enjoyed our time together last
night, some of the brethren here. And I would just say this to
this congregation. You're much in our thoughts and
in our prayers. And I know that's true of the
brethren at Hurricane Road, and I know that's true literally
across this country. I can say that without reservation. But with that said, I will say
it's truly, I am humbled to stand here before you this morning
in this place. Pray the Lord would bless us
as we gather together. Open your Bibles with me to Psalm
84. Psalm 84. I am thankful for the means and
the ability to listen to messages from home. I think that's a when
I was younger that wasn't. We took notes just as feverishly
as we could and that's probably a good thing but it is nice to,
I know one of the women at our place had said when she hears
a message she enjoys going home and being able to listen to it
again and I'm also thankful that we can broadcast this message. What an amazing thought to me
that God's word can go forth from Ashland, Kentucky, or Rock
Valley, Iowa, anywhere. And literally, God's Word goes
around this world. I know that we have some folks
at home that right now aren't able to make it to the worship
service. And the fact that they can sit at home and listen to
a message preached and not have to miss a service, But with that said, I think it's
worthy of a word of caution with regard to convenience. I know
a friend of mine said that he had quit broadcasting messages
because some of the folks in the congregation talked about
how easy it was just to stay at home in their pajamas and
watch the message. That's not what worship is about. There's no substitute for gathering
together to worship in the Lord's house, wherever that might be.
We've worshipped together in the basement of a bank, we've
worshipped together, we've gathered together in our homes. A few
years back we had a storm come through and couldn't even get
to the building and we met in a gymnasium. I don't think the
point's so much the location, just the fact of God's people
gathering together. And that's this passage here
in Psalm 84. My pastor read this in preparation
for worship a few weeks ago, and I began to look at it, but
listen to a few of these scriptures with me concerning the worship
of God's people. Psalm 34, verse 3 says this,
let us magnify the Lord together. Let us magnify the Lord together. Isaiah 1.18 says, I was glad
when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. In Hebrews 10.25, forsake not
the assembling of yourselves. How? Together. We gather together
as a people. And there's many scriptures in
God's word about public worship, about meeting together, about
worshiping together. And I'm certainly not discouraging
individual study or devotional. Nobody enjoys a message on sermon
audio driving from one point to the other, I think, than me. But I do believe it's important
to draw attention to the importance of public worship. There's things we can do in our
home that nobody knows about. But when y'all park your car
out in front of this building and people drive by, they know
this is where you worship. And if they take any time, they'll
know the message that you love. So again, Psalm 84, and this
is divided into, I believe, three sections, probably divided into
many more than that, three of them. Verse 1 through 4, we see
the blessing of those who reside in his house. Verse 5 through
8, the blessings of those who visit his house. And then verse
9 through 12, we read of the master of the house. So let's begin these first four
verses here this morning. And verse one of Psalm 84 says,
how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. How amiable. That word means lovely. How lovely
are thy tabernacles. Now the tabernacles were erected
by Moses by the command of Almighty God out there in the wilderness.
And you know it wasn't the outside of the tabernacle that was beautiful. I was looking on y'all's bulletin,
the front of y'all's bulletin, and what a beautiful picture
of this place. Looks like it was taken at night.
You see the light from within the building. As beautiful as the outside of
this place is, the true beauty of the tabernacle is what's going
on inside. That old tabernacle back there
in the Old Testament, I've seen what men have drawn up as images
of it. It literally almost looks like
a clothesline kind of stretched around it with some sheets hanging
over it. Nothing that would draw your
attention to the outside of the tabernacle. but inside the tabernacle. What was going on there? That's
where you would find those vessels of gold. That's where you would
find the priests in their apparel. That's where you'd find the high
priest, which represents our Lord Jesus Christ, that great
high priest of the eternal covenant. See, only Christ the high priest,
that one mediator between man and God, That's where the intercession,
that which makes our presence acceptable in the sight of Almighty
God. That's where the sacrifice, that
sacrifice was slain and offered up unto the Lord. It's there
that Aaron would select those two goats for a sin offering
and one ram for a burnt offering. and that ram would be offered
up as an atonement or a sacrifice for himself and for his house. He'd cast lots on those two goats.
One would be for a sin offering on the mercy seat, and the other
one would serve as a scapegoat. The Lord Jesus Christ is both.
He's our scapegoat on whom Almighty God laid our sins. Scripture says He bore our sins
in His body on the tree. He's our sin offering who died
for us. That sacrifice which we're taught
much about the nature of sin and the strictness of God's justice. God's going to punish sin. He
must punish sin. He is absolutely holy. We can't even enter into that. We drink iniquity like water. God's holy. He's absolutely holy
in all His ways, and sin must be punished. the strictness of his justice,
and the sacrifice there in the tabernacle, that sacrifice that
pointed to our Savior. Scripture says this, that the
wages of sin is death. It must be punished. God must punish sin. James says
this, when lust is conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Aaron would take
that blood and he'd sprinkle the mercy seed with it. And he'd
make atonement. It was a picture of atonement
for the sins of the people. My brothers, the Lord Jesus Christ,
again, that was just a picture. Imagine how many gallons of animal
blood that was spilled over the years that could never, never
take away sin. They pointed to the Lord Jesus
Christ but could never take away sin. The Lord Jesus Christ died
and he entered into the presence of God with his own blood and
he made eternal, eternal reconciliation and atonement for our sins. What's Scripture say? Without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission. And that priest offered those
sacrifices continually, over and over and over again. They
could never take away sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ offered
one sacrifice for sin, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. He, listen to this, no help from
man. That's what this world says.
False religion says that, that God did his part and man did
his part. That's not the case. There's
only one thing we do well, and that's sin. Scripture says this,
that when he by himself purged our sins. Who was involved in
that? He was. He by himself purged
our sins. And then what did he do? He sat
down. He sat down on the right hand of Almighty God. Can you
see the beauty in that? Can you see the beauty in what
God has done for his people through his son? The sins of his people. put away. Cast, scripture says, cast into
the depths of the sea. I lost a pair, this is a small
thing, I lost a pair of sunglasses one time in the ocean. Big wave
come and hit me, knocked them off. We looked and we looked
and we looked and we never found them. That was just like right
there on the coast. Imagine how much of this world
the ocean covers. How deep the seas are. There's
parts of the sea that we can't even explore. And God's Word
said that He's cast our sins in the depths of the sea, never
to be seen again. It's in this place, it's in the
tabernacle where Christ is preached. It's where His ordinances administered
what a what a special time together when God's people meet together
to partake to partake of the bread to partake of the wine
that that which pictures his suffering and death that which
that which declares his offering for sin his blood
sacrifice It's in this place that we witness, I think if I
listened correctly, y'all got some baptisms coming up. What
a joyful, what a joyful time together to see folks confess
the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says that there's joy,
think about that, there's joy in heaven when one sinner repents. How could that be anything less
than a joyful time for us? It's in this place that the gospel
is preached. What a glorious thought. And
I know sometimes, I know I do, we kind of take that for granted. What a glorious thought that
that his gospel would be preached. And what a blessing for a congregation
to continually be able to come and hear God's word faithfully
preached. It's here that we sing songs
of his love and of his grace. And what's more lovely than all
of that, it's where God is pleased to
meet with his people. That's what scripture declares.
He said, think about it, he said, where two or three are gathered
in my name. Y'all know the rest of that scripture,
don't you? Where two or three are gathered in my name, there
am I in the midst of them. That the Lord would be pleased
to meet amongst his people. Well, verse two of Psalm 84,
my soul longeth Yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My
heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." This isn't
just a cry of the mouth. Sometimes when we cry out, it
just comes from the mouth. This here is a cry from the heart,
from the innermost being. to be in his house, to be among
God's people, to gather together and worship our Lord and our
Savior. You know, typically we're friends
with those we worship with, but this isn't a social gathering,
is it? No, this is a worship service. This is where we come to hear
of God's grace and mercy to sinners. David wrote in Psalm 122, 1,
he said, I was glad. I was glad when they said unto
me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Well, let's read
on. Yea, the sparrow, verse three,
the sparrow hath found a house and the swallow a nest for herself
where she may lay her young even on altars, O Lord of hosts, my
king and my God. I don't know that there was a
more worthless bird in scripture than a sparrow. David was envious of a sparrow. Why is that? That sparrow never
had to leave God's house. A place of rest. A place of security. shelter, a shelter from storm. You know, there's been times,
there's been times when we've met together and heard God's
word preached and it seems like nobody wants to leave. Everybody
just kind of wants to stay in this building. When we leave
and we go back out into that world, and face the things of
the day. David said that sparrow gets
to just stay there, stay there continually. But listen to this, listen to
this scripture, don't lose this. Not just for the sparrow, what's
it say there? But for her young, for her young,
our little ones, our young ones, our children, Listen, may this
not just be a place for us, or we'd be very thankful, very thankful
if it was, but also for our children. This is often referenced in God's
Word. Turn to Mark chapter 10. Hold your place there in Psalm
84. Mark chapter 10. Look beginning with verse 13 of Mark 10. Here we read that they brought
young children to him. Folks brought young children
to the Lord Jesus Christ that that he should touch them and
his disciples rebuke those that brought them. When Jesus saw it he was much
displeased and he said unto them suffer the little children to
come unto me And forbid them not, for such is the kingdom
of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall
not enter therein." The birds and their young here
were not restrained from entering into the tabernacle. And David
finished the verse with this. He said, my king and my God. Almighty God's sovereign. He's
sovereign in creation. He's sovereign in providence.
And he's sovereign in salvation. My king and my God. Spurgeon said this, he said,
it's like David lays hold here with both hands, like Jacob of
old, saying, Lord, I won't let you go till you bless me. Verse 4, Psalm 84, verse 4, blessed
are they that dwell in thy house, they will still be praising thee. He is worthy of all praise. That's what we'll do through
eternity, is praise Him. I thought of this hymn, while
the ages roll, I'll keep on praising Him. and my voice will never
tire or grow old and my song shall ever be throughout eternity
my song shall ever be praise the lamb who died for me and
I'll sing it while the ages shall roll and this verse here Psalm
84 it ends with this word Selah Selah now that means to pause
and to consider. We don't always do that, do we?
I'm constantly guilty of just reading through Scripture. David says, pause and consider. Stop. Stop right there and think
about what God's Word is saying. In this case, pause and consider
dwelling and praising him throughout all eternity. Well, let's move on here. Verse
5 through 8, the blessings of those who visit. Verse 5, blessed
is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the
ways of them. Where's my strength? Where's
your strength? Is it in me? Is it in myself? Is that my hope? Truly, if it
is, I'm of all men most miserable. Is it in this arm of flesh or
the arm of flesh of another? Or is it in him? You read that
to open, Eric, you read that to open worship service, when
we were without strength. That's where he finds us, without
strength. Blessed, what we read there,
blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. Blessed is the man
whose strength is in Almighty God. Strength to believe. strength to obey, strength to
endure trial and heartache. Read on, who passing through
the valley, verse six, who passing through the valley of Baca make
it a well. The rain also filleth the pools.
They go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. Now that valley of Baca, it means,
it's interpreted The valley of tears. The valley of weeping. You know the believer, and y'all
know this well, the believer passes through many difficulties. Times of weakness. Times of temptation. Times of affliction. And we weep. But not as those who have no
hope. We're not to despair or grow weary. For the Lord, He
continually provides for His people. You see that? He says
here, the rain, His rain filleth the pools. Or a well. We don't
need to go out there and dig our own well. We depend on Him. We rest in
Him. This thing of water, what does
water do? Well, water cools. Water's used
to cleanse. Water's used to refresh. David wrote this, he said, weeping
may endure for the night. But we're not left there, are
we? Joy cometh in the morning. He wrote in Psalm 27, I had fainted. Oh, we grow weary, don't we?
We do despair. David said, I'd fainted unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. He says, they go from strength
to strength. Every one of them appeareth before
God. Every one of his sheep will appear
before him in glory, beholding, beholding him. First Corinthians
13 says, we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am known. This seeing through a
glass darkly, I used to have an old Chevy pickup truck that
the Defrost didn't work on it. It'd be a fog settle on, usually
on the inside of the wind of the morning. I could see. I sure
couldn't see very, I couldn't see very well. What Paul said, he said, we see
through a glass darkly, dimly, but then how are we going to
see him face to face? face-to-face and I'm gonna what's
he say then shall I know even as also I am known I want you
to think about this for me we're going to we're going to see him
we're going to know him as he knows us how well how well does
he know us Scripture says that the very hairs of our head are
numbers. That's how intimately he knows
his children, his sheep. Well, let's read on verse eight
of our text. Oh, Lord God of hosts, hear my
prayer. Give ear, oh God of Jacob, the Lord of hosts. The Lord of
a mighty army. He's almighty in power. Isn't that what David said to
Goliath? Remember that? He came out there
and he'd curse the children of Israel. He'd threaten them. He said, I come to you in the
name of the Lord of hosts, who's all powerful. He references here
the God of Jacob. covenant God, a God infinite
in mercy and goodness to his people. And this is David's play. He says, hear my prayer. Psalm 34, 12, David said, this
poor man cried. What an amazing thing. We cry
a lot, don't we? This poor man cried, and what happened? The
Lord heard him. The Lord hears the cry of his
people. And not only that, the Lord heard
him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The Lord of hosts. The God of
Jacob. hears the cry. He hears the prayers
of his people. Look at the end of verse 8. Selah. Pause. Pause and consider that. That Almighty God who created
the heavens and the earth, Almighty God who rules over all things,
He hears the cry of his people. We should never, we do, I do,
we should never grow discouraged. We should never stop crying unto
the Lord. He hears the cry of his people.
That's written in his work. And I was thinking about this
this morning. This scripture says, if you be
an evil, That's us. If you, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, we hear the cries of our children,
don't we? You mothers amaze me. I can remember when our boys
were little, and they'd cry. And Abby would know. All I knew, they were crying.
She could hear their cry. And she'd say, I think he's getting
hungry. He just needs a bottle. She'd
go warm a bottle up, and boy, he just, either one of them just
settled right down. It'd be a cry when maybe they
had a dirty diaper or something. I never could distinguish what
that cry was. She could. You mothers can. And
then there was a cry that was just like, I'll just let him
lay there. He'll go to sleep. or that cry of, he's hurt, and
we need to get there quickly. If we're able to do that, how
much greater can God, who hears our cry, know our needs? If you
being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things
to them. I don't know if I've ever seen
this before, that ask Him. Why is that so hard? I'm convinced it's my self-righteousness
to ask. Is there anything harder in the
world than to ask, ask someone for help? We're to cry unto our Lord. Consider
that. Consider that, that he hears
the prayer of his people. And then last, here we read of
the master of the house. Verse nine. Behold, O God, our
shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. Oh, that he
would make this my prayer continually. Don't look on me. Don't look
on me. If you look on me, Lord, you're
going to see sin. You're going to see wickedness.
You're going to see unbelief. That's not David's cry, though,
is it? Look on His anointed. Who is that? That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look on Him. Look upon His obedience. Look upon His suffering. Look upon His death. Look upon
His righteousness. Look upon the Savior. Look upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Look upon Him and save me from
my sin. Ephesians 1 verse 6 says, to
the praise of the glory of His grace. wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. I couldn't find the writer of
this song, and I don't know if you're familiar with this course,
but it says this, when he sees me, he sees the blood of the
lamb. He sees me as worthy, not as I am. He views me in garments,
as wide as the snow for the Lamb of God is worthy
and he washed me this I know look on the face look on the
face of thine anointed that's my prayer look on the face of
thine anointed and let's let's read on here in our text verse
10 for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." How long? He said, just one day. Just one day. Not a week, not
a month, not a year, not a century. Just one day in thy court. And I didn't know this, that
court was actually the enclosure outside the tabernacle. I can just be near him, just
near him for a day. One day in thy courts is better
than a thousand anywhere else. He said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper, a lowly servant. couple thoughts here I'd rather
be a servant sitting at the threshold right there with the door right
there with the door opens he said if I can just sit there
in the threshold you know at least in that threshold you could
look and catch a glimpse of what was going on in the tabernacle
to sit at that threshold in the house of my God and dwell in
the tents of the wicked like like those we'd read about those
beggars of old laying right outside the gate of the city to be a servant to just be a
servant is that a bad thing is it a bad thing to be a servant
scripture says this that the Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself
the form of a servant That's as low as we can be in
it, to be a servant. And some of the old writers say
this, that this can be interpreted, one tied to the door. And that can only be a reference
to that bond servant. Back there in the Old Testament.
Turn to Exodus. Turn to Exodus 21. Exodus 21. beginning with verse 1 of Exodus
21. These are the judgments which
thou shalt set before them. If thou buy a Hebrew servant
six years he shall serve and in the seventh he'll go out free. He's a servant But after six
years, in the seventh year, you're going to set him free for nothing. If he came in by himself, verse
three, he shall go out by himself. If he's married, if he's married
when he came in, his wife shall go out with him. If his master
hath given him a wife, and she's born him sons or daughters, the
wife and her children shall be her master's, and he'll go out
free by himself. And if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go
out free. Then, verse six, his master shall
bring him unto the judges, he'll bring him unto the door, He'll
bring him to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear
through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. That servant could go free. You see that after six years,
he could go free. but all that was given to him
by his master. All that he has, and he knows
this, it was given to him by his master. Listen to what he says. I love
my master. I love my wife. I love my children. Make me a bondservant. Let me
just continue here as a servant. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. Make
me a servant. Just let me stay here and enjoy
my master and everything that he has blessed me with. Psalm
84 verse 11, for the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord
will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. You know the sun gives light
and light reveals things. It's opposite, light is opposite
of darkness. Scripture says this, that Christ
is my light. He's my light in my life. The
light of the gospel. He's the light of the gospel.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the gospel. The light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This thing of light's important,
isn't it? What about a shield? A shield
is that which would protect us from our enemies. Proverbs says this, he's a shield
to those that put their trust in him. Still in verse 11, we read he's
our light, he's our sun, he's our shield. And then we read
this, the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will
he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Grace and glory. Grace and glory. Do we ever get
tired of that? Grace and His glory? Both of those in due time. Both of those fully. Both of
those with absolute certainty. Hebrews 4.16 says, let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace. For what purpose? That we might obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Grace. Do we ever get tired
of hearing of God's grace? Scripture says that where sin
abounded, grace did much more about. Grace and glory, sanctifying
grace, justifying grace, pardoning grace,
adopting grace, redeeming grace, preserving grace, and in his
time, dying grace. Grace, grace that is greater
than all our sin. He said, no good thing will I
withhold from them that walk uprightly, those that walk by
faith, those that rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, verse
12 of Psalm 84, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth
in thee. Trust him. For what? Trust Him for all things. All
things. Trust Him when? At all times. Trust Him in all circumstances. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart. Lean not to thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path. the blessing of those that reside
in his house. The blessing of those who visit
his house. Oh, what a glorious thought,
the master of his house. It's his house. And may he continually,
may he continually bless us as we gather together in his house. May he bless us continually with
a desire to be in his house. And above all, may he bless us
with his presence in his house. All right, I pray the Lord would
be pleased to bless his word.