The Pearl of the Psalm

The Pearl of the Psalms - Psalm 84 Psalm 23 is said to be the most popular, one hundred and three the most joyful, one hundred and nineteen the most deeply lived and fifty-three the most painful, this is the sweetest of the Psalms of peace. C.H.S.

I. How kind are Your dwellings!

A. The admirable beauty that the psalmist saw in sacred institutions.

1. (Psalm 84:1) Our dear and beloved David, we must know that David spent a lot of time in frequent wars, between mountains, deserts, and many lonely places.

2. In this poetic composition in verse: it is surrounded by a soft irradiation (shines brighter than the real) that has made it be called "The Pearl of the Psalms."

3. David had fellowship with God on the mountain, in the wilderness, in solitude. A communion with the eternal God that is what you and I can have today, through the gospel.

4. The trumpet of the gospel is sounded (sounding a lot, rumble) and its joyful echoes are heard and all believers sing "songs of love"; moreover, what makes these dwellings even more delightful is the presence of God in them (Church), so that they are nothing other than "the house of God, is the gate of heaven"; the provisions that are here "treasured" and the company that is enjoyed in them (the family of faith, brothers, angels, God Himself).

5. (V.2) My heart and flesh sing to the living God.

6. The Psalmist declares that it is impossible for him to stop expressing his desires, so he begins to proclaim, "his longing for God and His house"; he weeps, sighs and begs to obtain "the privilege".

7. Some are to be "dragged" into church, while David is crying out for it.

8. The churches in its time rang the bells to induce (persuade) them to go to church; "He carried the bell on his own breast": "The Holy Appetite" is a better call to worship than the call of the bells. C.H.S.

9. It's not that someone says to you, "Are you okay?" Explain; And maybe, you decide to come or explain; a few words between teeth, but there is no longing.

10. "Longs" = He utters high-pitched cries in a loud voice, like soldiers at the beginning of battle: "Go ahead, go ahead! "; or when they shout after the battle is won Victory, victory, victory!

11. (V.3) Even the sparrow has found a home.

12. This tender care of God over the smallest of His creatures is mentioned here in an exciting way.

13. Sparrows, swallows enjoy the rich provisions of His tender care; God thought, beforehand, of all the things they will need, but there is no fellowship between them and the great Giver.

14. From this, "my soul," you can learn a useful lesson.

15. Never be satisfied merely by frequenting these places or having certain privileges there, but "arise in spirit" and seek and find and enjoy direct communion with the living God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

16. David's heart turns to God.

17. My heart and flesh sing to the living God.

18. (V.4) Perpetually will praise You.

19. Communion is the mother of adoration.

20. Those who turn away from Him cease to praise Him, but those who dwell in Him are always magnifying His name.

21. Their hearts (those who dwell in Him) are full of heaven and their consciences full of comfort.

22. There can be nothing but music in the temple of the Holy Spirit.

23. You are not full because you have: complaints, frustrations, negativity, annoyance, aggressiveness, strife, hatred, etc.

24. (V.5) "Blessed is the man who has in Him his strength."

25. For people who are thinking of other things, it will not be pleasant or profitable to pray, praise, or hear the Word.

26. A group of pilgrims (visiting a holy place) who would have left their hearts at home would be no better than a caravan of corpses, completely unfit to be with living saints and worshiping a living God. C.H.S.

27. Blessed is the man who has in Him his strength: In whose heart are Your ways.

28. The heart in its natural state is a desert without roads, full of precipices and ravines.

29. When the heart is renewed by grace, a path is made, and a path is prepared for our God (Isaiah 40:3-4).

30. (Psalm 84:6) Will change it in a place of refreshing springs.

31. What seemed like an impediment becomes a stimulus and help; in the last term, there is no misfortune so great, nor so desolate situation, from which a pious heart cannot make "a fountain or a well from which to draw consoling water"; either water to cleanse and open the way for repentance, or water to refresh and make way to patience; And if the well is dry and produces no water from below, rain will fill the holes and supply them with water from above.

32. (V. 7) You will see God in Zion.

33. So, it will be with each of the true spiritual pilgrims.

34. God's grace will always be seen to be sufficient to preserve them safe and immaculate (spotless, completely cleansed) until His heavenly kingdom and glory: "tribulations will not bring you down", "temptations will not overcome you", "spiritual enemies will not destroy you".

35. They are kept by the power of God, through faith for salvation, which is to be revealed at the end of time.

36. (V.10) He would choose rather to be at the door of God's house, than to dwell “in the dwellings of iniquity" (great wickedness in the way of working).

37. After all, everyone has to make their own decision and choose.

38. What is the worst thing you believe about God? To be corrected, rebuked, is better than the best of the devil.

39. A sign of the Son of God is to delight in God's presence for a long time.

40. Children are to be in the presence of their father; where the king is present, there he is at court; where God is present, there is heaven.

41. God is present in a special way in His ordinances or sacraments; these are the ark of His presence.

42. (V. 11) For the sun and shield is Jehovah God.

43. As the sun, God shows Himself; as a shield, God shows Himself to me.

44. The sun makes my insignificance visible, the shield, the divine sufficiency.

45. The one allows me (sun) to discern that I deserve nothing but anger and that I can get nothing but shame; the other (shield), that I have a right to immortality and that I can lay hold of a permanent inheritance in heaven.

46. I see, in short, regarding God as "sun", that if I am to receive "payment", it must be eternal death; but God as a "shield", that if I receive the "free gift" "I can have eternal life".

47. Who should I fear?

48. To myself, evidently my worst enemy.

49. "The sun" makes man start from what he is, the "shield" assures him that he will be protected against himself and builds "to be a dwelling place for God through the Spirit".

50. I said my soul, the Lord is a shield.

51. Light and strength go together; no one can go astray under His guidance, nor is there any reason to be discouraged.

52. (Genesis 15:1) "Fear not, I am your shield," God comforted Abraham with these words.

53. What dangers can frighten you when you have a shield that it guards you? Amen.