Psalm 84:12 - How Blessed Are Those Who Trust In God!
Psa. 84:12; How Blessed Are Those Who Trust In God!
Psa 84:12 (KJV) O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that
trusteth in thee.
Psalm 84:12 (AMP) O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate,
to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing
on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that
without fear or misgiving]!
Psalm 84:12 (CWR) O Lord of hosts, how happy are those who
trust in you!
CONTEXT
Pilgrimage song (84:1-12)
My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord (84:1-12)
The Joy of Worship in the Temple
The Delight of Fellowship with God
CROSS REFERENCES
Psalm 62:8 (KJV) Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out
your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Isaiah 30:18 (KJV) And therefore will the Lord wait, that he
may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he
may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed
are all they that wait for him.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (KJV) Blessed is the man that trusteth in the
Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by
the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall
not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from
yielding fruit.
COMMENTARY / APPLICATION
The third and last blessing of the psalm falls upon those who,
denied the privilege of dwelling in the courts of God, or making
pilgrimage to the sanctuary, nevertheless worship God with the eye of
faith, in spirit and in truth, putting complete trust in Him. This
blessing is the ultimate experience of the one who trusts in God for
personal and present salvation. [SDA Commentary]
Hidden Blessings (Ps. 84)
Imagine yourself walking across a burning desert. You struggle
through the soft sand, barely able to lift your feet on the shifting
surface. The sun beats down on your head, burns through your shirt,
drains your body of moisture so that your mouth feels like cotton and
your tongue swells.
In a way, Psalms 78-83 describe Asaph's journey through a
desert. God's people were weak and struggling. They were victims of
enemies that had drained them and their land of every resource, and left
them destitute and dying. It's no wonder that Asaph cried out again
and again, appealing to God to restore the blessings once enjoyed by
his people.
Now, suddenly, with Psalm 84, another psalmist reminds us that
no matter how desperate our situation, any desert God's people may
find themselves in has an oasis. In Old Testament times, God's people
directed their feet upward. Approaching Jerusalem, buoyed up by the
thought that they would soon appear before God in Zion, His people went
"from strength to strength."
And even today we need only to close our eyes to find ourselves
in the very presence of the LORD. When our soul yearns for God, we
can simply turn our thoughts to Him, and we are there, with Him.
Our days may be filled with troubles, and our hearts may ache,
yet we can know the blessedness of those "whose strength is in You,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage." As pressures mount we can
visit the LORD in our hearts, and be reminded that "no good thing does
He withhold from those whose walk is blameless."
The peace, the quiet confidence, the strength we need, are all
there, available in our desert places. As we draw on them we cry with
the psalmist, "O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in
You." The more difficult our days, the more we need to draw strength
from God, and experience the blessing that is ours now through trust.
[The 365-Day Devotional Commentary mod]
Several men went on a mission trip to Haiti where they met a
nineteen-year-old boy who loved Christ deeply. He impressed them so profoundly
that they invited him to visit the United States.
Upon arrival a whole new world opened up before this young
Haitian's eyes. He had never slept between sheets, never had three meals
on the same day, never used indoor plumbing, and never tasted
McDonald's.
While traveling the U.S., this godly young man made many new
friends. At the end of a six-week-long visit, his sponsors hosted a
farewell dinner in his honor. After dinner several members of me group
offered warm parting remarks. Then they asked the young Haitian if he
would like to say anything.
"Yes," he said as he rose, "I would. I want to thank you so much
for inviting me here. I have really enjoyed this time in the United
States. But I am also very glad to be going home. You have so much in
America, that I'm beginning to lose my grip on my day-to-day dependency
on Christ."
Do you have "so much" that you find it hard to keep a grip on
your day-to-day dependency on Christ? Or worse, have you lost your
grip?
When we don't need to depend on Christ, we will not.... Our
natural tendency is to depend on self, not Christ. Depending on Christ
is an act of the will by faith, not the natural disposition of our
heart..... Have your abundant resources kept you from depending on God?
Have you lost your grip on God's help? Focus on a special need that
only God can meet. Seek his help today. (from Walking with Christ in
the Details of Life by Patrick Morley) [Inspirational SB re Jos.23]
No other joy can be compared with the joy of His presence.
Prayer seeks fellowship with God and provides that fellowship even when
we are far removed from the house of worship. [Disciple SB]
After being battered all day by a hot south wind, the squash
vines and tomato plants in our garden drooped in the fading light.
They practically cried out for water from the sprinkler. But the
trees in the yard were green and flourishing, though they required far
more water than the squash and tomatoes. The deep roots of the trees
found a hidden source of water far below the surface where the garden
plants struggled. Like those trees, people who trust in the Lord are
not at the mercy of surface circumstances because we have deep roots
to our eternal Source. [Quiet Time SB re Jer.17:7]
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