C.H. Spurgeon calls Psalm 84 the "Pearl of the Psalms."
The Psalm itself is attached to the Psalms of the sons of Korah but this might have to do with musical performance rather than the actual writing of the Psalm. It has David's fingerprints all over the words of this great Psalm.
Verse 1: "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!"
Kidner says: "How lovely is more exactly 'How dear' or 'How beloved'; it is the language of love poetry. Psalms 42:4; 43:4 give a glimpse of the delight which a dedicated servant of the temple found in his role - a joy quite foreign to the uncommitted..."
Plumer says: "Patrick''s paraphrase is: 'It is impossible to express the affection I have to thy dwelling-place, O Lord.'"
I read the following story in God's Little Daily Devotional:
Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came to his office full of hatred toward her husband. Fully intending to divorce her husband, she said, "Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me."
Crane advised that she go home and act as if she really loved her husband. "Tell him how much he means to you," he said. "Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him...then drop the bomb...That will really hurt him."
The woman exclaimed, "Beautiful!" And she did as he had suggested with enthusiasm, acting as if she loved him. Two months later she returned to Crane, who asked, "Are you ready to go through with the divorce?"
"Divorce!" she said. "Never! I discovered I really do love him!" (235)
Verse 2: "My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."
This wonderful outburst of praise is similar to what we had back in verse 5.
In this verse we have the "soul," the "heart," and the "flesh." The key words are: "yearns" - or longs for; "faints"- exhausted with desire; and "cry out."
"My soul yearns, even faints...[and] my heart and my flesh cry out."
C.H. Spurgeon said: "The desire was deep and insatiable - the very soul of the man was yearning for his God."
Frederick B. Meyer said: "Even though I am busy, my relationship with God deserves top priority above all other demands on my time."
Let's ask ourselves a couple of questions before we sing our hymn of worship: (1) What is your passion? and (2) What is your single focus?
"My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."
Psalm 18:46: "The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!" (NIV)
