God responds lovingly to the small steps we make towards him. Have you ever experienced walking to greet a loved one who has been absent? As you get closer, you break into a run and a warm hug ensues. It seems in Psalm 84 that the psalmist has broken into that run. He is so wonderfully desperate to be in God's presence, the distance between him and God has become intolerable. What a contrast to Jonah's arguing. 

The psalmist's outpouring of love for God is fulsome and of the heart. He understands God's grace. He simply desires to be in the courts of the Lord but for some reason cannot go. His whole being yearns for God (v 2), constantly calling upon or praising him. He envies the sparrows, the Temple dwellers and pilgrims (vs 3–7). The Jews loved attending the Temple in Jerusalem – God's dwelling place amongst his people. 

The New Testament teaches that our bodies are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). He dwells within us and that is a sacred space. When we trust his grace and forgiveness through Jesus, we too are running to God. It is trusting in God that brings blessing (v 12). This indwelling presence of God deserves, inspires and requires celebration.

‘How lovely are your dwelling places … ! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord … A day in your courts is better than a thousand outside.’¹

What a contrast to the story of Jonah! Jonah ran from God and ended up calling to him from the depths of the ocean, from death, from the grave. The psalmist runs to God and rejoices in his dwelling places and feels as if he belongs there. In the book of Jonah, the animals played strange roles; here there is order in creation. Like the psalmist, the birds also have a home (v 3). The psalmist later goes on to talk about springs and fertile land (v 6).

People sometimes speak as if a holy, or godly, life is a restricted, miserable life, while a life of freedom, without God, leads to happiness. This is a reversal of the truth. There are crosses to bear, but a life lived in God’s presence brings peace, security, joy and contentment. The psalmist recognises that those who put their strength in God are blessed and, in fact, go from strength to strength (vs 5–7), for God likes to give good things to those who walk uprightly (v 11). There are times of grief and there may be long days of loneliness, misery and even persecution. Perhaps most of us, however, forget how much God has given us and barely stop to think as we read the psalm that, yes, how blessed are those who trust in him (v 12)! Jesus reiterated this thought when he proclaimed, ‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly’.²

If we are being honest, we may not think that it is better to stand at the threshold of the house of our God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked (v 10), for we are rather partial to our little sins. We might need to pray for the psalmist’s perspective.

Please God, help me to learn to love you with all that I am and do. Help me to dwell in your courts and to put my strength in you.

¹ Ps 84:1,2,10, NASB  ² John 10:10, NASB