1 How pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints,
To meet the assemblies of thy saints.
2 Blest are the saints who sit on high,
Around thy throne above the sky;
Thy brightest glories shine above,
And all their work is praise and love.
3 Blest are the souls who find a place
Within the temple of thy grace;
There they behold thy gentler rays,
And seek thy face and learn thy praise.
4 Blest are the men whose hearts are set
To find the way to Zion’s gate;
God is their strength, and through the road,
They lean upon their helper God.
5 Cheerful they walk with growing strength,
Till all shall meet in heaven at length,
Till all before thy face appear,
And join in nobler worship there.
(https://hymnary.org/text/how_pleasant_how_divinely_fair )
As we think of Isaac watts—the writer of this and many hymns, we see that some of these were actually written in response to the Psalms themselves. On a side note, it would be an interesting exercise personally, to work through the psalms and write your own poems in response to what you are reading.
So as we consider this hymn, we must consult the inspiration which was Psalm 84.
David writes:
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 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. (Psa 84:1-3 ESV)
In the very first verse Watts declares:
1 How pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints,
To meet the assemblies of thy saints.
My Soul Longs, yes, faints—Psalm 84:2, ESV
Watts says “with long desire, my spirit faints to meet assemblies of thy saints.”
The Hebrew word used there is “kalah” and Strongs translates it twce in the Hebrew, “fainteth”.
The KJV says “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth (H36150 for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”
It is interesting that the words is chosen as “faint”.
Do you faint for the courts of the Lord? Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that to faint is “to lose courage or spirit”.
If you miss a week of church, do you miss it?
One of the subtitles for this hymn I found was “the pleasure of public worship.”
Do you find pleasure in public worship? Do you long to gather with others to praise the Lord?
David then says:
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah (Psa 84:4-12, ESV)
To which Watts responds:
4 “Blest are the men whose hearts are set
To find the way to Zion’s gate;
God is their strength, and through the road,
They lean upon their helper God.”
Many times in the week, we long for Friday. “Thank Goodness it’s Friday” we say.
But, should we look forward all the more to Sunday?
Fridays are good—don’t get me wrong. It is nice to have a day where we are able to rest from the week and reset for the next.
But, wait…isn’t that called the Sabbath?
And on Sunday, we worship together! We praise God together. 4″Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!” (Ps 84:4, ESV)
Is Sunday about football in your house or is it about worship?
Do we take for granted the opportunity to worship the Lord?
David concludes his psalm with:
9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! (Psa 84:9-12 ESV)
And similarly Watts concludes his with:
5 “Cheerful they walk with growing strength,
Till all shall meet in heaven at length,
Till all before thy face appear,
And join in nobler worship there.”
Throughout Psalm 84 and this hymn by Isaac Watts we see the blessing that comes from worshiping with God people. “Cheerfully they walk with growing strength.”
There is strength in numbers and as we push toward the next goal we see that we are all working to see that nobler time of worship when we see Jesus!
But God gives us a promise through this Psalm. Verse 111-12 says:
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! (Psa 84:11-12 ESV)
The worshiper is not only blessed by God by being surrounded by other worshipers, but the Lord bestows favor and honor—he doesn’t withhold no good thing. We are truly blessed when we worship Him!
There is a modern Christian song by Matt Redman that was very popular several years ago that said
“Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere.”
There are a thousand other places that you could be on Sunday Morning—but it is better to be surround by other believers worshiping God.
—–
This devotion was written in September 1998.