.019 about here 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:43.920 where God dwelt. 00:24:44.420 --> 00:24:45.480 But even in the temple, 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:46.319 there was a curtain 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:46.960 put up 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:48.180 that separated 00:24:48.180 --> 00:24:49.619 human beings 00:24:49.619 --> 00:24:50.659 from the most 00:24:50.659 --> 00:24:52.119 holy place 00:24:52.119 --> 00:24:53.279 where God was. 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:55.200 and now this psalm 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:56.059 longs 00:24:56.059 --> 00:24:57.319 for unbroken 00:24:57.319 --> 00:24:57.920 nearness 00:24:57.920 --> 00:24:59.440 to the living God, 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:00.519 a place where 00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:01.259 God's presence 00:25:01.259 --> 00:25:02.079 and human beings 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:03.379 are no longer 00:25:03.379 --> 00:25:04.099 separated, 00:25:05.180 --> 00:25:06.139 a home so secure 00:25:06.139 --> 00:25:07.139 that even the birds 00:25:07.139 --> 00:25:08.299 can make their nests 00:25:08.299 --> 00:25:08.579 in it, 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:10.299 a valley of weeping 00:25:10.299 --> 00:25:10.960 turned into 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:12.639 springs of waters, 00:25:13.779 --> 00:25:14.440 a doorway 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:16.279 into the very 00:25:16.279 --> 00:25:17.139 presence of God 00:25:17.139 --> 00:25:18.779 that doesn't depend 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:19.599 on our own 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:20.299 worthiness. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:22.960 And every single 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:23.620 one of those 00:25:23.620 --> 00:25:25.779 longings 00:25:25.779 --> 00:25:26.819 is answered 00:25:26.819 --> 00:25:29.180 not in a renewed 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:29.640 temple 00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:31.279 but in a person. 00:25:32.819 --> 00:25:33.759 A thousand years 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:34.880 ish 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:35.980 after this psalm 00:25:35.980 --> 00:25:36.360 was written, 00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:37.120 Jesus stood 00:25:37.120 --> 00:25:39.960 at the temple 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:42.079 and he said, 00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:43.440 destroy this temple 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:44.519 and in three days 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:45.940 I'll raise it up again. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:47.579 So the people 00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:48.220 thought that he was 00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:48.779 talking about 00:25:48.779 --> 00:25:49.559 the physical temple, 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:50.620 the stone temple 00:25:50.620 --> 00:25:51.380 that he was 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:52.019 standing beside. 00:25:52.019 --> 00:25:53.759 But John, 00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:54.599 one of Jesus' 00:25:54.759 --> 00:25:55.119 disciples, 00:25:55.259 --> 00:25:55.819 tells us that he 00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:56.379 wasn't talking 00:25:56.379 --> 00:25:57.480 about that temple 00:25:57.480 --> 00:25:57.900 at all. 00:25:58.099 --> 00:25:58.579 He was talking 00:25:58.579 --> 00:25:59.240 about the temple 00:25:59.240 --> 00:25:59.900 of his body. 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:00.839 You see, 00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:02.160 Jesus didn't really 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:03.519 come to be a pilgrim 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.839 walking the way 00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:05.440 to Zion. 00:26:06.220 --> 00:26:07.180 He is the way. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:09.859 He is the destination. 00:26:11.099 --> 00:26:12.539 Jesus is the true temple. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:14.500 And John tells us 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:15.519 that he tabernacles 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:16.639 among us. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:17.940 He lives 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:19.200 among us. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:20.880 Jesus walked 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:21.400 through the valley 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:21.819 of weeping 00:26:21.819 --> 00:26:23.100 not as one 00:26:23.100 --> 00:26:24.340 who needed springs 00:26:24.340 --> 00:26:25.580 but as the one 00:26:25.580 --> 00:26:26.440 who supplies them. 00:26:28.120 --> 00:26:28.840 Jesus turned 00:26:28.840 --> 00:26:30.279 humanity's driest, 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:33.039 most thorn-choked sorrow, 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:34.640 death itself, 00:26:35.120 --> 00:26:36.380 into a place 00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:38.299 where living water rises. 00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:40.600 He's the sun. 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:41.860 He's the shield 00:26:41.860 --> 00:26:43.200 in a way 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:43.740 that the psalmist 00:26:43.740 --> 00:26:44.779 could only hint at 00:26:44.779 --> 00:26:45.880 from his vantage point. 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:47.680 He's the light 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:48.260 of the world. 00:26:49.980 --> 00:26:50.500 And when he went 00:26:50.500 --> 00:26:51.160 to the cross, 00:26:52.260 --> 00:26:53.020 his own body 00:26:53.020 --> 00:26:53.900 became a shield, 00:26:55.040 --> 00:26:55.760 protecting us 00:26:55.760 --> 00:26:56.460 from the suffering 00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:57.800 that was rightfully ours. 00:27:00.340 --> 00:27:01.200 And maybe most 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:02.080 staggering of all, 00:27:02.200 --> 00:27:03.620 Jesus doesn't stand 00:27:03.620 --> 00:27:04.500 in. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:07.580 He doesn't let us, 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:08.840 doesn't just let us 00:27:08.840 --> 00:27:10.120 stand at the door. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:11.420 He says to us 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:11.900 this morning, 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:13.620 I am the door. 00:27:13.619 --> 00:27:16.379 And having entered once 00:27:16.379 --> 00:27:18.279 by his own blood, 00:27:18.399 --> 00:27:19.199 once for all, 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.199 he tears that temple 00:27:21.199 --> 00:27:22.000 curtain apart 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:23.339 from top to bottom 00:27:23.339 --> 00:27:26.059 so that you and me 00:27:26.059 --> 00:27:27.119 who deserve 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:28.459 to be outside forever 00:27:28.459 --> 00:27:29.759 are welcomed 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:30.919 all the way in. 00:27:31.799 --> 00:27:32.519 He's the one 00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:33.299 through whom 00:27:33.299 --> 00:27:34.219 we have the confidence 00:27:34.219 --> 00:27:35.179 to enter the most 00:27:35.179 --> 00:27:35.919 holy places 00:27:35.919 --> 00:27:37.779 and not just 00:27:37.779 --> 00:27:38.699 to be doorkeepers 00:27:38.699 --> 00:27:40.939 but because 00:27:40.939 --> 00:27:42.239 of the anointed one, 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:43.779 the Mashiach 00:27:43.779 --> 00:27:44.620 it is in Hebrew, 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:45.299 the Messiah, 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:46.200 the Christ, 00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:47.680 we're named sons 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:48.480 and daughters 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:49.240 of the King. 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:51.700 That's why your 00:27:51.700 --> 00:27:52.440 Fernway, 00:27:53.500 --> 00:27:54.480 that unnamed 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:55.000 longing 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:56.240 for a world 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:57.079 that you've never seen 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:59.279 is not a cruel joke 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:00.380 played by nature 00:28:00.380 --> 00:28:01.539 on your human heart. 00:28:02.579 --> 00:28:04.120 It's a homing signal. 00:28:05.579 --> 00:28:06.400 C.S. Lewis was right. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:08.000 If you feel 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:08.800 that you don't belong 00:28:08.800 --> 00:28:09.960 in this world, 00:28:10.060 --> 00:28:10.700 if there's something 00:28:10.700 --> 00:28:11.800 that just doesn't feel 00:28:11.800 --> 00:28:13.600 like you belong here, 00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:14.780 that's because 00:28:14.780 --> 00:28:15.560 your true home 00:28:15.560 --> 00:28:16.700 is not fully here. 00:28:17.720 --> 00:28:18.400 Not yet. 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:21.280 At the end of the Bible, 00:28:21.380 --> 00:28:22.060 John sees a vision. 00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:23.720 A vision of what's 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:24.220 going to happen 00:28:24.220 --> 00:28:25.500 at the end times 00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:26.820 and he records it for us 00:28:26.820 --> 00:28:28.580 and this is from 00:28:28.580 --> 00:28:29.300 that book, 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:29.820 Revelation, 00:28:30.080 --> 00:28:30.560 it's called. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:31.160 He says, 00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:56.880 When we read Psalm 84, 00:28:57.460 --> 00:28:58.700 this side of the cross, 00:28:58.700 --> 00:29:00.040 in the light of Jesus, 00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:01.659 it tells us 00:29:01.659 --> 00:29:02.339 that our home 00:29:02.339 --> 00:29:03.500 is not just 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:04.079 in the future. 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:06.319 The living God, 00:29:06.639 --> 00:29:07.759 who once dwelt 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:08.680 behind a veil 00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:09.720 in a tent 00:29:09.720 --> 00:29:10.639 or in a temple, 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:13.779 is now dwelling 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:14.440 in his people 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:15.539 by his spirit. 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:17.619 And one day, 00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:19.519 he'll do that 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:20.379 so completely 00:29:20.379 --> 00:29:22.259 that the dwelling place 00:29:22.259 --> 00:29:22.740 of God 00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:24.279 will be with man. 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:26.960 Because 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:28.019 Jesus Christ, 00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:28.920 God himself, 00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:31.300 left the loveliness 00:29:31.300 --> 00:29:31.940 of heaven 00:29:31.940 --> 00:29:33.420 to come to earth. 00:29:34.360 --> 00:29:35.200 And at the cross, 00:29:35.340 --> 00:29:35.779 the Son 00:29:35.779 --> 00:29:37.519 experienced the agony 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:38.960 of the Father 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:41.580 turning his presence 00:29:41.580 --> 00:29:42.240 away from him. 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:45.039 Our far sickness 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:46.500 is transformed 00:29:46.500 --> 00:29:48.400 into homesickness. 00:29:49.100 --> 00:29:49.480 How? 00:29:50.620 --> 00:29:51.960 Because he's opened up 00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:52.620 the way for us 00:29:52.620 --> 00:29:54.259 to enter into God's presence 00:29:54.259 --> 00:29:55.680 where we will find 00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:56.879 complete fulfillment. 00:29:58.180 --> 00:29:59.039 Our longing 00:29:59.039 --> 00:29:59.559 for something 00:29:59.559 --> 00:30:00.279 we can't name 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:01.700 has become 00:30:01.700 --> 00:30:02.160 a longing 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:02.980 for the home 00:30:02.980 --> 00:30:04.319 that we can't lose. 00:30:05.319 --> 00:30:06.059 Let's pray. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:08.799 Lord God, 00:30:08.980 --> 00:30:09.799 we're so thankful 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:10.299 to you 00:30:10.299 --> 00:30:12.140 for your holy word 00:30:12.140 --> 00:30:13.180 that teaches us 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:13.539 that 00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:15.640 the circumstances 00:30:15.640 --> 00:30:16.359 of our lives 00:30:16.359 --> 00:30:18.119 are not 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:19.119 an indicator 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:20.480 of our spiritual health. 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:21.039 Rather, 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:22.960 these are the things 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:23.759 that humans endure 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:24.360 as they journey 00:30:24.360 --> 00:30:25.240 towards the cross. 00:30:25.980 --> 00:30:26.640 We thank you 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:27.940 that Jesus Christ came 00:30:27.940 --> 00:30:29.200 and he lived this life 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:31.200 suffering before glory 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:33.400 for us. 00:30:33.700 --> 00:30:34.680 And now as we walk 00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:36.860 through suffering 00:30:36.860 --> 00:30:38.160 in so many different ways, 00:30:38.339 --> 00:30:39.240 we look forward 00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:39.720 with hope 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:41.460 to when you 00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:42.599 will make all things new, 00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:43.200 when Lord, 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:44.819 you will dwell 00:30:44.819 --> 00:30:45.860 with us 00:30:45.860 --> 00:30:47.099 forever, 00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:48.860 wiping every tear 00:30:48.859 --> 00:30:49.479 from every eye. 00:30:50.259 --> 00:30:50.500 Lord, 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:51.039 we ask that you 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:52.000 bless us and keep us. 00:30:52.579 --> 00:30:53.119 Forgive our sins 00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:53.740 in Jesus' name. 00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:54.639 Amen.