Psalm Meditation 930
Third Sunday of Easter
April 15, 2018

Psalm 84
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my 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 Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah
5 Happy 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; the God of gods will be seen 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 live in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the LORD withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
(NRSV)

I don’t recall ever have been in an ugly place of worship. I have been in buildings that are plain and ones that are ornate. I have been in buildings and rooms that did not suit my fancy as well as ones that filled me with a sense of awe and wonder. I do not remember being in a place of worship that was not the best the particular worship community had to offer. There is something compelling and important about worship space that draws us to want to offer our very best to the one we worship in that space. When it is the kind of space that attracts non-human creatures, it is a good space.

The Temple was mostly open courts and spaces surrounded by walls making it very easy for birds especially to make nests in the Temple confines. Many of the big box hardware stores have a few birds who have taken up residence in the building. There are opportunities to sneak in and probably enough stray material to build a nest. I am sure there are conflicts between birds and humans from time to time, however both groups are able to co-exist peacefully inside the walls of the building. The psalmist makes a point of mentioning that even birds are comfortable in the presence of God.

There is something comfortable and comforting about being in worship space. They have been designed to speak to our hearts with a sense of the mix of awe and majesty, and the presence and accessibility of God within the space. The important part of every worship space is the ability to feel the presence of God in the space and in the community that gathers into that space. The psalmist reminds us that being in the presence of God is a wonderful place to be. “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 live in the tents of wickedness.”

April 9, 2018
LCM