Psalm 84, the title of the message is the
blessedness of public worship, of being able to assemble here
and to worship God together out of His Word, in spirit and
in truth. Let us never, never grow weary of this. You know, one place in the Scriptures,
I can't remember exactly where it is in the Old Testament, but
God speaks of His people growing weary of Him. The greatest blessing that you
and I have during the week is this hour. It truly is this hour. This psalm right here is about
public worship. It's about public worship. It's
about assembling together with God's people. There's a special
blessing on this. I enjoy listening to messages on the internet, sermon audio,
but it's not like being here. It's not the same as being here.
The Lord promised that where two or three are gathered together
in His name, that He would be in the midst of them. We have
that promise. And if the Lord's going to be
here, I want to be here. You want to be here. If the Lord's
going to be here, let's be here. And I was thinking of this because
I had a little experience of this years ago when I very first
heard the Gospel. And the Lord put us through some
difficult times and made it difficult, difficult to get to the worship
service. And I remember saying, and I remember in prayer, Lord,
why do you make it so hard to get to the worship service? And
of course, looking back, I know it's a trial of faith, and I've
told you this before, but it's a trial of faith. And it makes
you appreciate the service, the worship service. Here we have a child of God,
and I believe it's David, all the ones I read, even though
there's not a name attached to it. It really doesn't need to
have a name attached to it, because this is the heart cry of every
child of God. When they have to stay away,
for whatever reason, from the worship service, they can't make
it there. And this is their heart's cry. And of course, the longer you
have to stay away, the more difficult it is. And so let's look at this. He
says in verse 1, now remember, this is David, he's banished
from the worship service at this time. Most of them believe it
was during the time of his escape from Absalom, when he was running
from Absalom and he had to leave. But whatever the situation was,
he's away from the tabernacle, the worship service, And I can
just see Him sitting, probably sitting on a rock or something,
and He's contemplating the time that He was able to go to the
worship service, and He was able to hear the Levites singing,
and the priests going about the service, and it was just a wonderful
time to Him. A great time to Him. And it was
eating him up that he couldn't be there, that he had to be absent
from it. And he says here, And that word
in the Hebrew means how dear or how beloved are thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts. Now he says tabernacles here,
He's speaking of one tabernacle, but you remember there's the
inner court and the outer court, and he's speaking of one tabernacle,
but it's got these two compartments. And even as the king, even though
he's the king, he was not allowed in that second one, only the
high priest, only the high priest. And so he's envious and he has
a great burning desire just to be there in that outer court,
just to be near that, to be there where that tabernacle is. Now
we know this, we know that the tabernacle was representative
of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the object of worship. We
desire His presence tonight. We desire the true tabernacle,
which the Lord pitched, and not man, which is the Lord Jesus
Christ. We desire His presence. And He said, He promised, as
I said, that where two or three are gathered together, He'd be
in the midst. And this place right here is
dear to us. Is this not dear to you? Is this
gathering together not dear to you? We are the Lord's children. We are His people. We are the
ones redeemed by His blood. And being gathered here, we have
His presence and it's dear to us. It's not dear to us because
of this building. It's not dear to us, the building
itself. I'll tell you what building is
dear, the church in which the Lord dwells. And that's what
makes this place dear. We have the Lord's church here,
we have His redeemed here, we have the Lord's presence here
in His church, in His building. And here's what makes it so precious,
so dear and beloved is this. In that day, in that day, it
was the place where the presence of God was. His presence was
most manifest in the tabernacle. You remember the ark that was
in the Holy of Holies? It was the ark of His presence
there at the Mercy Sea. David knew this. He knew that
God is omnipresent. He knows that God's everywhere.
That's why he prays to Him. You wouldn't pray to Him if He
couldn't hear you. He knows that God is everywhere, but He knows
that His special presence and the worship service that was
instituted by Him is there at the tabernacle. And that's what made it so precious
to Him. And the very thing that makes
the Lord Jesus so precious to us is this, is that the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. We're not talking about
just the Son. We're talking about the Father
and the Holy Spirit. They all dwell in that man, Jesus
Christ. And we have their presence in
Him. We have the presence of God in
Jesus Christ. And that's what makes this so
special when He's with us. Christ is where sinners meet
God in mercy and grace. It's where God meets sinners
and sinners meet God and do business together. is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is in Christ that we find
all that we need, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We have in Him all that we need. And it's when we come here that
we get to hear about this week after week after week. We get
to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ week after week, and I
have the privilege I have the privilege of standing here week
after week after week and bragging on the Lord Jesus Christ and
telling you about Him one more time. What a privilege that is. But look here in verse 2 at the
heart of David here. And this is the heart of a believer
when they have to be absent, especially for any length of
time, from the worship service. He says, my soul longeth, it
means pines, pines. Yea, even fainteth or fails. He said, my soul pines, it aches. It aches to be where the assembly
of God's saints are, where the worship of God is, where the
word is being read, where the gospel is being preached. My
soul pines and aches. to be there. I know one person
whom the Lord took. This person passed away. But
when this person was really sick, this statement was made by her.
If I can't be in the worship service, what use is there to
live? What use is there to live? I've
never been brought to that point. I've never been brought to the
point like where David is here. I've been inconvenienced a few
times in my life, but I've never been to where I couldn't go at
all for any length of time. I've never experienced that. But I know this, I know that
any child of God who cannot be at the worship service They long
to be there. Their harsh desire is to be there. He says, My soul longeth, yea,
even fainteth for the courts. See, this is the outer courts.
He wasn't allowed in the inner one. For the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cries out. It cries out for the living God. This is the soul when apart from
the public worship of the Lord. His desire, now listen here,
His desire is not for the ceremonies that were carried on there. It's
not for the ceremonies. Not in love themselves. His desire
was this. My flesh cries out for the living
God. That God would speak to me. Or
that God would speak to you and me tonight through His Word.
that He would quicken His Word in our hearts and give us ears
to hear, to hear Him speak. His desires for the living God,
the Lord has promised to be with us and to speak to us. And our
desire is this, Lord, speak, Thy servant heareth. Speak to
me. Speak to my heart tonight. And
his longing, let's you see this, his longing and desire was so
strong, it was so strong that he envied the sparrow and the
swallow that had their nest in there in the tabernacle. He envied
them. Here's the king, here's the king
of Israel, envying. These little birds. These little
birds aren't worth much. Two sparrows sold for water farthing. They're not worth much. But they
have a safe place. And this is what he's thinking.
They have a safe place in the tabernacle where the altar is.
They have a safe place where the sacrifice and the blood being
offered is. They have a safe place there.
And the idea is this. The least of the saints that
have the pleasure of always being in the place of worship is to
be envied. It's to be envied by those who
separated from it. The sparrow just flew in there,
and it was allowed to stay in there, and it built its nest,
the swallow built its nest in there, and nobody bothered him
in there. He's looking at those little
birds and he's saying, those little birds, those little birds,
they've got a place at the tabernacle. Here I am out here in the wilderness,
here I am, I can't even get there, I can't be there, but they're
there. Oh, I wish I was just one of
those little birds. I wish I was the least of the
saints that have always been able to be in the worship service. That's what he's saying. And here, listen, this is so
beautiful here. He envisions that they can be
in the tabernacle where the presence of God is most manifest. And
it's a place where they may lay their young. A place of safety, a place of
rest, but a place where they can lay their young. How blessed. And I thought about this because,
you know, I was able, I was so blessed, Vicki and I were so
blessed to be able to raise our boys up under the gospel from
the time they were just young. I mean, Jeremy wasn't even born
yet. I think Jason was two years old when we went to 13th Street. And we were able to raise them up
under the gospel where they may lay their young. A place to bring
them where they can hear the Lord Jesus Christ and have a
foundation. Do you know how blessed it is
you are of God for that to happen? To be able to raise your young
ones up under the gospel? Wow, I can't even put that into
words. I mean, it's interesting that he even mentions this. That's
on his mind. He says, they're blessed, they're
in the tabernacle, where the presence of God is most manifest.
And they can lay their young there. They can raise up their
young there, knowing. I know that little birds don't
know this, but we know this. Knowing it's the safest place
you could have them is under the gospel. The safest and best
thing you can do for your children or grandchildren is to bring
them up unto the Gospel. And then he recognizes in his
mind and in his thoughts, he recognizes this. In verse 4, "...Blessed are they
that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising the Sela."
Stop and pause and think of this. You know what he's thinking about
here? You see, he's thinking about the tabernacle. the presence
of God, the worship service. He's remembering the worship
service that he can't attend at that time. He thinks of the
little birds that are in the... I mean, my, what vivid imagination
he has right now. He's thinking of the little birds
as they fly into the tabernacle, and they make their nests, and
they lay their young, and they raise them in there in safety
and protection. And then he thinks of the Levites
who minister daily about the tabernacle, and they sing. He
thinks of their singing, how happy they are. You happy to
be here? I thought to this today, because
he's talking about the Levites, and this really is speaking a
lot more of me, who ministers about the sanctuary. You know,
I come into my study, and I study, and I come here, and I attempt
to preach. I attempt to preach the gospel.
And I tell you what, I'm happy to do so. I'm happy to do so. And he thinks of them going about
the service and singing, and he's thinking, oh, I wish I was
there. I wish I could enter into the song service. I wish I could
enter into the praise service. His imagination is just around
that place. It's around that place. Turn
over to 1 Kings 10. I thought of this today when
I read this. I'm going to read you the first
eight verses. 1 Kings chapter 10, And when the queen of Sheba
heard of the famous Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came
to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with
a very great train, with camels that bear spices, and very much
gold and precious stones, And when she was come to Solomon,
she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon
told her all her questions. There was not anything hid from
the king, which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba,
had seen all Solomon's wisdom in the house that he had built,
in the meat of his table, in the sitting of his servants,
in the attendance of his ministers, in their apparel, in his cupbearers,
in his assent, by which he went up into the house of the Lord,
there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It
was a true report that I heard in my own land of thy acts and
of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not the words
until I came, and mine eyes had seen it, and behold, a half was
not told me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceeds
the fame which I heard. Happy, happy are thy men." God's
people are a happy people. You know, I just do not believe
that God's people go around, woe is me all the time, woe is
me, just boo-hoo. They're a happy people. We have
our trials. We have our heartaches. I'm telling you the truth. I'm as happy as I've ever been.
I'm as happy as I've ever been. I'm content that I'm doing the
Lord's will. I have my ups and downs. I believe
the Lord has saved me. Wouldn't that not make you happy?
I can't help but believe. I believe God. I believe the
gospel. I expect the Lord to do just
as He said He would. He said, come to me and I'll
give you rest. He that comes to me, I want to know why he's
cast out. I expect not to be cast out based on His Word. I'm
taking God at His Word. And I tell you what, I'm happy
with the Lord. God's people are a happy people.
They really are. Happy are thy men, happy are
these thy servants. Happy to be His servants. which stand continually before
Thee, and that hear Thy wisdom." That's what makes you happy. We stand before the Lord and
we hear His wisdom week after week, don't we? You who believe
do. You who believe do. You hear
it. You hear Him. And David said, Oh, how blessed
are they! Happy, happy, happy are they
that dwell in thy house. They are there continually. They are there every week. And
they will still be praising thee. We don't get tired of that, do
we? You get tired of praising the Lord? No, you don't. God's people don't. I know they
don't. You know, our Lord was happy to be about His Father's
business. even bearing our sins. He bore
our sickness and our sorrow. But you know, He was still a
happy man. He was still happy. My meat, He said, is to do the
will of Him that sent Me. Glad to do it. Glad to do it. And they have continual praise
in their hearts. This shows their willingness
to serve the Lord in gladness and be bond slaves. You know, the Lord has set us
free. He set us free from sin, the power of sin, the power of
that sinful nature. He set us free from the power
of darkness, that spirit of darkness which we were under before He
saved us. He has set us free, but at the
same time, we don't want to go free, do we? We're like bonds with we're like
bonsai. We put our ear to the to the
post and Let him drive it all through it. We're yours. I love
my master. I don't want to go free. I don't
want to be my own That's the last thing we need
to be as our own had to be a disaster It was the first time look at
Adam. Look what happened when God let Adam. Well, he let Adam
have his will And look what happened? And then listen, happy are those
who go to the place of worship. Now here's the idea, get the
idea here, get this image in your head. It helps me when I'm
reading this to get the image in my mind of what's going on,
what's going on in his mind. Well, once a year, They would
make this pilgrimage from all these different places. And they'd
make a pilgrimage up here to the tabernacle, to the service,
to remember the atonement. They'd make the atonement once
a year. They'd have that sacrifice. They'd make this pilgrimage.
And they were happy. They were happy to do so. They didn't say, oh man, I've
got to walk all the way up there. They were happy to do so. They
were happy to go to the worship service. You know, when I was
a kid, I have to say this, when I was a young teenager, I hated
to go. I hate to say that, but I did.
And when they quit, when my dad quit making me go, I never went
again until the Lord created an interest. I never went again. I didn't want to go. It just,
it was like, Man, I know what it was like. Cramp my style. It was just so opposite of me.
I was darkness. I know what I wanted. I know
what I was after. And it had nothing to do with
God and Christ and salvation. But here, he's saying, happy. God's people, when they go to
the house of God, not only are the ministers happy, myself,
the pastor, but the people are happy, happy to be here. They were happy to make this
pilgrimage, and for some of them, it was a long journey. They didn't
have air-conditioned vehicles. For many of them, they walked,
and I'll show you here in a minute, they walked through a desert.
One of the areas that they had to go through was a desert place. It was not easy. It was not easy. But blessed is the man whose
strength is in Thee. You know, our strength to worship
for you tonight and for me, Our strength to be able to worship
is of the Lord. To have the spiritual strength
to do so, and to have the desire to be here, and to have the physical
ability to be here is of the Lord. You know, there for what? For several weeks, Doug, you
couldn't be here. You couldn't be here. Then the Lord gives
you your health back, and now here you are. The physical strength
to be here, the desire to be here, the ability to worship
God is of the Lord, and He's our strength. He's our strength. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. His hope, his faith,
his spiritual strength is in the Lord, in whose heart are
the ways of them. And the meaning here is this,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion. In other words, he's
anticipating and thinking of the way he's going to take to
the tabernacle. I mean, he thinks of every... I don't like, and I've done this,
I don't like to just hurry up and get ready for church and
then get over here. I don't like that. I usually come back over here
by four o'clock, and I sit in there for three hours going over
this. And I don't like just hurrying
up. And I know this. Listen, I know
some of you work, and you just get home, and I know that. You
don't have much time. But boy, when possible, sit down
and think about it. Think about where you're coming
to, where you're going to, the worship service. And this is
here. They're thinking about the pilgrimage.
They're giving thought to it. And they're thinking of the preparation
that they need to get there. Well, with us, it's a preparation
of the heart to come here, to come here and worship. Our hearts
ought to be prepared. And then we get here. And we're
ready to listen. We're ready to worship. But boy,
just to jump in the car and hurry up and get over here is, I don't
know, that's a tough way to have to worship. We used to, and I'm
not the example. You know, Henry told us in the
Bible, in the preacher's class, he said, don't use yourself and
your family as an example. But sometimes, sometimes, It's the experience I'm trying
to relate. It's not me as an example, it's
the experience. But always try to be as early
as you can. Just try to be as early as you
can. And you're able to think and you're able to concentrate
and try to shake off the world. You gotta try to shake that dust
off of the world as you even come in here. Blessed happy is
the man whose strength is in the Lord, and whose heart are
the highways to Zion." His heart's on it. Listen to these Scriptures. Proverbs 16, 17. The highway
of the upright is to depart from evil. The highway of the upright
is to depart from evil. He that keepeth his way, preserveth
his soul. Isaiah 35, 8. and a highway shall
be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those,
the wayfaring men, though fools shall not err therein, but a
highway shall be there." There was a highway. They had all these different
tribes of Israel, and they were scattered about here in Canaan,
and they had this tabernacle, and there was a highway. There
was a way from where they lived to that tabernacle. God made it. He made a way for
them to be there. And for you and I, I think it has reference to the
preparation of our hearts in coming here to worship. But now listen, the journey there
to the tabernacle, for many of them, was not easy. You know,
it's easy for us to come here, isn't it? If it's summertime,
we've got the air conditioner on. If it's wintertime, we've
got the heater on. And we just drive over here,
and most of us live pretty close. But that's not so with them.
Some of them would have to start days ahead. Verse 6, "...who passing through
the valley of Baca..." You know what that word means? The valley
of weeping. "...on their way to Zion..."
I'm sure there are some who come here. Many times over the years,
weeping, your heart broken over trials or something going on,
something the Lord has put you through, and you come here weeping.
And it's here they had to pass through the valley of weeping,
trouble, trials. Following Christ is not easy. It's not easy. It's beset with
temptation, heartaches, and excuses. It's old flesh. I'm telling you,
I can get up early. I'm probably awake 5.30 in the
morning. I'm probably up on Sundays. I don't know why I want to sleep. Do you find that so? Do you find
that you want to sleep longer on Sunday than you do? I do. I mean, that's the truth. I find
myself wanting to sleep longer. This old flesh, it just fights.
It fights going to the worship service. It fights giving glory
to God in any way, shape, or form. But I tell you, following the
Lord and being here at the worship service is not always easy. It's
not always easy. Sometimes you come with a broken
heart, weeping, weeping. But notice this, however difficult it is, he says
that this, who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a
well, and the rain filleth the pools. Showers of blessing coming
down even while you're going through these difficult times.
And in this desert, see this was a desert, this Baca was a
desert. And on their way through this
desert, God would send a shower and there would be pools of water
where they could get a drink and rest and get some refreshment
and then move on again. Oh, I thought about this. Going
through this desert place called earth, this world, the Lord sends
us showers of blessings. He gives us what we need as we
pass through this life, doesn't He? I've got everything I need. Every child of God in here, every
one of you, can say 100% you have everything you need. You
don't have everything you want. That's like the ocean, that's
never full. That bucket never gets full. We have everything
we need. I thought of this, this rain
that filled the pools. Who makes the rain? Does the rain have a father,
he said to Job? Yes. Yes, I like it that he didn't
say, does the rain have a mother? Mother nature? No, but it does
have a Father. God. God. God Almighty. And the journey, listen here,
this journey, though it be tiresome and wearisome at times, it can
get long, it can get long. You can live to be old, you know,
You might live to be old. You know, I was thinking about
that the other day. I thought, you know, I could live to be an old man. I could live to be in my 90s.
My dad's getting ready to turn 91. I could be in my 90s. What's
your grandmother, 103? That journey could get long and weary.
And the older you get, the more wearisome it gets. But now listen
to this. They go from strength to strength. Every one of them, not just those
strong in faith, every one of them. They go from strength to
strength, every one of them in Zion. And every one of them in
Zion appears before God. Here's my thoughts as I was looking
at this. You that are older, you've believed
the Gospel for a long time, some of you now, you've been around
a while. Are you tired of following Christ? No, you're not. You go from strength to strength.
You believe more now than when you started. I mean, as weak
as my faith is, I do believe. I believe more now than when
I started. And the closer we get to home, the greater our
joy ought to be. We should be going from strength
to strength. Now, if you want to put it in
our language in the New Testament, from faith to faith. These trials, these going through
the valley of weeping. One trial, one night of weeping
makes you stronger for the next one that's coming along. And
it's coming. but it makes you stronger. You
go from strength to strength in the Lord. You don't go from
strength to weakness in Christ. You go from strength to strength
in Him. And the end of the pilgrimage is in two thoughts on this for
me. The first is to appear before
God here. coming over here, you know, whatever
time, before seven o'clock, let's say seven o'clock, you started
coming over here. You started making a pilgrimage over here.
Did it cross your mind that you were coming over here to appear
before God? You and I have come here together
tonight. We've come to read His Word.
to sing His praises, to worship Him in spirit and truth, we've
also come here to appear before Him. We're not talking about
somebody that's far off out there in a galaxy somewhere, you know,
out there in a beyond-beyond. We're talking about someone,
we are in His presence. We are here to appear before
God. Think about that when we come back together Sunday. We're
going to appear before God. Make that a reality. Live in
that reality. But here's another one. We go
from strength to strength in this life, we go from faith to
faith, we grow stronger, we grow in grace and in knowledge of
Christ, we mature and grow up in Christ, until that day we
appear before God. We leave this life, and we've
had some here to leave this life, and they appeared before God.
Their pilgrimage is over. It's over. Our pilgrimage is
still going on, but it'll soon be over too. It'll soon be over
also. Now here, and let me hurry up
here. David is saying this in verse
8. Though I'm not able to go to
the worship service, yet he calls upon the Lord to hear his prayer,
because he knows that God is omnipresent. We have a special
presence here, but He is omnipresent. O Lord God of hosts, hear my
prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob, Selah. God of hosts and God of Jacob,
the covenant God, the God of Jacob, the God of the armies
of heaven, and the God of an individual. He's the host, He's the God of
the host of heaven. He's the God of the host of heaven
and earth. And yet He's the God of an individual. He's my God.
He's my God. And I can talk to Him. And He'll
listen to me. He'll listen to my prayers. Nothing is ever insignificant
to our God. Nothing. You're someone to Him. In fact,
He died for you. What's that say? What does that
say? He died for you. Even though you may feel alone
and separated for some reason, you're not. You're not. He said, I'll never leave thee
nor forsake thee. And he says here in verse 9,
Look upon thine anointed. And he's speaking here, listen,
we must apply this to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the anointed
of God. He's the anointed. Look upon
Christ and look upon me in Christ. And I know if He does so, I will
have His favor. I know that. I know that. Oh God, our shield, our protector,
our defender, look upon the face of Jesus Christ, my Lord and
my God. Look upon His face and then look
upon me. And one day in the worship service
is better than all the best days spent in the world. For a day in thy courts, and
he's just talking about the outer court, for a day in thy courts
is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper, I'd
rather sit at the threshold of the entrance of the tabernacle.
in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."
He's saying here that a day spent in God's courts is better than
a thousand anywhere else. The best days. Pick the best
days. And multiply that by a thousand. Just one day, one opportunity,
one day to come here and sit as a doorkeeper in the house
of God. He said, I would rather be that
doorkeeper. This is the king of Israel here.
He's saying, first he envied the sparrows and the swallows
who were allowed to fly in the tabernacle and build a nest.
They were allowed to stay in there. Nobody else was, but they
were. Sinners are allowed into the
presence of God in Christ. But he's saying here, he said,
I envy the doorkeeper. If I'd rather be a doorkeeper
right now than the King of Israel, I'd rather just be the doorkeeper. You know, I know there's, you
know, there's, I thought about this and I'm gonna just throw
my thought out there. I thought about, you know, I thought about
Brenda comes over here and cleans every week. Carl comes over here every Sunday,
checks the heat, you know, checks everything out real good, and
then leaves. And the parkers come over and
mow the grass all summer long. Dave is saying, I envy you people. I envy you that you're able to
do this and be in the service every week and I'm out here away
from the worship service and I can't get there." He said,
I envy the doorkeepers. I tell you, any service in the
service of God, however menial we may think it is, it's not. It's not. It's not. The humblest service in the house
of God is better than the most rich and luxurious life that
one could live in this world. To be poor and saved is better to be rich
and lost. Am I right? I'm right. I know I'm right. The lowest
position in service of God is better than the best day spent
in the world. And here's what makes being in the worship service
such a blessing. He calls it the house of God,
the house of my God. This is where God dwells. You
know God dwells in this place? God dwells in this house, this
church. If we're a church, He dwells
in us. He dwells here. For the Lord
God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk
uprightly, who walk after the Spirit, not after the flesh.
But He's a sun, He's a light to us. He's a light and He's
protection to us. He's our protection. And He'll
give grace, listen, He'll give us grace. His grace is sufficient,
isn't it? He'll give us grace along the
way and glory hereafter. That's where it winds up, in
glory. And there's no good thing will He withhold from you. Don't
you ever think, and don't I ever think, don't us, we, ever think
that God's withholding any good. No, when He's whipping you, it's
good. He's not withholding that either. Happy, happy, happy, he says
here in verse 12, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusts
in Thee. Faith is the greatest evidence of being blessed of
God. Let me read what Spurgeon said, Here is the key of the
psalm, the worship is that of faith, and the blessedness is
peculiar to believers. No formal worshiper can enter
into this secret. A man must know the Lord by the
life of real faith, or he can have no true rejoicing in the
Lord's worship, His house, His Son, or His ways. Dear reader,
how fair is it with thy soul? Oh, what a blessing to be here.
Now, if you really want to hear An outstanding message on this
Psalm. Henry preached one on Psalm 84. The importance of public
worship. Listen to it when you get a chance.
All right.