Psalm 84 ~ Blessed are those whose strength is in You

Psalm 84

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

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.

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

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!

We have seen the fires of Los Angeles get better and still have some concern. Montana fires are on our prayer list. And Hurricane Irma Category 4.

Hurricane Harvey is being called the 1,000 year flood. We had the 1,000 fires in 2011.


Weather concerns are not new to the planet. About 246 A.D. the weather was so severe the Roman Empire was worried the calendar change signaled the end of the world. Historians record panic. Lightning fires, very frequent earthquakes and terrible storms. Diocletian was set to begin the rehash of terrible Christian persecution and massive reforms fundamentally changed the structure of Roman imperial government and helped stabilize the empire economically and militarily, enabling the empire to remain essentially intact for another 150 years despite being near the brink of collapse in Diocletian's youth. His nephew was well known as - Constantine the Great. This was a time of very great changes.




I know the story of a very successful attorney.

He had 8 years of college - he just didn't seem to be working out well in higher education. And he entered the work force to find out - he really did want that college degree. When he graduated, all the success had begun to build to make higher education seem possible. He went on to Law School.

He found something enabled him to make Law School enjoyable.

There were a tremendous number of brilliant people in Law School and  he found he was going to be able to do these 3 years. This was a cause for concern for him at first. So many extremely gifted people in Law School - would he survive? He found that he didn't have to have the top grade. And he began to coach himself. He made a B on the exam. Well that was really good. He knew other people were higher in class rank, but he was pleased with his own grades.

And as he graduated he saw many go to very high-end firms. He joined a small town District Attorney. Doors opened. Doors opened. Doors opened. Doors opened. He has done very well. By wanting to improve a community for 'the good guys' - he found more work and more opportunities. And has done very, very well. With positive affirmation.


This actually is Biblical. This man did not sweat what others were doing. He was grateful. And in having good motives, he found a career.






The news is about to become rougher.

Two hurricanes, fires and North Korea. News likes to be sensational and we are hitting a fast pace stride.

This does not mean we will be facing this same news - next year. I watched our local water utility gear up for storms based upon NOAA forecasts this spring. We had new drainage dug and the drains were tested. We can prepare ourselves and be grateful Father God has put us in this time of antibiotics, where our we have every expectation to live to be old and out live our children. Technology and advances sometimes makes us edgy about too much new.

We are blessed. I've seen the Local Houston News Reporter Ted Oberg of ABC 13 say the Cajun Navy prompted more and more Texans to join them in recovery. We are the people who have lived an example I can't remember other than Dunkirk. We are seeing more and more people rise up to help.






Spiritually what does this mean?

Rise up. Take time to pray - ask Jesus to join you. Expect the Goodness of God. The Lord's Prayer. Search the morning to find when your gratitude rises. We live the adventure of finding His Mercies Renew. We will Rise.

Christian Obligation. St. Augustine was asked and he said something real and beneficial - to hold on. I'm going to paraphrase. We want to live the Book of Acts. To see God act dramatically. St. Augustine said if we are really trying to care for just the few people God gives us and tell them God Loves them the way St. Augustine's mother believed Augustine would learn and love and know and dwell in God's Love - then we are pleasing God. If we can do one small thing for our community - our neighbors - our children - were we speak up - ONLY a LITTLE - we have done something marvelous every single day.

It's not ram down God. It's find ways to let that person know God is the Father - who is Pleased and Loves them - as they are.

How can we know? Look at the story of the man who could not stay in college. He decided he'd keep trying. And he gave himself permission to enjoy his talents. And in being honest with his goals - being calm - wanting goodness - he didn't see the whole Path look like The Oscars. Time Man of the Year. Each day - a little step. And in this goodness - God has blessed him and blessed him and blessed him.




When our small children ask - what will we do?

We will tell of our blessings of wisdom - knowledge around the situation. We will say each day we will do a little. We will keep trying and find good days ahead. We will with God find our blessings each day. We will put our hands out in prayer. We will put our hearts open for using the changes life brings us to find good.

We will say with faith, "All Things Work for God, for those who love the Lord and work according to His Purpose." An adventure of belief.

We will tell our children about the Cajun Navy and the Volunteers. We will tell them of the Restaurants that expect to find diapers - all ages. Home building tools and supplies. Dog food. Cat food in baskets put out believing we will continue to care.



And we will remember - we haven't seen this of our nation in a while. And we make the choice to care and love and try. Knowing God is pleased because we try. And we will remember to smile as our head hits the pillow - we tried to please a loving, good, merciful, easily pleased - Father - God - Our's.

Abba, our Abba,



Deuteronomy 20:4
For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies,
to give you the victory.’


We will put down lumping all of this culture as done in.
We will be reasonable.
We will ask You - numerous times
We will look for what is honorable, just
worthy of praise.
Taking off our concern for ourselves.
Find excellence in entertainment
Find what we can praise.

Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope,
be patient in tribulation,
be constant in prayer.


Psalm 39:7
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.

The Certainty of this Good News:

Proverbs 23:18
Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Psalm 71:14
But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.




We will allow the ebb and flow of time and circumstance.
We will not push out our hopes for those we love and ourselves. We will expect better times ahead.

We will make the effort to listen. We will sent help for the needs of others on a continued basis.


Thank You, Father God, the flood waters have receded quickly. We pray for those near water who are and have taken on water in their homes for the first time. We pray for the weeks ahead hearing about recovery near and far to see this as recovery.

We pray that the Spirits of our neighbors, friends, Loved ones are encouraged in the Holy Spirit. We pray for Montana and Los Angeles as well as Houston. We pray for Hurricane Irma to make a U turn and stall out over water.

We have seen a few Hurricanes just go back out to sea - IRMA - Go Back out to Sea. In the Willingness of God - we put all our trust in Jesus Christ.

We pray as Hope has increased, we will feel encouraged. Please Bless those praying all over the world in Jesus Christ. The prayers surrounding Your good earth. Your arms around those we Love. God bless us in this Nation. God strengthen and encourage the Goodness.

In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †