"Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For The LORD God is a sun and shield: The LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." [Psa 84:9-11]
Do you believe that The LORD’s presence is the best place to be? Do you believe that it is an all-encompassing source for hope, strength, life, joy, and peace? David writes,
“One thing have I desired of The LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of The LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of The LORD, and to look at Him in His temple.” [Psa 27:4]
And again, “thy lovingkindness is better than life.” [Psa 63:3] David saw The LORD’s lovingkindess as better than life; His presence and light was the thing to which David continually, fervently sought, that he might see The LORD’s beauty and have sweet fellowship with Him. Again, it is written in the Psalms, “how lovely are thy tabernacles, O LORD of Hosts!” [Psa 84:1] Over and over, God’s Word reminds us of the beauty and pleasure of God’s presence. It is a place to which we ought to seek, and which affords us an infinite supply of grace and abundant satisfaction.
“They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light we shall see light.” [Psa 36:8-9]
In our passage for today, it is written, “a day in thy courts is better than a thousand [elsewhere].” [Psa 84:10] There is no better place to be than in God’s presence. His presence, His courts – to be there, abiding in the light of His countenance; to be there sitting at His feet and hearing His word; to be there, still before Him in prayer; yes, to be in The Lord’s presence in whatever form of worship it takes – it is a thousand times better and a thousand times more profitable than any other place.
This is a truth which magnifies the blessedness and beauty of The Lord Jesus. Is there any person or place which you might say the same for? Jesus’ presence is such that to the believer, it is overwhelmingly attractive. Jesus’ character makes it so. His pleasantness, His meekness, His beauty, His love: there is not a single quality He holds that pushes us away, but rather they all draw us near, being more precious to us than any other person or place. The reason that His courts are desirable is because of who He is. And let us notice another thing as well: just one day in them; yes, just one day spent in The Lord’s presence, is better than a thousand days anywhere else. Think of the best place or the best person that you can fathom. Just one day in Jesus’ presence, which we can truly experience even now on this earth, is better than one thousand days in that other place or with that other person.
Do we see The Lord Jesus’ presence as this? Do we see study time in His word or prayer time at His feet like this? If we do not, perhaps it is because we do not fully appreciate who Jesus is or what He is like. But let us allow this truth found in our passage for today, motivate us to spend time with The Lord. I think often the enemy and flesh tempt us when we do not have much time, saying, “oh, my good man, you only have but five minutes: it is not enough to enjoy nor receive from The Lord.” But does not our verse encourage us to the contrary? For if a day with The Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere, then extrapolating the logic, we might say that just five minutes spent in God’s word is better than five thousand minutes spent in some other place or doing some other thing or thinking about some other subject. May we ever seek out The Lord’s presence, even if we have just minutes. And may we not become discouraged if we have not much time. For even if today we can only seem to get five minutes with Christ, it is productive still. For that five minutes spent in His presence is better than five thousand minutes spent occupied elsewhere.
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