IPC Messenger 2017 October 2017 | Page 6

Family Corner OCTOBER 2017 Years 1-10 Psalm 84 Book of Psalms, 1871 1 2 O Lord of hosts, how lovely The place where thou dost dwell Thy tabernacles holy In pleasantness excel. My soul is longing, fainting, Jehovah’s courts to see; My heart and flesh are crying, O living God, for Thee. 3 Behold the sparrow findeth A house in which to rest, The swallow has discovered Where she may build her nest; And where, securely sheltered, Her young she forth may bring; So Lord of hosts, Thy altars I seek, my God, my King. 4 5 6 Blest who Thy house inhabit, They ever give Thee praise; Blest all whom Thou dost strengthen, Who love the sacred ways. Who pass through Baca’s valley, And make in it a well; There rains in shower abundant The pools with water fill. 7 8 9 So they from strength unwearied Go forward unto strength, Till they appear in Zion, Before the Lord at length. O hear, Lord God of Jacob, To me an answer yield; The face of Thy Anointed, Behold, O God, our Shield. 10 One day excels a thousand, If spent Thy courts within; I’ll choose a threshold rather Than dwell in tents of sin. 11 Our sun and shield Jehovah, Will grace and glory give; No good will He deny them That uprightly do live. 12 O God of hosts, Jehovah, How blest is every one Who confidence reposes On Thee, O Lord, alone. 1 O Lord of hosts, how lovely The place where thou dost dwell. Thy tabernacles holy In pleasantness excel. TUNE: LLANGLOFFAN 76.76.D (“O Lord of Hosts, How Lovely”) Welsh Melody Years 11-15 Psalm 142 1 2 Unto the Lord my voice I raise, Unto the Lord my voice now prays; Before His face my grief I show And tell my trouble and my woe. 3 When gloom and sorrow compass me, The path I take is known to Thee, So are the snares that foes do lay To snare Thy servant in his way. 4 All unprotected, lo, I stand, No friendly guar-dian at my hand, No place of flight or refuge near, And none to whom my soul is dear. 5 O Lord, my Saviour, now to Thee, Without a hope beside, I flee, To Thee, my shelter from the strife, My portion in the land of life. 6 Be Thou my help when troubles throng, For I am weak and foes are strong; 7 My captive soul from prison bring, And thanks to Thy name I will sing. The righteous then shall gather round To share the blessing I have found, Their hearts made glad because they see How richly Thou hast dealt with me. Psalm 84 “This sacred ode is one of the choicest of the collection,” says Spurgeon. “It has a mild radiance about it,” he continues, “entitling it to be called The Pearl of the Psalms.” As in Psalms 27, 42, and 43, the Psalmist longs for the presence of God in the worship of God, from which he is temporarily excluded. God’s “dwelling places” are “lovely” (v 1), he longs for God’s “courts,” he sings for joy to the “living God” (v 3). Indeed, nothing can compare with the delight of God’s presence amongst His worshiping people. For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (v 10) “He had a holy lovesickness upon him,” says Spurgeon. For him, “God’s worst is better than the devil’s best.” Psalm 142 As St. Francis of Assisi lay dying, his brethren sang Psalms to him. Repeatedly he returned to Psalm 142 as one for which he had a special fondness. Written, according to the superscription, when David was “in a cave,” hiding no doubt from Saul (e.g. 1 Sam 22:1; 24:3), it teaches us “how to order our prayer in times of distress,” says Spurgeon. “The gloom of the cave is over this Psalm,” he continues, “and yet as if standing at the mouth of it the prophet-poet sees a bright light a little beyond.” TUNE: ROCKINGHAM OLD LM (145C) Based on the Book of Psalms, 1871 and The Psalter, 1912; altered 1994 PAGE 6 OCTOBER 2017 IPC