For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere…
Psalm 84:10
How do you describe passion? People are passionate about hunting, fishing, football, and tailgating. People are passionate about their lawns, cars, free time, and hobbies. There was a time long ago when I was passionate about painting. It was a phase I went through shortly after Lari and I were married. I built an easel that fit on our kitchen table and purchased several different size canvases and multiple tubes of paint. I then started intently watching a trying to copy Bob Ross and his mountain and lake scenery. My wife, Lari, thought I was completely looney and wondered who she married. And when I look back on those paintings that I completed, I have to be honest and say that they were pretty much horrible. I was passionate about painting for about two weeks. Then I decided to be passionate about woodworking. That didn’t turn out any better.
What about you? Is your passion for God like my passion for painting or woodworking? Is it short and unfocused? No doubt that circumstances seem to affect our desire to serve the Lord. I want to challenge you to live above your circumstances and live in the presence of the Lord. Psalm 84 helps us to see someone who lives and longs for the Lord.
The Passionate Believer Longs for the Lord (84:2)
When you long for something, you can’t wait to be in the presence of that something. The psalmist in this passage said he longed for the living God. Today, we might call this person a fanatic. No, seriously. Most people might consider this person to be out of touch with reality. Scripture says this person “faints” to be in the presence of the Lord. The Lord is always on his mind, and his response is singing in his heart. I realize your world doesn’t give you much to sing about. Sickness, quarantines, death, furloughs, job uncertainty, and unpaid bills.
Those circumstances tend to fight for your attention and cause you to focus on things other than God.
The truth is when you fall in love with someone, you long to spend time with that someone. When you fall in love with God, you long to spend time with Him. That is why a believer longs for the Lord. It is because he loves Him.
The Passionate Believer Trusts in the Lord (84:5)
Do you realize that you are blessed when you trust the Lord? When you finally realize that you can’t do life on your own and you have to rest on the Lord’s strength. I know the obvious question is how can you trust in the Lord’s strength when you can’t even see Him. Honestly, it is about perspective. When your strength fails and your hope vanishes, what is left? The Lord. And sometimes He has to allow us to get to a place where He is all we have.
Are you there yet? Have you lost hope? Is your strength nearly gone? There is hope. When you are weak, the Lord is your strength. When you lose hope, the Lord is your hope. What should encourage you is that the Lord even cares. He does. He cares infinitely about even the small concerns in your life.
The Passionate Believer Values the Lord (84:10)
Can you imagine the psalmist here? He says that he would rather spend one day in the courts of the Lord than thousands elsewhere. He is saying that one single day with the Lord is better than any thousand days in other places doing other things. Why? Because the passionate believer values the Lord. Not just for what He can do, but for what He has already done. When you value the Lord, He is your number one. He is your priority.
Your real passion is revealed by how much you long for, trust in, and value the Lord.
Maybe today, you can spend some time considering the Lord and His goodness and blessing to you in your life. It’s easy to be passionate about Someone who never fails. And the more time you spend with Him, the more passionate you will be towards Him.