A Doorkeeper in the House of My God
(Ps. 84:1~12)
Psalm 84 is entitled 'According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.' Gittith, which means the melody of joy is a song that people sing while treading the winepress. Just as grapes are trampled to make juice, the sons of Korah were despised by people before discovering the joy of the cross. Lets see how the doorkeeper in the House of God is longing for the temple.
1. He loves the house of God earnestly. Korah, a Levite defied the authority of Moses and Aaron. He did it out of his secret desire to be like Moses after getting something on him. Yet he and his followers were swallowed up in a pit because of his spiritual sin, more serious than any physical or mental crimes. Like Korah, we also have our secret desire to raise ourselves and stand out. Even though Korah and his fellow rebels were destroyed, his descendants were allowed to serve as doorkeepers and choir members in Gods temple as recorded in 1 Chronicles 9 and 2 Chronicles 20. Eleven of the 150 poems of Psalm mention about Korahs descendants, which implies that our forefathers sin can be cut off in our generation. We can also be the dwellers of Gods court like the Gibeonites, who accepted their sins and became the woodcutters and water carriers. Korah was counted as a rebel against Moses by criticizing his authority while Luther is called a reformer after criticizing Catholic doctrine in his Ninety-five Theses to Pope Leo X. Who is a rebel and who is a reformer? A reformer longs for the recovery of worship and Gods court. Thus Wooridle Church has been reformed by its members yearning for worship in their community and through their meditation on the Word, Having a place, time, and community of worship is surely a blessing. In my trial, I also longed for the time and place of Gods presence. Gods court is the place where people experience Gods presence and read the Bible as His redemption history.
2. He yearns for the house of the Lord as if to faint. He cries out to God as long as he is alive physically and spiritually. The descendants of the rebellious Korah humbled themselves, regarding their forefathers sin as theirs and wishing they would live one day in Gods courts. Thus we need to long for Gods courts in the midst of our life storm, checking if theres anything that gets in the way to the Lord in our forefathers. Its not easy to drive the chariot of our body and soul in the right direction. We need to cry out to our living God especially when we cant control our lust and desire. Actually, we cant have perfect control over any part of our body, Many people of our church community cant control their body and soul, such as young couples who broke their vows of chastity or those who cant curb their appetite or a husband who cant control his anger because of his wifes affairs etc. People who are hurt tend to attack others or themselves. Theres no good person on earth. There are only Christians or non-Christians. Without Jesus, we cant cure our wounds and become too handicapped to control our body and soul. Thats the moment when we need to cry out to God wholeheartedly.
3. He yearns for the blessing of the Valley of Baca. Even though we are wretched, we recover our peace by crying out to God, Those whose strength is in the Lord are blessed to set their hearts on pilgrimage. Crooked hearts will be straightened out. Korahs sons followed their own way and were unable to be strengthened because of their crooked way of resentment, hatred, and lust. However, they passed through the valley of Baca and became a spring from which many people drink. Likewise, our problem spouse and child make us long for the courts of the Lord. The valley of Baca is the place for us to pass through, not to overcome. The word overcome is not in the Scripture. A Christians life is passing through the valley of Baca. No matter how many Bacas we pass through, we can be a spring that quenches others thirst as long as our heart is on pilgrimage to Zion. Thats why we need to urge our children to listen to the Word. Then they will know whom to refer to in trials. People commit suicide and divorce, not knowing where to go or whom to refer to,
4. He yearns for a day in the court of the Lord. The doorkeepers are strengthened day by day, rejoicing in a day in Gods court. A spiritual person is strengthened every day by his gratitude which he finds in small things. However, a critical person is weakened every day, losing even what he has. The object of our prayer is God as in verse 8. Notice the phrase 'God of Jacob' is repeated in the Bible because God changed greedy Jacob into godly Israel In verse 9, the Psalmist describes God as a shield, his only protector, asking God tearfully to watch over him as his anointed child. Then comes the famous verse 10. 'Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.' The sons of Korah desperately wanted to return to the courts of the Lord even as doorkeepers, confessing their faith in God, proclaiming that he will give his grace even to a family whose ancestors he destroyed. Without the Lord, we err every day being dishonest, biased, overactive, talkative, shortcoming, exaggerating, and making promises that you cant keep. May God bless us to enjoy the blessing of barak, that of kneeling before the Lord and relying only on him as the doorkeepers of Gods temple.
'Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.'(Ps. 84:10)
