Scripture Reading: Psa. 84
In this message we will consider Psalm 84, which is concerned with the psalmist's love for the house of God with Christ.
Psalm 84 comes after a number of psalms on God's dealing and stripping. Book 3 of the Psalms has much to say about God's dealing and stripping. For example, the psalmist in Psalm 73 was puzzled by God's dealing and stripping and did not become clear concerning this until he entered into the sanctuary of God. The situation of the psalmists in such psalms was nearly the same as Job's. The main difference is that whereas the psalmists experienced God's dealing and stripping, Job also experienced God's consuming.
Psalm 84 uses a special term — "the valley of Baca." "Baca" means "weeping." Hence, the valley of Baca is the valley of weeping. This special term indicates that the psalmist had been dealt with by God and had been stripped by Him.
Verse 4 says that those who dwell in God's house are blessed. Here "house" signifies the church as a totality.
Verses 1 and 2 say, "How lovely are Your tabernacles,/ O Jehovah of hosts!/My soul longs, indeed even faints,/For the courts of Jehovah;/My heart and my flesh cry out/For the living God." God's tabernacles, God's habitations, signify the local churches. The psalmist was not yet in God's habitations, but he longed to be there. His longing was so great that he even fainted. This indicates to what extent the psalmist loved God's habitations.
The psalmist goes on to liken himself to the sparrow and the swallow: "At Your two altars, even the sparrow has found a home;/And the swallow, a nest for herself,/Where she may lay her young,/O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God" (v. 3). These two altars are the golden altar for incense and the brass altar of burnt offering (Exo. 40:5-6). The brass altar, on which all kinds of offerings were offered, was in the outer court before the door of the tabernacle. The laver was also in the outer court. In the Holy Place were the table of showbread, the lampstand, and the golden altar for incense.
The brass altar typifies the cross of Christ. At this altar all the negative things have been dealt with by the offerings, which typify Christ. At the cross Christ took away our sins, crucified the old man, destroyed Satan, judged Satan's cosmos, and terminated the old creation and all the negative things. It was at the cross, therefore, that all our problems were solved, and it was at the cross that we first believed in the Lord Jesus. At the cross we confessed our sins, and at the cross we were forgiven. This qualified us to enter into the Holy Place and to come to the showbread table to receive food, to the lampstand to receive light, and to the golden altar to experience Christ as our incense acceptable to God.
The golden altar for incense in front of the Holy of Holies is where God's people are accepted by God in peace. This incense typifies the resurrected Christ in His ascension as the acceptance to God (Rev. 8:3). As our incense Christ is fragrant, pleasant, and acceptable. Apart from Christ we cannot be accepted by God. Christ is our acceptance. On the negative side, at the brass altar our problems were solved by the crucified Christ; on the positive side, at the golden altar we become acceptable to God in the resurrected Christ in His ascension.
Before Christ's death there was a veil separating the Holy of Holies, where the ark was, from the Holy Place, where the golden altar was. Thus, there was a veil between the ark and the golden altar. Whereas some verses say clearly that the golden altar was outside the veil, other verses indicate that the golden altar belonged to the Holy of Holies (Heb. 9:4; 1 Kings 6:22, ASV). When Christ died He rent the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:20), so now there is no longer a veil, a separation, between the ark and the golden altar.
The fact that Exodus 40:5 and 6 mention the golden altar together with the brass altar indicates that these two altars are closely related. They are closely related also in our experience. First, we come to the altar of brass, to the cross, where all negative things are dealt with. As a result of our experience at this altar, we are clean and are qualified to enter into the tabernacle to contact God at the incense altar.
Through these two altars God's redeemed can find their home with God in rest. Psalm 84:3 speaks both of a home and of a nest. What is the difference between a home and a nest? Whereas a home is a place of rest, a nest is a place of refuge. For us today, the brass altar is a refuge. We hide ourselves under the cross, escaping our troubles, and thus we are covered and have refuge. Then at the golden altar we contact our Christ in the heavens. This contact is not for refuge — it is for rest.
A swallow is small and weak and is troubled by storms and by many other things. But a swallow has a nest, a refuge. Like a swallow coming to the nest where she may lay her young, we may come to the cross of Christ as our refuge. Here we may bring our "young," those whom we contact in our preaching of the gospel. Spiritually speaking, at the "nest" of the cross we should "lay" our young, our spiritual children. To lay the young is to produce them through the preaching of the gospel. To do this we need to bring sinners to the cross of Christ. It is here, at the cross, that we have our nest, our refuge, and it is here that we "lay our young," that is, produce our spiritual children. Before contacting the cross they were sinners, but by contacting the cross they become believers, young children in the Lord. As we teach our young to call on the Lord, they will learn to offer prayer to God at the altar of incense. Then in their experience these two altars will be closely related.
We have pointed out that this psalm on the psalmist's love for the house of God with Christ speaks of God's tabernacles and God's house. In type, the tabernacles, the habitations, are the local churches, and the house is the church as a totality. When we come to the church, the house of God, we are attracted by the two altars, both of which are very striking. At the first altar, the brass altar, we confess our sins, failures, and defects. Here at the cross our problems are solved, and we are qualified to enter into God. Then we may come to the golden altar to contact God.
At the brass altar we meet the crucified Christ, but at the golden altar the crucified Christ becomes the ascended Christ. In His ascension Christ becomes our acceptance. No matter how good or pure we may seem to be in ourselves, we cannot be acceptable to God apart from Christ. We can be acceptable to God only in Christ. This is what it means for Christ to become our incense.
Revelation 8:3 indicates that in order for our prayer to be accepted by God, it must have Christ as the incense added to it. This is why we need to pray in the Lord's name. Sometimes we may conclude our prayer with the words "in the name of the Lord Jesus." If we pray in our own name, we will not be acceptable to God. Only when we are in the Lord's name will we be acceptable to God, for then Christ as the incense, as a pleasant fragrance, will be our acceptance. In Him we will be not only acceptable to God but also fragrant and pleasant to Him.
In the church we first find a refuge, and then we find a home. Before we were saved and came into the church, we not only were wandering and homeless, but we were also without any safeguard, protection, or hiding place. When we came to the church, we came immediately to the brass altar, the cross of Christ, and there, having the solution to our problems, we found a hiding place, a refuge. We hid ourselves in the cross. Then as we went on to contact God, praying at the incense altar, we had the sense that we were resting at home. Many of us can testify that this was our feeling when we came to the church.
As we experience these two altars in the church, we can say with Paul, "I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). We know only Christ and His cross. The cross is our refuge, our hiding place, and Christ Himself is our acceptance. Day by day we come to these two altars. Day by day we are hiding and resting. We come to the cross, where we have refuge, and we come to Christ, where we rest and are at home.
Psalm 84:4 says, "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;/They will yet be praising You." To dwell in God's house is to praise Him. Quite often, however, we are lacking in praise. Our vital groups should be full of praising. Not to praise the Lord is to be dormant, but to praise Him is to be vital. Praising the Lord should be our living, and our church life should be a life of praising.
"For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand;/I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God /Than dwell in the tents of the wicked" (v. 10; cf. Ezek. 47:3-5; Rev. 20:4-6). Here the psalmist speaks of one who stands at the threshold, which is the dividing line between the inside and the outside. I surely would like to be one who stands at the threshold of the house of God.
Psalm 84:5-7 reveals that the one is blessed whose heart is on the highways to Zion. To be on the highways to Zion means that we intend to come into the church. Actually, our intention to be in the church life is a highway for us to come into the church.
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in You" (v. 5a). This indicates that on the highways to Zion we have strength in God. Many of us can testify that before we came into the church we were weak and hesitant, but once we made the decision to come to the church, we were strengthened in God.
Verse 6a speaks of passing through the valley of Baca. As we have pointed out, "Baca" means "weeping." On the one hand, when we had the intention to come into the church life, we were strengthened in God; on the other hand, we were opposed by Satan, who has caused many saints to suffer persecution. The trouble and persecution caused by Satan can make our highway a valley of weeping.
When we pass through the valley of Baca, God makes this valley a spring (v. 6b). If we take the highway to go to God's house, trouble and persecution will come to us, and such things will cause us to weep. But God will turn our tears into a spring. Only those who weep will have a spring. The more tears we shed, the greater will be the spring.
Verse 6c says, "Indeed the early rain covers it with blessings." According to our experience, this means that our tears become a spring and that this spring becomes the early rain that covers the valley with blessings. This early rain is the Spirit, and the Spirit is our blessing.
This was the situation with a certain brother in Cheefoo. Before he believed in the Lord Jesus, he was a Moslem. After he was saved and came into the church life, he suffered a great deal of persecution. This persecution nearly killed him, and he shed many tears. But those tears became a spring; the spring became the Spirit as the early rain; and as a result this brother was very living.
Those who come into the church life by passing through the valley of weeping will find that this weeping eventually becomes a great blessing to them. This blessing is the Spirit. The tears they shed are their own, but these tears become a spring, which becomes the early rain, the Spirit as the blessing.
"They go from strength to strength" (v. 7a). This indicates that strength is added to strength. Those who take the highway to Zion already have strength in God, and now they are strengthened further and thus go from strength to strength.
"Each appears before God in Zion" (v. 7b). The issue of the foregoing is that we appear before God in Zion. We treasure God's habitation because Zion is here. We treasure the church life because here we are in Zion. Even though we are on earth, we are nonetheless in the heavenly Zion (Heb. 12:22).
Verses 8, 9, 11, and 12 are the psalmist's prayer.
"Behold our shield, O God;/And look upon the face of Your anointed" (v. 9). The "shield" in this verse refers to David the king, and the "anointed" refers also to David the king, typifying Christ. Here the psalmist prayed concerning David, saying that he was the shield to protect them and that he was God's anointed. In typology, however, this anointed one, is Christ. In our prayer we may say, "O God, look upon the face of Christ, Your anointed One, who is our Savior."
Verse 11a says, "Jehovah God is a sun and a shield." The sun is the source of light, and light gives life. Plants, animals, and human beings all need sunlight in order to live and grow. In our spiritual life, we also need sunlight, and for this we have Christ as our source of light and life.
In verse 11b-c the psalmist goes on to say that Jehovah gives grace and glory with nothing good withheld. Grace and glory are both God Himself. Grace is God for our enjoyment, and glory is God for our splendor. Therefore, in these verses Jehovah God in Christ is four things to us: the shield, the sun, the grace, and the glory.
Psalm 84 was written according to the psalmist's background, which was very similar to Job's background. In verse 11c the psalmist says that God "does not withhold anything good/From those who walk uprightly." In verse 12 he goes on to declare, "O Jehovah of hosts, blessed is the man/Who trusts in You." In verse 11d "those who walk uprightly" probably refers, in the complex sentiments of the psalmist, to those who keep the law. In verse 12 "the man who trusts in You" probably refers, also in the complex sentiments of the psalmist, to the man who dwells in God's house.
What we have here is the complex expression of the mixed sentiments of the psalmist. Such sentiments were not according to God's revelation. Job walked uprightly, yet God not only withheld something from him but also stripped him and consumed him. Furthermore, Job trusted in God, yet he did not always have God's blessing. Do you believe that it is because we walk uprightly that we today enjoy Christ as our sun, shield, grace, and glory? Do you believe that it is because we trust in God that He blesses us? We must confess that in ourselves we cannot walk uprightly or have a firm trust in God. Does this mean that we lose Christ as our sun, shield, grace, and glory? No, this is not our situation.
In type, Psalm 84 shows us how excellent the church life is and how we should treasure it. Here we enjoy the cross of Christ, and here we enjoy Christ Himself. We all should take the highway to come to the church and then dwell here. Here we enjoy our David, our anointed One, our Christ, who is our sun, our shield, our grace, and our glory.
