Longing is a part of the human experience. Teens long to be adults. Adults long for the carefree days of youth. The elderly long for the working joints. Ex-Californians long for In-and-Out Burgers (animal style, mustard down, grilled onions, chilis). Alaskans long for daylight.

Many who are single long to be married, and February seems to highlight that longing even more. The advertisements for flowers and jewelry and Hinge all play on these desires of wanting to be wanted.

Longing is part of the human experience–for all people–because we were designed for a greater relationship than is possible even in the best of marriages. Psalm 84 addresses this desire.

Psalm 84:  To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.

3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
    ever singing your praise! Selah

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
    each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed!

10 For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

The singer knew longing–especially the desire to be in the presence of God. Every pore of his being was yearning to be in the Lord’s courts. This longing wasn’t just wishful thinking, but it is a desire characterized by a ferocious eagerness, like a lion about to sit down to dinner.

What does this singer want to do? More than anything, he wants to sing in the courts of the tabernacle, to appear before God, to grow in the strength bestowed by Him.

Why is this what he longs for? Because he understands who his God is. Look at the names used in this passage:

• Lord of Hosts v. 1, 3, 12
• Lord v. 2, 11
• Living God v. 2
• My King and my God v. 3
• God of Jacob v.8
• Lord God v. 11

Each name tells the story of God’s faithfulness. His is the strong Covenant Maker, the Promise-Keeper, the Life-Giver, the Royal Ruler, and the God claimed personally by the singer. He is not some distant, capricious deity who shows up occasionally, but Yahweh who is dwelling with His people. We can know Him. We can sing with Him. He is strong enough to command the Hosts of Heaven, yet gentle enough to take delight in the sparrows who build a nest next to His alter.

What is the outcome of this yearning? What happens to those who ferociously seek the presence of the Lord?

• Singing v. 2
• Joy v. 2
• Relationship with God v. 3
• Blessing v. 4, 5, 12
• Constant Praise v. 4
• Strength v. 5, 7
• Pure heart v. 11
• Growth v. 7
• Protection v. 11
• Grace and Glory v. 11
• Rest v. 12

Check out that list! This singer. . .and this reader. . .are infused with happiness because of the presence of God.

It is hard to imagine throwing myself a pity party if this is how my desires are met. And yet, there is a verse that niggles a little bit: verse 11. “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Is that right? NO good thing? No GOOD THING? Isn’t marriage a good thing? Is it possible that even clothed in Jesus’ righteousness I am not considered upright? Or maybe God is more spare in His gift-giving than that author is stating? Is God holding out on me?

Read back over the psalm. What is the ferocious longing of the psalmist? Perhaps he was thinking back to another psalmist, David, who wrote a similar song:

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4

I would suggest that the “Good Thing” in Psalm 84 is the “One Thing” of Psalm 27: standing before the face of God. Yahweh has not withheld Himself from those He loves. Whatever longings we have, young or old, married or single, all pale in comparison to this truth: Those who know Jesus are in Him (Eph 1). And one day, all longing, all tears, all pain, will be swallowed in His presence (Rev 21). He gives us something, someONE even greater than what we long for.

Until that day, may He find us ferociously trusting in the joy and blessing of being known and loved by the King of Glory!

Want to read more reflections on Valentine’s Day? Check out these posts.