Monday Club Sermons Psalm 84:1-12 How amiable are your tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!… The great truth which underlies this psalm is that God reveals Himself especially in the sanctuary. In the house of God we find — I. PARDON. II. PEACE. As its walls shut out the noises of the world, so its worship shuts out earthly confusion and strife. III. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH. Hearts fail, consciences yield, life-strings snap, because men do not seek the God of Jacob to strengthen them out of Zion. We must bear hardships and sorrows. Every road, from the cradle to the grave, leads through the valley of Baca; but pilgrims to Zion change barrenness to bloom, singing together as they go. IV. SPIRITUAL JOY. Such delight is wholly disconnected from earthly advantages; it flourishes upon their loss. Pascal wrote, "Happiness is neither within us nor without us; it is the union of ourselves with God." There is no necessary limit to this joy, none except the capacity of the human spirit. Practical inferences: — 1. A church should be built to manifest God. 2. The worship of the Church should seek the same end. Music, Scripture, prayer, teaching, have but one objects — to draw the soul nearer to God. 3. There is no substitute for the sanctuary. Bigotry may close its doors, but the early Christians consecrate a chapel in the catacombs, and Covenanters make cave or barn or sea-beach a temple. Neglect of the sanctuary proves not abundance, but lack of spiritual life. (Monday Club Sermons.) Parallel Verses KJV: {To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.} How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! |
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