For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)
In verses leading up to this statement, the psalmist considered that those privileged to dwell in God’s House were the most blessed of people. It is noteworthy that the same Hebrew word translated as “blessed” is, in some translations, rendered as “happy.” This sentiment, when coupled with the verse above, reveals that whatever our station in life, true happiness will be realized only when we enter into His Presence. To be doorkeeper in God’s House — i.e. to hold a position not recognized as prestigious — brings more happiness than to be highly honored among the wicked. To spend only one day in the courts of the Lord — which is not actually in the House itself — is preferred to spending a thousand days spent elsewhere.
There are many people in this world who spend their lifetime trying to be noticed by others to gain recognition and prestige; others dedicate their energies to attaining wealth and power. The world would have us believe that these pursuits lead to happiness, but it seems to me that these are some of the most miserable people in existence. Their families are a wreck; someone else is always trying to find a way to get their money and they likely find themselves surrounded by the same kind of people as they have been. What kind of a life is that? It doesn’t sound like a life of happiness and peace.
Someone once said that within each of us there is a God-sized space — a vacuum that can only be filled with the Presence of our Creator. People try to fill it with so many things but none really fit because all of us were created to serve the Almighty; anything short of that falls short. We may find contentment in our existence without Him but we will never know true happiness and what it means to live until that internal space is filled with His Presence. And so we will close with a statement made by David in another psalm — a statement that summarized his life’s aspirations: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever” (Psalm 23:6).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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