Back to the Psalms for today’s reading! Psalms chapters 49 and 84 couldn’t be more opposite. In Psalm 49, you have a description of sinners who grow prosperous, mighty, and influential in this world. Psalm 84 pictures the longings, joy, and dwelling of the saint.
The Psalmist describes the wicked in Psalm 49:5-9 as consumed with cheating death at all costs, but yet for as rich, powerful, and influential as they are, they can never buy off death. They continually search in vain for the fabled fountain of youth. They can and do buy off much and many in this life, but not death. They chafe at death and how it levels the playing field for the prosperous and the poor (Psalm 49:10). So what do they do? What can they do? In their arrogance and pride, they boast of their credentials and talk themselves up as the wise, the expert, and the successful. They point to the splendor of their wealth as proof that there is none like them, avoiding any talk of death and the afterlife (Psalm 49:13, 18, 20).
To further condemn themselves as guilty of pride and arrogance, they name their estates, buildings, and foundations after themselves. They are consumed with their legacy, how they are remembered, and their fame. Such vain attempts at immortalizing themselves highlight the desperation of their godlessness. In the end, they die like animals and are eventually forgotten.
Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49:11–12, ESV)
What about the saint? How does the Bible describe the saint in Psalm 84?
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. (Psalm 84:1–2, ESV)
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:10–11, KJV)
Hum… well, that’s a radically different emphasis! Apparently, the sinner and the saint couldn’t be more different from each other! This sounds to me like the saint is not consumed with a legacy but rather a longing for God, for the house of God below and the courts of God above, a longing to praise God! There is no talk of wealth, no concern for credentials, and no subscription services for people to get exclusive access to hear them boast. Humble, unafraid of death, unmoved by vanity.
What a difference God makes in the human heart! What a difference in motives, perspectives, and, ultimately, the altar at which one worships! Of the saint, the Bible says this.
O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you. (Psalm 84:12, NLT)
Let us rejoice, dear saints, in our God, and may others see our good works and glorify Him!
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Psalms 43-45; 49; 84-85; 87.
Wow we sure do have a GREAT God!!!!