Psalm 84- Doorkeeper
Psalms 84:1 (NET Bible)
For the music director; according to the gittith style; written by the Korahites, a psalm.
1 How lovely is the place where you live,
O LORD WHO RULES OVER ALL!
2 I desperately want to be
in the courts of the LORDʼs temple.
My heart and my entire being shout for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow builds a nest,
where she can protect her young
near your altars, O LORD WHO RULES OVER ALL,
my king and my God.
4 How blessed are those who live in your temple
and praise you continually! (Selah)
5 How blessed are those who find their strength in you,
and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple!
6 As they pass through the Baca Valley,
he provides a spring for them.
The rain even covers it with pools of water.
7 They are sustained as they travel along;
each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O LORD, sovereign God,
hear my prayer!
Listen, O God of Jacob! (Selah)
9 O God, take notice of our shield!
Show concern for your chosen king!
10 Certainly spending just one day in your temple courts is better
than spending a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather stand at the entrance to the temple of my God
than live in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the LORD God is our sovereign protector.
The LORD bestows favor and honor;
he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity.
12 O LORD WHO RULES OVER ALL,
how blessed are those who trust in you!
Psalms 84:10 (NKJV)
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
There are many ways to minister to the Lord. Of course, when we hear the word “minister”, we tend to think of the glamorous or more visible positions. That is those who preach and teach and play music before the congregation. And the Sons of Korah were in this category, as Levites, ministering the Psalms and other songs before the congregation. In the modern Jewish congregation they would be the cantors that sing the psalms and prayers before the people.
But the psalmist is saying that there are other ways to minister to the Lord. Just being in His presence is a blessing. We can just rest in the presence of God and bless the Lord in that way. Even if we were only a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, we would be blessed to be in the presence of the Lord.
Now let us examine that a little more. Who were the doorkeepers who stood at the entrance of the temple? In our day, we have ushers, greeters and child care workers that speak to the incoming people, make sure that they can find their place and help them get their children settled. That is a pretty humble position, even now. But imaging, if you will, what other duties the temple doorkeepers must have had. Modern ushers collect and count the offering, but the offering in the temple came in on hoof and wing! Each of these animals had to be shepherded to their proper location and then led to the alter, one by one. There was certainly mess to clean up as the frightened animals were led into the temple, but even more mess to take care of as the offal and ashes had to be hauled out after the sacrifices were performed. Now that was certainly not glamorous ministry!
Even so, the psalmist proclaims that that type of ministry was far preferable to being left outside of the house of the Lord. Even if you had to clean up cow and sheep manure, just being in the presence of the Lord was far better than being one of the lost souls outside the temple. Do we have the same zeal to be in the Lord’s presence? Do we desire to spend time with the Lord, no matter the cost? If we do, the psalmist proclaims the rewards that are due:
Psalms 84:11-12
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!
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