Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 84
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 84
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 84
"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, My King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: They will be still praising thee. Selah Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; In whose heart are the highways [to Zion]. Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs; Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings. They go from strength to strength; Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion." — Psalms 84:1-7 (ASV)
The ordinances of God are the believer's solace in this evil world. In them he enjoys the presence of the living God, and this causes him to regret his absence from them; indeed, they are to his soul as the nest is to the bird.
Yet these ordinances are only an earnest of the happiness of heaven. But how can people desire to enter that holy habitation if they complain of Divine ordinances as wearisome?
Those are truly happy who go forth and go on in the exercise of religion, in the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, from whom all our sufficiency comes.
The pilgrims to the heavenly city may have to pass through many a valley of weeping and many a thirsty desert, but wells of salvation shall be opened for them, and consolations sent for their support.
Those who press forward in their Christian course shall find God add grace to their graces. And those who grow in grace shall be perfect in glory.
"O Jehovah God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah Behold, O God our shield, And look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Jehovah of hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. " — Psalms 84:8-12 (ASV)
In all our addresses to God, we must desire that He would look on Christ, His Anointed One, and accept us for His sake; we must look to Him with faith, and then God will look with favor upon the face of the Anointed; we, without Him, dare not show our faces. The psalmist pleads love for God's ordinances. Let us account one day in God's courts better than a thousand spent elsewhere, and deem the most humble place in His service preferable to the highest earthly advancement.
We are here in darkness, but if God is our God, He will be to us a Sun, to enlighten and enliven us, to guide and direct us. We are here in danger, but He will be to us a Shield, to secure us from the fiery darts that fly thick about us. Though He has not promised to give riches and honors, He has promised to give grace and glory to all who seek them in His appointed way.
And what is grace, but heaven begun below, in the knowledge, love, and service of God? What is glory, but the completion of this happiness, in being made like Him, and in fully enjoying Him forever? Let it be our care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust God to give us everything that is good for us. If we cannot go to the house of the Lord, we may go by faith to the Lord of the house; in Him we shall be happy, and may be at ease.
That man is really happy, whatever his outward circumstances may be, who trusts in the Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob.
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