Better Is One Day
Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere
What would make the writer of Psalm 84 say, "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked," ?
Another version says, "I'd rather be a gate keeper." Isn't a gate keeper rather a boring job? What does it involve? Opening and closing gates? That sounds pretty likely. In the desert, with probably no chair, no bathroom breaks, no lunch break, but continuous opening, and closing the gate all day every day? Why is that occupation more desirable?
Because of who the Psalmist was working for. Just being inside the house of God was enough to make any other, more comfortable, more desirable job seem worthless. What is our equivalent of a gatekeeper's job? I'll go with more of the monotony of the gatekeeper, than with the actual keeper part itself. A business man, who sits at a desk punching numbers into a computer all day? A housewife whose list of household chores like laundry, cooking, cleaning and running errands never runs out? Raising and educating children day in and day out? How about for a teen? Doing math lessons day after day, basically just learning the same way day after day for eighteen years then college, then grad school- does the education never end? The phrase, "familiarity breeds contempt," probably applies to a lot of high schoolers who are ready to be done with school. Would these kind of positions in life qualify as a "gatekeeper in the house of my God?"
Well, yes, if its done in the right attitude. A gatekeeper can be a glorious job with the right perspective. In Psalm 16, David writes, "LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. " If God chooses the job as a gatekeeper, isn't that a good thing because He himself chose it? Doesn't he himself choose every single circumstance for us, for our good and his glory? Does that leave room for complaining against a monotonous job? No. It is certainly a delightful thing to be chosen to be a gatekeeper in the house of my God.
That still means though the job won't always be easy. Our sinful nature grabs every opportunity to grumble and complain. It is a constant every day struggle. Going through the different worldviews, my weak flesh wants to believe them instead of God. I want to be naturalistic, to chose for myself what to believe, because somehow if I'm in control of my world that would make me happy. Feeling nihilistic, feels good when things go wrong or I'm uncertain of what to do. It's easier to be depressed and throw up my hands and say, "There is no meaning!" than to look by faith into God's promises. I want to believe in karma, that my good deeds will earn me favor points with God and I will be rewarded, and when someone does evil to me that they will be under his wrath. I don't want to believe that I'm just as much a sinner as Adolf Hitler, and the Gespato who exterminated the Jews, and my moral conviction before God is the same as the terrorists building nuclear weapons. I don't want to believe that Christ's righteousness is applied to me and that I don't have to work or keep the law to earn God's favor.
But despite all of that, to believe in the worldview of the gospel, where Christ's righteousness completely covers my sin, and that I can abide in God's house, and on his holy hill not by a merit of my own, and that he's using me and his church daily to establish his kingdom here on earth-is infinitely better than indulging in the feel good worldviews. It is better to daily persevere in math lessons, and gym workouts and piano practices, than to "dwell in the tents of the wicked." So truly, one day with God and his promises is better than thousands elsewhere.
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere
What would make the writer of Psalm 84 say, "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked," ?
Another version says, "I'd rather be a gate keeper." Isn't a gate keeper rather a boring job? What does it involve? Opening and closing gates? That sounds pretty likely. In the desert, with probably no chair, no bathroom breaks, no lunch break, but continuous opening, and closing the gate all day every day? Why is that occupation more desirable?
Because of who the Psalmist was working for. Just being inside the house of God was enough to make any other, more comfortable, more desirable job seem worthless. What is our equivalent of a gatekeeper's job? I'll go with more of the monotony of the gatekeeper, than with the actual keeper part itself. A business man, who sits at a desk punching numbers into a computer all day? A housewife whose list of household chores like laundry, cooking, cleaning and running errands never runs out? Raising and educating children day in and day out? How about for a teen? Doing math lessons day after day, basically just learning the same way day after day for eighteen years then college, then grad school- does the education never end? The phrase, "familiarity breeds contempt," probably applies to a lot of high schoolers who are ready to be done with school. Would these kind of positions in life qualify as a "gatekeeper in the house of my God?"
Well, yes, if its done in the right attitude. A gatekeeper can be a glorious job with the right perspective. In Psalm 16, David writes, "LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. " If God chooses the job as a gatekeeper, isn't that a good thing because He himself chose it? Doesn't he himself choose every single circumstance for us, for our good and his glory? Does that leave room for complaining against a monotonous job? No. It is certainly a delightful thing to be chosen to be a gatekeeper in the house of my God.
That still means though the job won't always be easy. Our sinful nature grabs every opportunity to grumble and complain. It is a constant every day struggle. Going through the different worldviews, my weak flesh wants to believe them instead of God. I want to be naturalistic, to chose for myself what to believe, because somehow if I'm in control of my world that would make me happy. Feeling nihilistic, feels good when things go wrong or I'm uncertain of what to do. It's easier to be depressed and throw up my hands and say, "There is no meaning!" than to look by faith into God's promises. I want to believe in karma, that my good deeds will earn me favor points with God and I will be rewarded, and when someone does evil to me that they will be under his wrath. I don't want to believe that I'm just as much a sinner as Adolf Hitler, and the Gespato who exterminated the Jews, and my moral conviction before God is the same as the terrorists building nuclear weapons. I don't want to believe that Christ's righteousness is applied to me and that I don't have to work or keep the law to earn God's favor.
But despite all of that, to believe in the worldview of the gospel, where Christ's righteousness completely covers my sin, and that I can abide in God's house, and on his holy hill not by a merit of my own, and that he's using me and his church daily to establish his kingdom here on earth-is infinitely better than indulging in the feel good worldviews. It is better to daily persevere in math lessons, and gym workouts and piano practices, than to "dwell in the tents of the wicked." So truly, one day with God and his promises is better than thousands elsewhere.
posted by ReformationGirl at
11:38 AM
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