My Heart Longs For You, O God!
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Leviticus 11, 12 and Psalm 84 (NIV)
(Natalie Lam, PTM Youth Ministry)
READ:
Psalm 84 – A psalm of longing and desire for the presence of God.
OBSERVE:
Psalm 84 is a beautiful love poem to the living God (v.2b).
In the first 2 verses, the psalmist describes his intense longing for God by extolling how he feels. He waxes lyrical when he expresses his feelings being in God’s presence, by proclaiming: “How lovely,” “my soul yearns and even faints,” and “my heart and my flesh cry out.” The author is clearly a passionate lover of God!
Since “even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain” God, much less a temple built by humans (1 Kings 8:27), we can infer that the psalmist’s repetitive references to God’s temple, e.g. “dwelling place,” “the courts,” “a home,” “a nest,” and a “house,” (v.1-4, 10) refers to the presence of God rather than an actual building. This is further evidenced by v.7, where the psalmist mentions those who appear “before God” in Zion grow from strength to strength. Since Mount Zion is considered the place where God dwells (Isaiah 8:18), it is clear that the psalmist is referring to being in God’s presence, not a building. Thus, the author’s loquacious references to God’s house only show how intense his longing to be in God’s presence.
Finally, the psalmist explains why even just “one day” in God’s presence is better than a “thousand days” away from God; or even just barely being in God’s presence as a doorkeeper is better than being away from God (i.e. dwelling in tents of sin) (v.10). In verse 6, the word “Baka” literally means “weeping” and the word “springs” may also be translated as “blessings.” Thus, the psalmist is declaring his faith that God is able to bring blessings out of hardships. Therefore, those who set their minds and hearts to be in God’s presence will find blessings even in the place of sorrow (v.5-6). The psalmist implies that those who choose to pursue God passionately will not only grow from strength to strength, but that God will bless them, by illuminating their path (“sun”), by protecting them (“shield”), and God will bestow on them favour, honour, and good things (v.7, 11-12).
APPLY:
This psalm gives me a glimpse of the joy and contentment that comes with being deeply in love with the Living God. I find myself asking if I truly love the Living God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5)? Can I, together with the psalmist, declare that “my soul yearns and even faints,” and “my heart and my flesh cry out” to be near to the One I love?
In the 1990s, fans of Michael Jackson were so enamoured with him that they faint in his presence and had to be carried off. Is that how I feel when I am in God’s presence – full of adoration to the point of fainting?
DO:
Rather than spending most of my prayer time making supplications, I will be disciplined to allocate more time adoring God. I will actively praise God by extolling Him through psalms, worship songs, poetry, or even art!
PRAY:
O LORD, my God, how I love You – You are so beautiful to me.
Be magnified O LORD for You deserve all blessing, honour, glory, and power.
Like a MJ fan, I feel faint just by being in Your presence.
Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare your glory;
Every knee shall bow at your throne in worship;
You will be exalted oh God;
And Your kingdom shall not pass away – O Ancient of Days.
Amen.
