It seems to me that Davis jumps around a bit in this Psalm but for me verses 1-4 and 10-12 seem to line up to make his point.
In verses 1 – 4, it seems funny that David would start off noticing a bird that has built its nest on or in the temple. David seems almost jealous of the bird since the bird gets to spend all its time in the “courts of the temple”. He seems to think that these birds are “blessed” that they can be praising God 24 / 7 with their chirping or whatever else they do. These birds get to “live with God” almost literally since they live in the temple.
In verses 10 – 12, David says (in a much more poetic way than this) that one day spent in God’s courts or temple is better than a thousand days spent “outside” the temple. Or, in other words, he would rather spend one day living with God than a whole lifetime living without Him.
I think that those of us who have chosen Jesus as our king and have chosen to follow Him are pretty lucky. We are like the birds in the psalm that get to spend all day living with the king of our lives and the king of the universe. We have the opportunity and purpose of serving Him and learning how to follow him more closely everyday. Everything we do can be an expression of worship to Him 24 / 7 and He sees it all!
Then I think of my friends who have not chosen Jesus to be their personal king and savior. They chose to live their lives “outside” so to speak. They focus on all the cares of the world and are left to worship and chase after so many worthless and temporary things.
1 comment:
Awesome thoughts, Troy... this psalm always blows me away and reminds me that a life serving God - even with all the heartache and suffering and pain - is SO MUCH BETTER than going through life without Him and "succeeding" according to the world's standards. I'd rather be a servant in His house than a successful, wealthy CEO of corporate America... or the greatest athlete to ever live... or whatever else you want to fill in the blank with. HE makes life worthwhile. HE makes our joy complete. HE is the One who offers us peace.
How blessed is he who follows God.
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