November 16, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, November 16.
Charles Spurgeon, the 19th century English preacher considered to be one of the greatest pulpiteers in history, had this to say about the greatest psalms - "If Psalm 23 is the most popular, and Psalm 103 (Bless the Lord O my soul) the most joyful, and Psalm 51 (Create in me a clean heart) the most plaintive, then Psalm 84 . . . is the 'Pearl of the Psalms' ".
Psalm 84 begins famously - How lovely is Thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts. Half-way through, the psalmist writes - For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.
As a young minister, beginning to serve in my second church, I met a man who was introduced as "The Key Master". This rather exotic title conjured up images of a character in some fantasy story. As it turned out, He was just the guy who opened and closed the church on Sundays. He was . . . the doorkeeper. Well, at First Baptist Center I'm the one who opens the church. I'm the doorkeeper. I AM THE KEY MASTER!
It's a tiny part of my job and it agrees with me. I've always chosen to get to church early on Sunday mornings - usually before 6am. I enjoy walking through the empty buildings, thinking about what will soon occur there. I walk through the Sunday School classrooms and imagine those who will gather there around the Word. I walk through the nursery and thank God for the young parents who are "training up their children in the way that they should go." I walk through the Sanctuary and, in the silence, anticipate Matthew 18:20 - "where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them".
How lovely is Thy dwelling place. Psalm 84 is just a dozen short verses. Take a moment this morning to revisit the "Pearl of the Psalms."
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
