How lovely is Your dwelling place, Yahweh of Hosts!
Psalm 84:1-2
My soul longs, even faints, for Yahweh’s courts;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Psalm 84 is one of my favorite psalms. It mirrors my heart’s longing for God’s courts. Joel and I used to run around the house singing and dancing verse 10 with all our might:
“Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere!”
Psalm 84:10
I was working on memorizing the psalm one day when verse 4 stood out to me:
How happy are those
Psalm 84:4
who dwell in Your house;
they are ever praising You. Selah.
In the depths of my longing, it’s easy to forget “how happy” Joel must be living in God’s house. Happy. Joel is not sad that he died. He’s running around God’s house singing and dancing, “Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere!” with all of his might.
The next few verses say:
How happy are those
Psalm 84:5-7
whose strength is in You,
hearts set on pilgrimage.
Passing through the Valley of Weeping
they make it a spring
Yes, early rains cover them with blessings.
They go from strength to strength;
each appearing before God in Zion.
This December will mark 10 years of happy days for Joel in God’s house and 10 years of deep longing and even fainting for God’s courts for me. A huge part of my heart went with Joel to Heaven. The part of my heart that remains is not torn apart forever, but set on a pilgrimage towards wholeness in appearing before God in Zion and having Him tenderly wipe away the last of my tears.
My strength often fails, but God’s strength never does. When I turn to Him for help, He is faithful to comfort, strengthen and cover me with the blessing of the early rains of His Spirit. His presence in my Valley of Weeping fills me with joy. Living in the dichotomy of it all is hard which makes me oh so happy that I am only passing through. Knowing that God will supply the strength I need for every situation is carrying me from strength to strength to the courts I long for. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God!
For the LORD God is our sun and shield;
Psalm 84:11-12
the LORD gives grace and glory:
He withholds no good thing
from those who walk with integrity.
O, LORD of Host, How happy
are those who trust in You!
In His Love,
Jenny Coleman
