Psalms 84:4

4_Blessed are they who dwell in thy house. _Here the Psalmist expresses more distinctly the proper and legitimate use of the sanctuary; and thus he distinguishes himself from hypocrites, who are sedulously attentive to the observance of outward ceremonies, but destitute of genuine heart godliness. David, on the contrary, testifies, that the true worshippers of God offer to him the sacrifice of praise, which can never be dissociated from faith. Never will a man praise God from the heart, unless, relying upon his grace, he is a partaker of spiritual peace and joy....

1-7 The ordinances of God are the believer's solace in this evil world; in them he enjoys the presence of the living God: this causes him to regret his absence from them. They are to his soul as the nest to the bird. Yet they are only an earnest of the happiness of heaven; but how can men desire to enter that holy habitation, who complain of Divine ordinances as wearisome? Those are truly happy, who go forth, and go on in the exercise of religion, in the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, from whom all our sufficiency is. The pilgrims to the heavenly city may have to pass through many a valley of weeping, and many a thirsty desert; but wells of salvation shall be opened for them, and consolations sent for their support. Those that press forward in their Christian course, shall find God add grace to their graces. And those who grow in grace, shall be perfect in glory....

Verse Psalms 84:4. _BLESSED_ ARE _THEY THAT DWELL IN THY HOUSE_] They who have such a constant habitation in thy temple as the sparrow or the swallow has in the house wherein it has built its nest. _THEY WILL BE STILL PRAISING THEE._] They will find it good to draw nigh unto God, as he always pours out his Spirit on his sincere worshippers....

BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DWELL IN THY HOUSE - Who are constantly there; whose permanent abode is there. The reference is to the priests and Levites - the ministers of religion - who had their permanent abode near the tabernacle and the temple, and who were wholly devoted to the sacred duties of religion. Their lot is here spoken of as a blessed, or as a happy lot, in contradistinction from those who had only the opportunity of occasionally going up to worship. Compare the notes at Psalms 65:4. THEY WILL BE STILL PRAISING THEE - They will do it constantly, as their daily employment. It will not be worship begun and ended, but worship continued - the regular business from day to day. Such will heaven be; and this will constitute its glory. There will be (a) a permanent residence there: “Him

EXPOSITION This psalm, attributed (see title) to the "sons of Korah," or the Korahite Levites (see 1 Chronicles 26:1; 2 Chronicles 20:19), describes the blessedness of their position as dwellers in the house of God, and keepers of its thresholds. Its date is uncertain, but must fall earlier than the Captivity, since the temple is standing (Psalms 84:1, Psalms 84:10), and there is an anointed king upon the throne (Psalms 84:9). The psalm falls into three equal stanzas or strophes, each of four verses, the ends of th

BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DWELL IN THY HOUSE,.... The house of God, in his tabernacles and courts; referring to the priests and Levites, who were frequently officiating there, in their turns, night and day; and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Gibeon, where the ark and tabernacle were, who had frequent opportunities of attendance on divine worship: and happy are those who have a name and place in the church of God, who abide there, and never go out; see Psalms 65:4, the Targum is, "blessed are the righteous, c.'' and the Arabic version, "blessed are all they that dwell, c", they are happy on account of their settlement, and also on account of their work, as follows: THEY WILL BE STILL PRAISING THEE which is delightful employment for praise is pleasant and comely; and in which they are continually and constantly engaged, as their mercies return upon t

A Psalm for the sons of Korah. You remember how Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were destroyed because of their rebellion against the Lord, and their revolt against his chosen servant, Moses and Aaron, and you, no doubt, recollect how it is recorded that «the children of Korah died not.» Why they were spared, we cannot tell, except that it was an act of sovereign grace; and if so, I can understand why they were afterwards selected to be among the chief singers in the house of the Lord, for who can sing so sweetly to the God of grace as the men who have been saved by his sovereign, distinguishing grace This Psalm is «for (or, of) the sons of Korah.» «Who can praise the blessed God, Like a sinner saved by grace? Angels cannot sing so loud, Though they see him face to face; Sinless angels ne'er can know What a debt saved sinners owe.»...

PSALM 84-89 Psalms 84 In View of the Sanctuary _ 1. Heart longings (Psalms 84:1)_ 2. In the sanctuary (Psalms 84:8) The two next Psalms are of the sons of Korah, who themselves are monuments of saving grace. (They were saved from the fate of Korah; see Numbers 26:10 .) In these precious outpourings of the heart for the sanctuary of the Lord, we read prophetically the heart longings of the remnant of Israel. They are not yet in possession of the fullest blessings but look forward now to an early realization of all their hopes of being at His altars again. And all they long for will be their happy and l

LXXXIV. A PILGRIM PSALM. Psalms 84:3. sparrow (rather little bird generally) and SWALLOW are metaphorical for pious Jewish pilgrims. As the birds find their nests and homes, so the Jew, worthy of the name, finds his rest and joy in proximity to the altars of his God. Altars may be a poetical plural, like holy places in Psalms 68:35 (_cf._ especially Psalms 132:5; Psalms 132:7). To take the words as if they meant that the birds in the literal sense found a home at the altar would involve manifest absurdity. The swallow still haunts the temple-mosque at Jerusalem, but an altar with its crowd of worshippers and its sacrifices

BLESSED. Compare verses: Psalms 84:5; Psalms 84:12. See App-63. Figure of speech _Benedictio._ App-6. STILL PRAISING. Compare 1 Chronicles 9:33. SELAH. Connecting the dwellers in, and the approaches to, the House of Jehovah, with the common blessedness of all true worshippers. See App-66....