Psalm 84: Lord, Make My Heart Long for You

Good morning. This is Morning Prayer from Bearing Fruit.

Psalm eighty-four sounds like a song for people on their way to worship. It follows pilgrims walking up to Jerusalem, through a dry valley, toward the house of God. If it's Sunday and your heart feels dry, this is a good psalm to walk with. Let's bring this to God together.

In Psalm eighty-four, verses one and two, the psalmist sings this.

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Psalm 84:1-2

The psalm comes from the sons of Korah, a family of Levites who served at the temple. The writer's whole self wants to be near God. He even envies the birds.

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she places her young near Your altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.

Psalm 84:3

He'd happily trade places with that sparrow.

Not everyone wakes up on a Sunday feeling like that. For some of us, it comes after a long week, and church feels like one more thing to get to. You're ironing a shirt for a child who doesn't want to go, and you're not sure you do either. Or you've drifted from church for a while, and walking back in feels awkward. Or you can't get there at all this week, because of illness or work or distance.

Then the psalm turns to the road.

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; even the autumn rain covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion.

Psalm 84:5-7

Nobody's quite sure what Baca means. It may mean weeping, or it may be a tree that grows in dry ground. Either way, it's a hard stretch of road. The pilgrims don't skip it. They go through it with their strength in God, and the dry place becomes springs. They go from strength to strength, and each one of them arrives.

A little later the psalmist says,

For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalm 84:10

He doesn't need the best seat. He'd stand at the door, just to be near.

For Christians, the place where we meet God has changed. Jesus told a woman at a well in Samaria,

But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.

John 4:23

Jesus died for our sins and rose again, so through Him we come to the Father from anywhere, by His Spirit. And look at the last line. The Father is seeking worshipers. He's looking for you this morning, before you've worked up any feeling.

God's people still gather, though. The letter to the Hebrews says this.

And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:24-25

We gather for each other's sake. Someone in your church may need to see your face today as much as you need theirs. And if you can't be there, you can still pray for the ones who are.

Let's pray. You can pray these words with me, out loud or in your heart.

Father, I'm here this Sunday morning because of Jesus. He gave Himself up to death for my sins, and You raised Him on the first day of the week. Because of Him, the way into Your presence is open, and by Your Spirit I can come near.

You're the living God, the Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. “For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory”. You give light, and You guard Your people. You give grace I haven't earned. You're worth more than anything else I could do with this morning. Even the sparrow finds a home near You, and You've made room for me.

I have to be honest, though. My heart doesn't feel like the psalmist's today. I feel tired and a bit flat. Worship has felt like a habit lately, or a job. I've sung words without meaning them. I've sat in church thinking about lunch and the week ahead. Some weeks I've stayed away and told myself it didn't matter. Forgive me, Father. And thank You for seeking me even so.

Wake my heart up. Give me some of the longing in this psalm, a longing for You, more than for the music or the routine. Where I'm passing through a dry valley, make it a place of springs. Let my strength be in You, so I can go from strength to strength. When I worship today, let it be in spirit and in truth. Let me mean the words I sing. And if I don't feel much, let me come anyway, and bring You what I have. Speak to me through Your word today, whoever's reading it. Let me hear Jesus in it.

I want to believe what the psalmist believed. One day near You is better than a thousand anywhere else. I'd rather stand at the door with You than have the best of everything without You. I can't make myself feel that by trying harder. So I'm trusting You to do it in me, in Your time. Be patient with my heart while it's slow to warm up. You've been patient with me before, many times.

I pray for my church this morning. For whoever's preaching, and whoever's arriving early to open the doors and put the chairs out. For the person who'll sit at the back today, hoping nobody notices they've been crying. Let someone notice, kindly. And for everyone who can't get to church today, at home or at work or far away, meet them right there. Let them know they still belong to Your family.

Father, this is Your day, and I give it back to You. Whatever this morning holds, I want to spend it near You. If I'm in church, help me sing and listen with my whole heart, and let me hear Your voice in what's read and preached. If I'm at home, make my kitchen a place to meet You. When I see Your people today, let me encourage someone. Let me rest this afternoon without guilt, and enjoy what You've given. And when Monday starts pulling at me tonight, turn my heart back to You. “For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” Let today be one of those days.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take a moment of quiet now, and bring Him whatever's in front of you today.

Hear this blessing from Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21