Psalm – Psalm 84-86

Today we are reading 2 psalms by the sons of Korah and 1 by David.

Bible Passage: Psalms 84 to 86

Psalm 84 is a beautiful psalm that is filled with adorations and praises to God. The words chosen by the psalmist can really hug our hearts with great longing for the house of God and His presence. Do you feel that too?

My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Ps. 84:2

“My soul”, “My heart” and “My flesh”, this kind adoration involves our whole being. Indeed we must love our Lord God with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our mind and with all our strength. For those of us who have been a Christian for a long time, have we such longing for God?

Well maybe.

Were those times when we really longed for God were times when we were in dire situations? Or times when we need something very important in our lives, we try to grab hold of Jesus and asked earnestly that our prayers and petitions be granted?

For us today, it is good that we know how to cling on to God when we are in dire situations or in earnest needs, but let us not only long for God in such situations. We need to thirst for His words and long to draw closer to Him everyday, for we are but pilgrims and sojourners on this earth; we need His constant guidance and strength.

Just like this psalm, a Bible commentary wrote that though David’s name was not mentioned, they have reasons to believe that David was the penman of this psalm. It could be written by David when he was being forced to leave the city by the rebellion of Absalom, and due to his hiding from Absalom, he missed the worship at the house of the Lord, and he yearned earnestly for God and His presence (Ps 84: 8-9).

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.

Ps. 84:5 – 6

Indeed our life as Christians is like a pilgrimage from earth to our heavenly Kingdom, and this journey will be a hard and tedious one for sure. But God is willing to strengthen us if we allow Him to do so. Our constant communion with and reliance on Him will assure us of the blessings that we require to reach the destination of our hope, though the physical path may still be as rugged and dry as the Valley of Baca, God’s mercy and strength will pour upon us like springs and rain that nourish our souls with abundance.

Psalm 85 is another psalm by the sons of Korah. It is a prayer that the Lord will restore favor to the land.

This psalm admonishes us on several important things in our Christian lives, firstly is to always remember the greatness of our God (Ps 85: 1 – 3), secondly to repent and ask for His mercy when we fall (Ps 85: 4 – 7), thirdly to realize obedience and to be obedient to God (Ps 85: 8 – 9), and last but not least, to abide by His word and to exercise righteousness (Ps 85: 10 – 13).

This psalm could be a national prayer of the Jews who had return from their land of captivity. God punished them for their disobedience, but kept His promise that He would bring them back to their promised land.

It is true that the history of the Israelite nation gives us a very good reflection on our own lives as Christians in these last days . So it is no wonder Paul said,

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

1 Cor 10:11

Psalm 86 is a psalm of David. Common to the psalms written by David, this is another one that has no lack in exaltations and praises to God.

There are 2 portions in this psalm that especially caught my attention:

Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.

Ps. 86:6 – 7

David was very confident that God would answer his prayer, this reminds me of how our Lord Jesus prayed to God in John 11: 41 – 42, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me…” I think not many of us can pray in such manner, but we have to learn to be steadfast in our faith, and not wavering when we pray to God, especially prayer of petition for certain matters. Remember how elder James admonishes us concerning this?

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

For let not that man supposes that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Jam 1: 6 -8

As long as we do not ask for selfish gains, or in anyways that pertain to fulfilling our fleshly desires, we should have confidence that God would answer our prayers according to His will. This is something all of us must learn, be assured that God will listen to our prayers, and that we must accept the will of God in whatever ways He deemed best for us.

The next portion in this psalm that caught my attention is,

Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your true
Unite my heart to fear Your name.

Ps. 86:11

David is ever thirsting for the word of God. He was a wise king indeed, for he knew Who his true King was and he was prepared to be humble and learn, and to walk in His truth. He also asked that God unites his heart to fear the Name of God.

The word “unite” is very interestingly used over here; because at first when I came across this word, I was not sure what does the psalmist mean by “unite my heart”, until I consulted the NIV, and then I realized it means to “have an undivided heart”.

Yes we need to even unite our hearts’ trust in the Lord, for there may be doubts hidden in some parts of our hearts, and there may be also murmurings against God hidden in another corner. But I believe there is a part in our hearts that wants to love the Lord more daily. Our hearts can be divided due to doubts arising from troubles that we encounter in our daily lives, doubts about the mercy and care of God. But from these words of David, we can understand that when we constantly meditate on the word of God, be obedient to the truth, and there shall be no threat of doubts that can shake or cause our hearts to be divided towards our Sovereign God!

This constant walk with God can eliminate hidden doubts and complaints, and unite the whole heart to focus on God’s faithful and steadfast love towards us. The Name of God is Holy, is Power, and is our Salvation, so never lose focus to fear His Name in our walk in this journey to heaven.

There are still many truths and teachings worthy of our reflection and meditation within these 3 psalms that we are reading today. So beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, I do hope that you can also share with us what and how God has ministered unto you through these psalms today. Share with us by writing in the “Leave a Reply” section at the end of this page.

The following youtube music video “Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem” sings of the longing for God to bring peace upon Jerusalem and the children of Israel. In this song, you may sense the similar prayer attitude of the psalmist in these few psalms we have read today regarding the petition for God’s mercy and protection.