THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

LXXXIV. God’s Balm For A Broken World

(Psalm 84:1-12)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

We live in a broken world, and many people need spiritual balm from God:

(1) “(T)he latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” have shown a “dramatic rise in deaths of despair, which now account for the majority of young lives being cut short.” (“Deaths of despair rampant,” Republican-American, October 16, 2023, p. 8A) “In 28 states, including Connecticut, opioid overdose was the leading cause of death. In 14 states, it was suicide,” a tragic “outcome . . . in many ways” of “a culture that has systematically failed to supply young adults with a sense of purpose,” Ibid.

(2) The rise of woke ideology is a key cause of this lack of a sense of purpose: Political progressive Gal Beckerman’s story, “The Left Abandoned Me” in the October 12, 2023, issue of The Atlantic (Ibid.), illustrated this when she testified, “‘The people on ‘my side’ are supposed to care about human suffering, whether it’s in the detention camps of Xinjiang or in Darfur. They are supposed to recognize the common humanity of people in need, that a child in distress is first a child in distress regardless of country or background. But I quickly saw that many of those on the left who I thought shared these values with me could see what had happened only through established categories of colonized and colonizer, evil Israeli and righteous Palestinian – templates made of concrete . . . I was in a world of Jewish suffering that they couldn’t see because Jewish suffering simply didn’t fit anywhere for them.’”

(3) One might think that religion provides a much-needed sense of purpose, but the religious realm is often just as lacking: (a) “(A) survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research” found that “30% of U. S. adults . . . claim no religious affiliation,” for they allege that “‘(m)ost religions . . . control people and get money from them,’” there are many “sex abuse scandals” as “in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches,” and they have “found their childhood churches unpersuasive or unwelcoming.” (Peter Smith, “America’s non-religious are a growing, diverse phenomenon,” Ibid., October 6, 2023, p. 3B) (b) Even many devout churchgoers are becoming disillusioned with their own churches: The Republican-American has been printing letters to the editor that debate why “people are leaving . . . the Catholic Church,” and Wink Wilson of Goshen added his thoughts on the subject in his letter (Ibid., October 11, 2023, p. 9A), writing, “The most common reason I personally hear from many of them is that they’re not getting any Bible teaching. Mr. Sienkiewicz thinks the Episcopal Church is a better choice. I, being a former Episcopalian would have to agree with what I hear from my sizeable number of ex-Catholics friends: We, like they, didn’t get any Bible teaching.” (d) Many evangelicals are not immune to a lack of a sense of purpose, too: Over 57 years of ministry in 9 evangelical churches in 6 states scattered from coast to coast, I have heard of or personally dealt with church splits, substance abuse, immorality, LGBTQ+ crises, suicide, emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse, in evangelical institutions of churches, seminaries, colleges, and missionary organizations.

Need: So, we ask, “What balm does God offer for today’s broken world?!”

I. Psalm 84:1-12 expressed the psalmist’s spiritual fulfillment with the Lord in the dispensation of the Law:

A. In the psalmist’s era of the dispensation of the Mosaic Law, God’s presence dwelt above the Mercy Seat in the Holiest of Holies in the tabernacle and later in the temple at Jerusalem, Exodus 25:22; Hebrews 9:1-5.

B. The psalmist thus expressed the fulfillment he enjoyed from fellowship with God’s presence in God’s house:

1. In Psalm 84:1-4, the psalmist expressed his passion for God’s house:

a. Since the living God dwelt in His house, the psalmist longed to be there, Psalm 84:1-2.

b. He acknowledged how blessed where even the lowly sparrows and swallows that nested there, Psalm 84:3.

c. The psalmist noted how blessed were the Levites and priests who dwelt in God’s house praising Him, v. 4.

2. The psalmist then mentioned the blessings of believers who made pilgrimages there, Psalm 84:5-7:

a. As they journeyed to God’s house, believers who relied on the Lord and heeded His ways saw their spiritual needs fulfilled, likened to waterless places where the baca tree grew in arid ground being turned into a place of springs or like dry ground getting covered with pools of water due to God’s blessing of rain, an crucial necessity in Israel’s agricultural society, v. 5-6. (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Psa. 84:6)

b. These pilgrims grew from lesser levels of inner strength to greater levels of might from God’s provisions of spiritual refreshment until they appeared before God in His house fully blessed, Psalm 84:7.

3. While standing before God’s presence in His house, the psalmist expressed his praise of God, Ps. 84:8-12:

a. He asked God to hear his prayer, referring to the Lord as Israel’s Shield, and he asked that God “look on the face of” Israel’s anointed king, a reference to blessing the king with God’s high priestly blessing of Numbers 6:22-27. (Psalm 84:8-9; B. K. C., O. T., p. 855; H. C. Leupold, Exp. of the Psalms, 1974, p. 607)

b. The basis of this request was the goodness of God’s blessing, for “one day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere,” and to “stand at the door of God’s house and look in (which was all that the worshippers could do at the Mosaic sanctuary)” was better that living “in the interior tents or houses where iniquity prevailed.” (Ps. 84:10; J. A. Alexander, The Psalms, 1975, p. 358) [The use of the word “tents” in v. 10b makes it probable that the temple was not yet been built, that Israel still used the Mosaic tabernacle, a “tent” in David’s era, Ibid. Thus, the psalmist preferred God’s tent over the tents of the wicked!]

c. In summary, the psalmist added how very blessed was the believer who trusted in God, Psalm 84:11-12.

II. In applying this psalm today, we can enjoy great inner blessing from God the indwelling Holy Spirit:

A. God’s temple now is no longer a structure in Jerusalem, but every believer’s inner man, 1 Corinthians 3:16.

B. If the believer fellowships with God under the control of the indwelling Holy Spirit, he expresses “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” Galatians 5:22-23 ESV.

C. However, if a believer lives by his sin nature, he expresses the opposite vices of hatred, sadness, restlessness, impatience, harshness, evil, disloyalty, roughness and a lack of self-control, and he commits sins like “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness [substance abuse], orgies, and things like these,” Galatians 5:19-21 ESV.

D. Scripture thus shows how believers can have fulfilling fellowship with the Holy Spirit even in today’s world:

1. If we have committed (an) act(s) of sin, we are functioning by our sinful nature and must confess it to the Lord for God’s forgiveness to return to fellowship status with God the indwelling Holy Spirit, 1 John 1:9.

2. Then, we must rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to obey Scripture, and thus “walk in the light,” 1 John 1:7.

3. As we study and apply more and more Scripture truth in living, our walk progresses from lower to higher levels of blessing from the Lord as we spiritually mature in Him, 1 Peter 2:2-3; Deuteronomy 17:18-20.

Lesson: Where the author of Psalm 84 enjoyed God’s blessing as he fellowshipped with God in God’s house where God’s presence then dwelt, we believers in Christ today who have the Lord indwelling us can enjoy fulfilling fellowship and blessing with Him as we commune with the Lord like the author of Psalm 84 did.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) May we believers relate properly to our Lord Who indwells us as revealed in Scripture that we might live in spiritual fulfillment even in the midst of a troubled, broken world.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and provide additional guidance . . .)

We apply Scripture to the issues of concern raised in our sermon introduction (as follows):

(1) Today’s troublesome woke ideology is a product of Marxist ideology, and according to the “Communist Manifesto,” Marxism aims to abolish “eternal truths . . . all religion, and all morality” (learn-usa.com/transformation, “Goals, ‘Communist Manifesto,’” p. 92). One must trust in Christ for salvation and heed Scripture to reject Marxism.

(2) Religious institutions where leaders control people to get their money, where they sexually abuse, or are unpersuasive or unwelcoming, or where there are church splits, substance abuse, immorality, LGBTQ+ crises, suicide, emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse, are entities either where people have not trusted in Christ to be saved or where people have trusted in Christ for salvation but they still live by means of their sinful natures and not by the power of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, they act like they are still unsaved, 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. Christ’s message to our era of Church History in Revelation 3:14-22 asserts that many Christians now function by their sinful natures. Thus, the need in today’s churches is for people to get in right relationship with God (a) by trusting in Christ for salvation (“Application (1)” above), and then (b) to live by means of the Holy Spirit’s power (“II, D, 1-3” above).

(3) The lack of edifying Bible teaching in churches is caused (a) either by the teachers not being saved so that they have no spiritual insight, (b) or the teachers are saved but live by means of their sinful natures, (c) or the teachers are not spiritually gifted to teach (Ephesians 4:11-12), or (d) the teachers have not studied Scripture to handle it well or (e) they have not fanned into flame their gifts well enough by practice or training to feed all of God’s people – the immature, the maturing, and the mature (2 Timothy 1:6-7; 2:15; John 21:15-17). (f) However, regardless of any given believer’s church situation, God promises to give him more truth if he applies the truth he already has, Mark 4:24-25!

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God’s gift of eternal life. May we believers relate properly to the Holy Spirit Who indwells us to live in spiritual fulfillment.