A Word in Season: Longing For The Living God (Psalm 84:1-4)

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I had a friend who used to envy the birds. He wanted desperately to be able to fly and his mother, failing to disabuse him of this notion,

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I believe made him some kind of paper wings and he would strap these to his arms and he would run down hills near his house, flapping desperately in an attempt to take off, which he never quite did.

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I'm not sure how long the appetite lasted, but certainly the memory stuck with him and with many of us to whom he told that story.

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I want a more sober note. The sons of Korah in the scriptures, these men who were about the business of worshipping

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God, also entertained a holy envy of certain birds, sparrows and swallows.

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They said this. Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young.

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Even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God, blessed are those who dwell in your house.

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They will still be praising you. What was it that excited that holy envy in the hearts of the sons of Korah?

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It was that these birds of the air had made their home in the temple of God, in the in the tabernacle, that they were always where their souls longed to be.

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Psalm 84 actually begins like this. How lovely is your tabernacle,

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O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the

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Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. And then they go on.

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Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young.

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Even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. These men were delighted with the tabernacle.

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They loved the the place where on earth, under the Old Testament, God had made himself known.

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Now, it was a stunning place in many respects, whether you consider, first of all, the tent or later the temple.

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It was resplendent. It was an earthly representation of heaven.

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It was a vivid picture of the dwelling of God. And it was the place where God made himself known under the

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Old Covenant. It was a bloody place because there were sacrifices made there continually, emphasizing that the only way that we can come to God with our sinful natures and our sinful deeds is by having that sinfulness washed away by the blood of the sacrifices slain.

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And for all these reasons, then, it was a place of significance.

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But you notice that it's not, first of all, the beauty of the place that attracts the sons of Korah.

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It's a spiritual longing that they have, as well as a physical longing.

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They say, my soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord. It is his presence that make that place so precious to them.

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My heart and my flesh, they said, cry out for the living God. Now, we know that God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.

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We understand that. We delight in that. But we do know that the Lord has a new covenant temple, a dwelling place of God in the spirit.

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It is made up of living stones, with Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

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It is the church of Jesus Christ. And if you are being deprived at this time of the privilege of gathering together with God's people, then

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I hope that you know something of the appetite of the sons of Korah. Yes, we get accustomed to places and yes, we get used to our routines.

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But our hunger and our thirst, our crying out heart and flesh should be for the living

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God. It is when he is pleased to presence himself with his people that we know him most closely and see him most clearly.

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Now, we can still worship him, though scattered, but we ought to be longing for the courts of the

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Lord. We ought to be eagerly waiting for the time when we can come together again with God's people in God's presence.

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So seek him today and do it with the anticipation of seeking him over and over until you meet again with him in the presence of his people in this time and then ultimately in the glory which is to come.