PSALM 84. GRACE AND GLORY. "The Lord will give Grace and Glory!" sings the psalmist."And no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." There is a wonderful verse in this psalm which looks forward to Messiah (Vs.9.) "Behold O God our shield, and look upon the face of Thine anointed." It is wonderful to contemplate that one day we shall see our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Bible says that when we see Him, we shall be like Him. That will be the Day when God will give the fulfilment of the promise that "He will give Grace and Glory." Today, we have grace for grace, and we go from glory to glory. But when we see Him face to face, it will be Glory untold. I remember, as a young man, hearing a preacher say, "It will take us all Eternity to tell what the Lord has done for us." At the time I thought that was an exaggeration, but growing older I realise all that God has done for us. If everyone has a turn in telling it - it will take an age. But when Christ comes, His Glory will be seen in an instant and we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Note the comparison in the tenth verse of this psalm, between the House of the Lord and the tents of wickedness. "I had rather be a door keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." David was destined to be king, but here is a psalm for the Son of Kosch. It is written to the chief musician and the expression is - I'd rather take the lowest place in the House of God than to live for ever in the tents of wickedness. All believers must remember that we are a thousand times better off in the House of God than we would ever be anywhere else in the world. The glitter and glamour of this world is very attractive. people say, "Oh, I would rather have a good time." As a young pastor in the city of Hull I visited one disgruntled old lady. "Look", she said to me, "I'd be better off in a Bar than I am in that church of yours. There is ore fellowship in a bar." At the time I knew of no answer I could give her. In later years it became very clear to me. I had an uncle who was a drunkard, and the custom was, when you've spent your money, they put you out. Before he died he said to me, "I have been a lonely man. When you have nothing left, they put you out." There is a great difference between fellowship and companionship. Fellowship is belonging to the family. We are a thousand times better off in the Hose of the Lord than anywhere else this old world can offer. Why is this?. First it is because the Lord WILL GIVE GRACE. Vss.1-4. "How lovely are Thy tabernacles O Lord of hosts! May soul longeth, yea, fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God. Yea the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house;they will be always praising Thee. Selah." People confuse Grace with Patience. There is a big difference between them. You can meet people who are very patient but are also very ungracious. They are patient in themselves but get very impatient with other people. Grace is something far more than patience. There are three things embodied in this psalm which will help us:- 1/ The Psalmist says that HIS TABERNACLES are AMIABLE. Amiable is used in the sense that it is something we long for - something good - something we desire very much - like a deep friendship. There should be within us a deep desire to meet with the Lord God in His House. It is the place where we meet His Amiability. Going to His House is a means of Grace. It is a place of fellowship. We need Grace to understand each other. For every ONE who pretends that he gets nothing from worship, there are a thousand who declare they are blessed in the House of God. The Lord will give Grace. This is the place of fellowship because we meet with people of like mind and similar purpose. We need grace to understand each other. By Grace we understand the things of God. Grace is an essential element in the House of God. 2/ Our every instinct is for the living God, "My heart and flesh crieth out for the Living God.". God becomes a reality and a necessity to the believer. Born again people crave for God. there is a sense in which it can be said that we are addicted to God. We cannot do without Him. The psalmist is describing a craving within him. Some weeks ago a gentleman said to me, "Can't you hold a single conversation without talking about God?. It seems that you must bring Him into every subject you discuss." Although the comment was intended to be sarcastic, I realised upon consideration that what the dear man said was true. Unconsciously, I was introducing God into every conversation. The obvious reason is that God IS always there, the silent listener to every conversation. God is there - why ignore Him?. We seldom appreciate the depths of the longings for God of the human heart. The psalmist uses the word "longeth" as a soul cry for God. To this, man alone has access. Other creatures are on a different level. To us - God gives Grace. 3/ God will give GLORY. "Happy are they who dwell in Thy House. They continue to praise Thee." I have noticed, after 56 years in the ministry, that some dear folk have an attitude in the House of God. When Sunday morning service is over, they shake hands and say goodbye with, "See you again next Sunday. "It seems as though they are saying, "Well! That's it! I've done my bit for this week. I'll come again next week and be a Christian for another hour and a half." How sad. The happy ones ABIDE in the presence of God. I am aware that we cannot be at Church every day and all day. But we can take God home with us. The psalmist inks it this way, "Happy are they who dwell in Thy House - they continue to praise Thee." The habit of meeting God goes on day by day. There is a second and powerful element in this psalm. God not only gives us Grace, He gives us GLORY too. In verse nine the psalmist sings, "Behold O God our Shield." In ancient days your shield was your glory. You emblazoned on your shield an emblem. That emblem was your glory. Our shield is CHRIST the LORD.. He is our glory for in Him we triumph. We pray, "Lord God, look upon the face of Thine Annointed". We are accepted in Christ and triumph in Him. THE LORD WILL GIVE GLORY. Our triumphs alas, are not continuous.. Our triumphs are most often in the valleys, the valley of BACA is an experience of life - an arid experience of life. But in the Name of our Lord the arid valleys of life turn into wells of Living Water. The God who can bring water out of the Rock, can bring satisfaction into every life. To God be the Glory, great things He hath done - that is emblazoned on our shield. We Glory also in the Presence of our God. In the seventh verse of the Psalm, the psalmist sings, "They go on from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." When we come before God we should really enjoy the presence of God, and glory in it. A friend of mine owned a very large dog - a Pyrenees Mountain dog. You could put a saddle on it. We went for a walk with that dog one day and came to a river. My friend let the dog off the leash and said to me, "Watch this!" the dog raced toward the river bank, and with one great leap landed in the middle of the river. What followed was a sight to see. He swam; he dived under, he rolled over. He pretended to chase fish - he performed every trick in the book. My friend turned to me saying, "He glories in the water," There are times when we come into the presence of God and say a, little prayer, and that is that. We should Glory in His Presence, making each prayer an audience with the Great Potentate, Lord of Heaven and Earth, of Time and Eternity. One day we shall be changed from Glory unto Glory. The Psalm ends, "O Lord of Hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee." The believer is a happy person. He trusts an unfailing God. The Glory of the believer is twofold - 1/ He glorifies God by his testimony before men. 2/ He glorifies God by his expression of faith in praying to God. Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/psalms: ps-084.txt .