Psalm 84: A Psalm of Trust.

How dear to me is your dwelling,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and longing

for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest

where she may lay her young,
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King and my God.
Happy are they who dwell in your house!
They will always be praising you.

Happy are the people whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on the pilgrim way.

As they go through the balsam valley
will find it a place of springs;
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

They will climb from height to height,
and the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!

Behold our defender, O God;
and look upon the face of your anointed.

For one day in your courts

is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather stand at the threshold

    of the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is both sun and shield;
bestowing grace and glory;
    no good thing will the Lord withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
    happy are they who put their trust in you.

Meditation Rev. Pat Raube

This psalm has been on my mind lately for a lot of reasons, but chief among them? I’m thinking of the fact that we are now making tangible, time-sensitive plans to re-open our sanctuary for worship. I am so excited that we have finally reached the point where this is even a possibility! “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!” Especially the sanctuary dearest to my heart on East Main Street in Endicott, NY.

When I think if this psalm, I hear music. I know many people hear Brahms when they think of it, remembering that gorgeous setting from his Requiem. But I think of the music of Ralph Vaughn Williams, accompanied by organ, and I think of standing, in the rain, soaking wet, on the Boston Common.

I was an 18-year-old sophomore in the fall of 1979 when the Pope came to town, and I was invited to be in the choir. We rehearsed for weeks, and the day of the big even came, and I was one of several thousand people standing in the rain for hours. We sang that gorgeous setting with raindrops dripping off our noses.

And—how funny that a psalm about a sanctuary was chosen for outdoor worship! But not really, not at all. The psalm sings of the sanctuary of the Temple, to be sure. But more than that, this psalm of trust sings of the sanctuary that is God’s love. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young… not only because the sanctuary is capacious and open to the air, but because God’s love is like that, providing for all God’s creatures, and all God’s creation.

God is with those who travel the pilgrim way, who tuck themselves in at night in wind-beaten tents. Their hearts are set on God, whose great, beating heart was set on them first.

God is with the one who would polish the doorknobs of the sanctuary just to stay near, rather than accept the offer of a luxury bed for the night.

God is with the sparrow, bravely fluffing out her feathers to scare the predators away from her babies.

God is with the ones who make their way through a desolate valley only to find springs of water and refreshment.

God is with the students singing their hearts out in the rain, because God loves students, and singing, and rain.

God’s love is the sanctuary that is with each one, in each place, because God’s love is the sanctuary that encompasses everything.

Thanks be to God. Amen.