The presence of God
A meditation on Psalm 84
This week’s post is an exercise in digging in to a passage of scripture and seeing where it might lead. I was drawn to Psalm 84 this week, an exuberant song that tells of the Psalmist’s joy at worshipping God in the temple.
But, what does that have to do with modern Christians? What does it tell us about God? Read on for my thoughts.
Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! SelahBlessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Phrases in these opening lines make it clear from the jump that the Psalmist here is talking about the temple: “your dwelling place,” “the courts of the Lord,” “your altars.”
The significance of the temple—both symbolically and literally—is something that’s easy to skip over, particularly for Christian readers of the Old Testament. It wasn’t until my second read through of this chapter today that I internalized that this Psalm is explicitly about the temple; on my first read, I had passed over that imagery altogether.
Though some of the earliest Christians worshipped alongside their Jewish cousins at the temple in Jerusalem, that practice effectively ended after the temple’s destruction in A.D. 70. Simultaneously, new communities of Christians were increasingly meeting in house churches, especially those who didn’t live in or near Jerusalem. As Christianity continued to distinguish itself from Judaism, the physical temple became less important to their daily life and worship.
But, that doesn’t mean that this imagery is useless or lost on Christians, both ancient and modern. Though we don’t worship in temples, per se, any longer, the temple is an essential motif in the story of God’s people, which starts in Genesis with Adam, Eve, and ultimately the line of Abraham, continues through the stories of Israel preserved in the Old Testament, and then, through Jesus, encompasses “all nations.”
In fact, in some way or another, the concept of the temple is present from the first to the last page of scripture. Consider Eden, a garden of paradise where Adam and Eve commune with God, working in concert with him to fill, rule, and subdue the earth. After they sin, they’re barred from the garden forever, effectively ending the period in which humans work and walk alongside God—but that doesn’t mean that he is completely inaccessible.
Throughout the rest of the Torah, we see God’s presence manifest in multiple ways. He’s the voice that calls to Moses from a burning bush and he’s the pillar of fire that guides them through the wilderness at night. For 40 days, he’s the cloud of rolling thunder that settles on Mount Sinai.
Once the Exodus begins, God tells Moses what the next phase of his manifest presence will be—the Tabernacle, or the Tent of Meeting.
These tabernacles are richly decorated portable dwellings that provide a place for God to meet with his people, which was fitting for a largely nomadic nation. But, after David builds a palace for himself, he determines that God’s presence needs a more permanent place to rest, as well. That comes through his son, King Solomon.
Solomon’s temple is likely the subject of Psalm 84, and by all accounts it was a structure grand enough to inspire awe and wonder. But the physical details of the temple didn’t tell the whole story; at their best, they served as reminders of the glory that was housed within. The primary meaning of the temple itself, the Holman Bible Dictionary reminds us, is “a symbol of God’s presence in the midst of His people,” a “microcosm of the heavenly Temple where the King of the universe really dwelt.”
Maybe you’ve been thinking the same thing as I have, though—I thought God was omnipresent? How can he both dwell in the temple and be everywhere, all the time?
I genuinely don’t have a great answer to that question; it’s one of the mysteries I’ve been pondering lately as I meditate on the omnipresent nature of God throughout all history. But, this was a consideration for early worshippers, as well. Holman says this:
“Israel understood that it was only by God’s grace that He consented to dwell with His people…Obviously, no one can house God: ‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; much less this house that I have built!’ (2 Kings 8:27 NRSV).”
Solomon’s temple is eventually destroyed by Babylonian invaders and then replaced and remodeled by Zerubbabel and Herod, respectively, before its ultimate destruction around A.D. 70.
The references don’t stop there, though: In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul reminds believers to “flee from sexual immorality” on the grounds that “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,” a dwelling place for one member of the Godhead.
Finally, in one of the most hopeful images in all of scripture, Revelation 21:22 describes the new Jerusalem as having no temple, for “its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” Where the unfettered presence of God is, no temple is necessary; new, redeemed creation means that his glory will no longer need containment, but will be the centerpiece of existence. Verse 23 continues: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
So, all that to say, the temple isn’t just a building—it’s a powerful symbol of God’s presence on the earth, a hint of glory yet to come.
As I read Psalm 84, I don’t have an experience with Solomon’s temple to map onto the Psalmist’s words. I haven’t been in the temple courts; I have no idea what the job of a doorkeeper would require.
Yet, I know exactly what the Psalmist means when he says that his “soul longs, yes, faints, for the courts of the Lord.”
That’s because the concept of the temple didn’t disappear when the physical structure was destroyed, and its symbolism is still potent for believers as a reminder of who God is. In fact, the temple itself, though central to Jewish culture in all areas of life, at its core is only a building, a structure that points to a transcendent Reality.
So, why does Psalm 84 matter? What does it tell us about God? How does it help us worship as post-temple Christians?
It’s an invitation to experience the presence of God.
And not just to experience it, but to rest in it. To crave it. To prioritize it above all else that the world offers.
As I read, I couldn’t help but notice the parallels between Psalm 84:3 and Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:26:
“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.”
and
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
God is inviting you, today, to experience his presence. He whose glory cannot be contained by the grandest of temples wants to do what it takes to meet with you. “Blessed is the one who trusts in him,” indeed!
From the archives:
It’s camp season again!
Meeting God in Talladega
And a recommendation:
This article and this video helped me put these concepts together. Check them out for more specific references: