And so brothers and sisters, we'll see this in a few main sub points, three of them. The first one is that the Lord's worshiper joyfully longs for his courts, in verses one and two. And the second one is the Lord's worshiper finds a home in his courts, verses three and four. And then the third one is the Lord's worshiper finds strength in his courts, in verses five through seven. So let's go back to the beginning, verses one and two. And the psalmist says, how lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. So first of all, we have to ask, why are these joyfully longing sentiments being expressed? And that is, very clearly, it's because the Lord's courts are lovely. the Lord's courts. This refers to the temple in Jerusalem, the original context, the various courts and antechambers before it came to the place of worship, before the Holy of Holies, before the high priest alone could go in once a year, but all of the courts where the people gathered to offer sacrifices, where they assembled, even a court of the Gentiles outside where they themselves could have prayer and come to know the God of Israel. The people there would come with singing and gladness, anticipating meeting with God and offering sacrifices of joy to be in His house. And the reason they came with joy is because the Lord who inhabited those courts was lovely. It was not just because the temple was magnificent. Yes, it was. Pillars before and front as Solomon built it in this context. Yes, there were pomegranate pillars. There were trees, paintings of trees along the side of the wall. It wasn't just any ornate beauty, which was there, but it was because the Lord of hosts, lovely, strong, beautiful, the commander of souls, presided over that temple and condescended to dwell there over the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant as his throne. And indeed, we see that the tabernacle and the temple itself, Hebrews 9, verses 23 and 24 says, was arranged as the pattern of the heavenly throne room in heaven. We see that. And that which depicts heaven is in and of itself inspired by the God of heaven, as commanded by Moses and the craftsmen to build this room. And so it depicted the heavenly courts, that wondrous place that Isaiah beheld. And he said, it was so wonderful. I am a man of unclean lips. He said, how could he come before God? He felt undone. And as some translations say, he was so over all that rottenness entered his bones. but God cleaned his lips and bid him come. And cleaning the lips of all those who looked by faith, coming to his temple and offering sacrifices, looking toward the Messiah who was to come, Jesus Christ. And so there they found sweetness and communion with God. Incense and prayers in response to a God who was so sweet. And there they found an invitation, Psalm 34, verse eight, that says, to taste and see that the Lord is good. The sweetness of God's loving presence is testified in many places in Scripture, not just in Psalms, but by the prophets who ate the scrolls of Scripture, and as they ate it, in one sense, in a vision, the Lord's word was sweet to their hearts. It was like honey. And so, beholding God and His goodness, worshiping Him and recalling that and being in His presence inspires longing. His courts are lovely because He is lovely. And that loveliness, like that of the beloved, inspires longing as well. Because once we've tasted the presence of the Lord God, once we've tasted His goodness, we long for more because only Jesus can satisfy. Psalm Isaiah 55 talks about Why do you spend your bread for that which does not satisfy? God encourages us to draw near to Him and delight ourselves in rich food. We see that much. There's a well of water dwelling up into eternal life. And only, as Jesus told the woman at the well, only could He satisfy, only could God satisfy. We read in Psalm 16, verse two, that the Lord is our chosen portion. and our cup, and we read that the boundary lines fall for us in pleasant places and that we have no good apart from God, the Lord of Israel. And then Psalm 42, the psalmist who remembered God's goodness when he was at a time of inner wasteland, when he missed God, he said, why are you cast down on my soul? Why are you disquieted within me? He says, hope in God, and I will yet praise him, my help and my God, because he knew that only God could satisfy him. I want us to turn to the Song of Solomon at this point. Song of Solomon, chapter three, verses one through four. And I think you'll find here a richness, because indeed, Loving our Lord as he's drawn near to us, it's like an exchange of deep, passionate love. If our hearts are where they should be. It says, on my bed at night, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him and yet found him not. I will now go about the city and rise in the streets and the squares. I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him but found him not. The watchmen found me as they went about the city. Have you seen him whom my soul loves? Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and will not, but would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house. Of course, this is on one level, it's a depiction of romantic marital love, but on another level, it is a depiction of the spiritual love between Christ and his church and of the fellowship that Christians have with the Father and love there. There are two things in play there. And so loveliness does inspire longing. We faint, as Psalm 84 says, for the courts of the Lord. David, it says also that our hearts, in Psalm 84, our hearts sing for joy to the living God. There's a joy that accompanies that longing. It's a joy that causes us to lose ourselves in the beloved as David did when he danced before the ark of the Lord with all of his might. And he was so caught up in it, he said, I will become even more undignified than this. When his wife criticized him for being so ecstatic. Now, granted, not every time can our worship be perhaps that passionate because we go through highs and lows, don't get me wrong. But there are times when we can recall that passion. There are times when we can recall that joy, and that inspires us to long and to look for more. But we joyfully long because joy is, it's a confident hope despite the circumstances because the subject of this psalm is, of course, the highs and lows of the spiritual life and finding God as the antidote in communion. But joy can be defined as my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The flesh was animated like David's, meaning his body in a sense, but joy is a confident hope in God, despite the circumstances. Despite the difficulties the psalmist will later see goes through, he had a hope in God that he could be satisfied in him. It's kind of like Paul and Silas in the New Testament, able to worship God in jail, even though their circumstances were just so miserable. They could praise him and find joy, confident hope, even though they maybe felt bad, hungry. And that brings us to our time this evening. In your pilgrimage, you may be feeling lonely. You may be feeling a palpable sense of absence from God's courts and from God's house because we're at home. We can't gather for corporate worship as we usually did. the strength in God's presence, missing that extra measure. I've talked on the telephone with many of you this week about that, that we miss that vigor. But I'm here to tell you the Lord God is a sun and a shield. Where two or three are gathered in his name, he is with us. And so as you praise him, even though the day may come when you long for his courts, as you gather, you can spur one another on towards love and good deeds. knowing that the Lord is present with you. But also, too, we do not necessarily have to go to a physical temple in today's times because we, the Lord, dwells in us who are the believers as his temple. Yes, we go to a place of gathered worship where the saints assembled are gathered. That is a commandment and God is there with his people in a special way as a means of grace. But also we have the consolation in the meantime not as strong as in the Lord's courts itself, but we have the consolation to know that the Holy Spirit is in us and with us together. And I want us to draw in mind comfort from that tonight. I want us to bear that in mind. As we fellowship together, may that produce in you a longing for the day when you can return to God's gathered corporate worship to experience the fullness of the living God in that great means of grace, where the sacraments are administered and the word is rightly preached. And as we pray together, may this song inspire in you a longing, and may it also inspire in you an awareness that the Lord's courts, that the Lord will restore a sense of loveliness, a sense of expectation, though you feel deflated, that he will be with you. And I want you to draw encouragement from that tonight. So faint and long for Him, wrestle for Him, wrestle with Him until you find your beloved. He will certainly equip you, He will encourage you, He will meet with you as you draw near to Him. And it'll do so with joy. We come now to our second main sub-point, and that is the Lord's worship for finds a home in His courts in verses three and four. And let's go now to those verses. 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. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. It says even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow would nest for herself. Some people said that, as is common in many public buildings, that sparrows and swallows found a home in the Lord's temple in the outer courts. And with all of the psalms that say, let everything that has breath praise the Lord, let all creation. Perhaps as they came into the temple, they saw these birds tweeting and God's word was inspired to say, yes, even these creatures too praise the Lord. They even find a place in God's house where people gather, and these little creatures, God gives them a home in the corners and the nooks and crannies of the temple courts. Some say that the sons of Korah, or David, who spoke to the sons of Korah, whoever wrote this, we know it's God's inspired word, but we see here that that's what they had in mind, or perhaps it was metaphorical. that even as God provides for the birds in general finding a home in the courts of creation in God's world, even as that was done, they found a home in God's world. If the birds of the air find a home, how much more will we find a home in God's courts when we come to worship Him? That's what the psalmist has in mind. And it's also pointing toward the protection of God the Father for His people. You may remember in the sermon this morning, we talked about not worrying because God provides for the birds of the air. We see some parallels there. But I want us to take a look at this. It says, even. Even the sparrow finds a home in the swallowing nest for herself. In other words, we long for God's courts because he's been faithful and good to us and loves us. And his love is so great that he even cares for creation. The lesser beings of the world, the birds who do not have a soul, who spring up today and are gone tomorrow, like the grass of a field, if God cares for these little creatures that hop around and make beautiful music, how much more does He care for us who are made in His image and who have a soul and who have the vocation that God has given to us? How much more does He care for us? That much is true. And will He not much more lavish His protection on us? And he'll do so because the God of Israel was called a king. The Lord is king. Basically, we see here that they lay their young at your altar, so Lord of hosts, my king and my God. Here we have a king who preserves his citadels from invaders. As the Westminster Confession, shorter catechism rather says, God is a king through Jesus Christ restrains both his and our enemies, subduing us to Himself. We see that also the images of a king around his table, as with King David's table, the people have food, they have a refuge, they have a cup, they have a portion. A king would protect the people on his land, the nobles in his realm. That's what the Lord did for His people Israel and what He does for us today. Safety. like he took care of the birds. And this is not just a safety, but a blessing in this safety, a blessing where it's like that of a fatherly king, a king who provides for his people, as was also seen this morning, how the patriarchs bless their sons as God blesses his people. We take a look at that here. And so they're called happy. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. The word blessed could also be translated happiness, a sort of indwelling well-being, a peace, a shalom, a wholeness. And singing God's praise, we can be happy because it also says in the Psalms that the Lord inhabits the praises of his people in Psalm 22. So singing his praise, there's a refuge there too. It's kind of like Nehemiah saying the joy of the Lord is our strength. We see that there. And we also have to remember that the Word of Christ, Colossians bids us that the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. The Word dwelling in us richly. We dwell spiritually with the Lord through His Holy Spirit and He dwells with us. And as we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, we find that joy as we cry out to the living God. And so, singing his praise, we're blessed. We are richly provided for. And so, as we look to refuge tonight, what the Lord is our refuge and strength, we also think about COVID-19 as well. So, the major dilemma that we're facing now is the loss of jobs, the loss of income, the economy being shut down. One of our chief concerns is will the Lord provide? Can we trust Him to take care of us? And the answer to this is yes, that He first provides for our spiritual well-being, chiefly and most assuredly. And also too, with the longing there, we also see a connection earlier to His caring for our flesh and for the birds of the air. There is the spiritual dimension and the physical there. God caring for us as a King. Jesus is one in whom we can come to and we are weary and heavy laden, and he will give us rest. And even if all of this, say we catch the coronavirus and die, we know we have an eternal dwelling place with God, not made by hands. We know that. We know that he is our home. And lastly, with the word even again, do you worry? If you worry, that's not what God commands us to do. And I know that we all have to take ourselves before the throne of grace to ask forgiveness for them, because the Lord God providing for his people in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, they even worried and thought that God had led them somewhere to die. We sometimes have the same worry, but we must remember the words of Job, though God slay me, yet will not trust him. We must remember that though the earth give way, though mountains quake, God can hold us fast. And I want us to remember that this evening, and that you can sing a song of praise in a valley. Have you ever had one of those nights when you don't think you can sing anything else? You're just about so depressed by your circumstances? Well, it's because you're looking to your circumstances and not looking to the Lord who is greater than your circumstances. It's because I sometimes do that. We all need to look to the Lord who is greater and whose courts are enduring, even when so much around us will fall away. And indeed, sometimes when I don't think I can sing, if I open up a psalter, I think, where did this joy come from? Where is this coming from? Well, the only logical answer is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one to whom this psalm points to as a refuge. That which we shadow in the old is clear in the new, the Lord made manifest. And now we come next to our Our third main point, sub-point, and that's the Lord's worship for fine strength in his courts, in verses five through seven. And it says, blessed are those whose strength is in you and whose hearts are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Bacchae, they make it a place of springs. The early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God and Zion. So the Lord's worship for finding strength in his courts. We see here, blessed are those whose strength is in you. Again, it's a continuation of the fatherly provision we just looked at. And whose hearts are the highways to Zion. So blessed are those whose strength is in you. Strength, that is the nature of the Lord. I prayed this evening about God causing the mountains to quake and the earth to smoke. as He appeared even before Elijah with wind and fire and storm. This is the Lord who is powerful, but who also imparts spiritual strength, enabling us to be renewed like the eagles. This is the Lord who has given us His Holy Spirit, has given us a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind, who is our very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. The war rise up against us, Psalm 27 says. Even in this, I will be confident. He's so strong, he can protect us from an army. He is called Lord Sabaoth. He is called the Lord of Hosts in this psalm, the Lord of armies, commanding his angels to guard us up, lest we cast our foot against a stone. But finding strength in pilgrimage, that's what's in the view here, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. You see, this psalm was sung about those who, a man who was going, the sons of Korah, they were going through an in-between place, an in-between place, journeying to Jerusalem, waiting to go to God's temple. And they found joy in this particular situation. Even though they didn't have their hearts longing in its fullness till they got to that temple, they knew, anticipated that they would meet with God. And so, setting their hearts on pilgrimage, they went forward. And along the journey, they went through many ups and downs, weariness, tiredness as they approached the temple, and also probably the sense of when will we get there? As children say, are we there yet, mom and dad? Those who love God have a sense in our strongest days of are we there yet? Are we to God's house? Even if your days aren't as frequent like that, you maybe can recall some of those days. Are we there yet? It's been a rough week. It's been exhausting. When can I come and meet with God? And this is a time when the founder for meditation prepared, as we recall, to prepare our hearts for worship. And it was a place through these ups and downs that they encountered a place called the Valley of Mekah, which was a low valley on the way, but yet it is also synonymous in Hebrew with the valley of weeping. The valley of Beqa is a place of sorrow. And as the people went to Jerusalem, they no doubt reflected on their sins, their time apart from God. Isaiah talks about our sins have separated us from God, a loss of intimacy and fellowship. We can mourn over our sins as we come to prepare and meet for God. We regret having offended him and we recall how good he is. We sorrow, we mourn. and we long for the day and we long for confession and restoration and refreshing from the corpse of the Lord. And so our song, our sorrow, our trials of life, aside from just sins, we often weep over those things. But in that sorrow, in that place of deepest weeping, when Elijah felt he could go no further, God suckered him in the wilderness. God took care of him. encouraged him, what are you doing here? He set food before him from the ravens. And so spiritually speaking, when we are at our lowest ebb, God shows up spiritually to our house. And particularly as we meet with him. And it says, as they go through the valley of Bacchus sorrowing, they make it a place of springs. The early rain covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength. So in your time of greatest sorrow, it says that They go, they make it a place of springs. So here you have in mind a desert on the way to Jerusalem, and yet there's springs there. And you have in your heart and mind and in your soul weariness, you're about parts dried up, burned out, but yet there's a place of springs. That's what the Lord does for us. And it's not just any springs. It says that the early rain also covers it with pools. The early rain covering it with pools. So here we have an image. of springs bubbling up from below and rain coming down from above. And it's like we're inundated. And so my brothers and sisters, if you think you are weak, if you think you cannot go on, if you're too tired to get to God's courts, if this period is so long and isolating and hard, just remember that the Lord can show up in this in-between moment of traveling to the time and we can rejoin in corporate worship. He can show up and strengthen you, and my brothers and sisters, no matter how lonely you are, you are inundated. I want us to think about that for the moment. You are inundated. Even though you may not feel it, even though you may feel like He is absent, He will show up with healing in His wings to help you. And particularly, my friends, it says you will go from strength to strength, strength to strength. In other words, It's a strength that, when you think it's about to lag, it's renewed, it rises up again. It just keeps going and going and going. That's what the Lord will do for you, as he did for Paul, who said, whenever I am weak, then I am strong. He said that about the Lord Jesus, when he had that thorn in his flesh. Whenever I am weak, then I am strong. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. See, we in and of ourselves are nothing, but the Lord gives us a fullness, and in Him we cry out with joy and find our satisfaction and renewal. And, of course, this points to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All of this points to Him, and in Him we find. We find a longing, we find refuge, and we find a strength for our souls. That is who the Lord is, Jesus Christ, whom the Old Testament passage here ultimately points to. And so I have to ask you a few things now. Do you know the Lord who is so lovely and amiable that you know what this means to miss the courts of the Lord? Have you tasted and seen that He is good? Have you found Him lovely, lovelier than anything else in this world? If you haven't, tonight is your night. Tonight is the invitation. Today is the day of salvation. To embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, to know that you're empty, that any earthly comforts No matter what you may be engaging in that cannot satisfy food, drink, illicit sex, anything else, these things cannot satisfy the gnawing when you're alone, the gnawings of conscience. Only the Lord Jesus can give you rest. All of these things are but nothing compared to him. And yes, even earthly things in and of themselves, your work may have fallen away and you're wondering what to do with yourself. The Lord Jesus Christ can be your meaning. He is your satisfaction. And so turn from these earthly things, from finding undue comfort in these earthly things, and instead turn to one who has abundant courts for you, the God of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who can fill your soul and be your salvation and your song. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to Him and find a home and find an endurance when you think you cannot keep going. He will bring you through this life as a shelter and a shield, and my friends, trusting in Him by faith, He will cleanse your sins and your idols away and make you a new person, give you a new heart that does cry out to God, and you will know strength to strength, joy and sorrow, relief and redemption, and salvation. Let's praise the Lord Jesus Christ tonight as we close in prayer. Amen. Lord God, we thank you for our Lord. We thank you for Jesus. Oh God, that he has given our souls satisfaction, a refuge, and he is our longing. Lord, help us to long for him this week, to find his beauty, to behold him in his courts, and to know that we are inundated by his love. Oh Lord, if there's anyone here who does not know you, may he come to you, knowing, oh Lord, that you will give him rest. that you will be his satisfaction. We pray these things tonight in Jesus name. Amen. Our closing psalm is Psalm 84 C. So if you will stand