Turn to God in Praise

The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.

Nancy Guthrie
What a time this has been, hasn’t it? The Psalms have pointed us the way of wisdom. They have put words of thankfulness in our mouths. They’ve called us to trust. They, God, in His goodness, has given us words to call out to Him in suffering and sorrow, they’ve lifted our eyes to see the true King. They have humbled us in repentance, and now let’s allow them to fill our hearts and our mouths with praise. Do you guys remember that thing called the pandemic? Don’t you feel sometimes like, did that ever even really happen? And as soon as that started, we all had to begin to learn how to use this thing called Zoom, if we were ever going to talk to each other. Well, you know, a bunch of my events immediately canceled, and so I decided that we would try to figure out how to offer some things online. And my husband and I did some research, and you know, so we set it up on the island in our kitchen. We had a couple of computers, you know, one to do graphics and an external camera, and then the iPad for interaction. We tried a thing, we had some challenges, let’s just say. And then a week later, I had another event. I was expecting about 200 women from nine to 12 for what I was going to do online on this Zoom. Well, that morning we’re still laying in bed, and my husband says something doesn’t feel right with my heart. I think I’m in a fib, which means his heart was beating irregular beats, and my response was pretty much, I’m sorry, but this is not the time for that. He texted his doctor and asked what he should do, and he got into the shower, and while I was in the shower, the doctor texted back and said, “You need to go to the clinic to get checked out, and so I generously took it upon myself to reply to the doctor and ask, “Does that need to be now, or could I wait until noon? And he replied back now. Well, this was really inconvenient for me. Fortunately, we have some neighbors who are always saving the day for us, and they once again did that. And the neighbor came over to drive him to the clinic, and I called my son, “You got to get over here and try to help me, and we did our best, and then at one point we had a brief break, and I discovered that I had a message from David telling me that the clinic was sending him to the emergency room, and I responded by telling, asking him if he could explain to us how to keep the camera from continually turning off, and he seemed to perceive that I was more interested in my technical problems than his heart problems. Well, the good news is that just as the doctor came in to shock his heart back into sinus rhythm, it went back into sinus rhythm on its own, and since then he takes some medication, and he sees his heart doctors regularly to keep a watch on the condition of his heart. Now, as we are gathered in this room this morning, and then with all of those who are perhaps joining us online, our hearts are beating, hopefully in sinus rhythm, but there may actually be a problem in our hearts, in a spiritual sense, that we have been unaware of, or have ignored for a really long time, and if so, I have good news for you. The doctors have arrived. The sons of Korah have shown up for us in Psalm 84 to give us a checkup on our hearts. So turn with me, if you will, to. Psalm 84 Now let’s begin with the superscription right there. It says that it is to the choir master. So this is a song they have written for the people of God, the choirs of God’s people to sing together and lift up to God. It also says it’s according to Geddes. Well, evidently that is the tune we’re supposed to use. And anybody happen to know it? Okay, we might have to improvise. So also in the superscript we’re told who wrote this psalm, and it says a psalm of the sons of Korah, so here are our heart doctors.

Nancy Guthrie
They have shown up for us in this psalm to put us through a series of tests to check the health of our hearts in a spiritual sense, because maybe some of us are walking through life, maybe just through this conference, and not even realizing that something is amiss, that something needs immediate treatment, and so we want to welcome them to do their work, but maybe we should ask, Are they qualified? Are they qualified? Well, what? Who are these sons of Korah, and what do they know about heart problems? Or maybe our first question should really be, Who is Korah? Well, if we go back into the Old Testament, you remember that there were 12 tribes made up of the that are all named for the 12 sons of Jacob, and there’s one tribe, Levi, one of Jacob’s sons, and that make up the Levites, but then amongst the Levites there are actually three branches of the Levite tribe, they are the Kohethites and the Marahites and the Gershonites. Now Moses and Aaron were Kohathites, and they had the most privileged position among the people of God. Moses met regularly with God. Aaron and his sons were priests in the tabernacle, and then, according to Numbers chapter four, the rest of the Kohathites were given the next most privileged role or position in the camp of the Israelites. They surrounded the tabernacle that was there at the center of the camp, they were kind of like human insulation. They protected the priests and all of the holy things in the tabernacle from contamination from the outside, and then at the same time they protected the people from getting too close to the holy things and being burned up by them, they also had another job. When it was time to break camp, the Kohathites had the job to go in and carefully cover all of these holy things, like the ark and the table and the lamp stands, the golden altar, and it was their job to then cover them, and then carry them to the next place very carefully. Now, when we get to number 16, we discover a problem, a heart problem, one of Kohathites or Kohath’s sons, named Korah, who has been assigned to the tabernacle as a doorkeeper, and it’s not good enough for him. He’s watching his cousin Moses meet with God in the tent, and watching his cousins, Aaron and his sons, and they’re doing the work of the priests in the temple, and his question is, Why don’t we get to do this, and so he gathers a couple of co-conspirators, spiriters, and they collect about 250 chiefs from all of the congregation, and they go to Moses and Aaron, and they say, for all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So, why then do you exalt yourself above the assembly of the Lord. Can you hear it? Can you hear what’s happening in their hearts? They’re not content with God’s calling to guard the tabernacle as doorkeepers and transport the holy things they’re saying to. Moses, you are not more holy than we are. We deserve to be priests too. Well, then number 68 Moses says to Corey, ‘Here now, sons of Levi, is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to Himself to do this service in the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, that He has brought you near. He repeats it, and all of your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you, but they don’t budge clearly. Their answer to his question is yes. Serving here on the doorstep of the dwelling place of God. It is too small a thing for us. We deserve better than this. There it is. This heart problem is bitterness, arrogance, discontent with God’s goodness to them shown in Him, bringing them near to himself now. God did not take kindly to this arrogant rebellion, and so he determined to consume those in rebellion in a moment, and so Moses told everyone who was not taking part in their rebellion to get away from the tents of these wicked men, lest they be swept away in this sudden judgment that was coming from God.

Nancy Guthrie
And we read in Numbers 1627 that Korah’s two co-conspirators, they came out and they stood at the door of their tents with all of their wives and sons, and it’s as if they’re saying we’re not going anywhere, we’re standing our ground, which was a very foolish thing, because then the ground opened up and swallowed them. Then in Numbers 1632 it says that the ground opened up and swallowed Cora’s household, and then it says specifically, and all the people who belonged to Cora. Now we might assume this means like it was for the other two, all of Cora’s wives and sons, and that they all perished along with him, but perhaps when we read all who belonged to Korah, it really means all those who were with him, sided with him in his rebellion, who chose not to depart from the tents of the wickedness, because when we get to Numbers 2611 where there is a record of the census that is taken of all of the people of the next generation as they prepare to enter into the Promised Land. Finally, we read something very surprising. There’s a little phrase it says, but the sons of Korah did not die, so this means that when Moses commanded all of those who did not take part in Korah’s rebellion to depart from the tents of the wicked leaders of the rebellion, so that they wouldn’t be destroyed. These sons of Korah did exactly that, rather than follow their earthly father, Korah, whose heart was sick with envy and arrogance and rebellion, those sons gave their heart allegiance to God and His appointed leader Moses, and because of that they were not consumed when the ground opened up and swallowed up the rest of the family. Now we read about these Korahites, about it’s about 400 later years later in the story the Old Testament tells us, and at this point the Israelites, they’ve settled in their in the promised land, and these living descendants or sons of Korah, they still held their privileged position as doorkeepers, but now at the temple, and so they see everything that happens, everyone, everything, and everyone who comes and goes day by day, they’re seeing up close. The grace and mercy that God shows to all of His people as He accepts their sacrifices and continues to dwell there among them, and evidently it does something to their hearts it makes them want to sing about the goodness of God. Now at this point the tabernacle is no longer being carried from place to place, so they kind of lost that part of their job, and so King David puts them in charge of the service of song in the house of the Lord, so in the book of 150 psalms we find 11 songs written for us by the sons of Korah, but I’ve got to, I’ve got to say when I read the sons of Korah. I kind of want to say, why would you call yourselves that? Now you see, when I was in junior high school, and then high school, and later in college, I was in a lot of singing groups, and I must admit that some of these groups had some really goofy names. Okay, one of the first groups I was in was I was in eighth grade was a trio, and we called ourselves Everlasting Joy, and yeah, I mean, that was at least biblical. It comes from Isaiah 11, I think, and so, but then then I got in a group called Faith Impressions, but when I got in the big, when I hit the big time in high school, I got in a group called Extra Dimensions. You know, it never hit me until recently. What a dumb name that was for a senior. I mean, I don’t even know what it means. Okay, so clearly I am not an expert on coming up with names for singing groups, or in this case a songwriting group, but I think they could have come up with a better name than the Sons of Korah, I mean, what group of singers wants to name themselves after one of the most notorious sinners ever?

Nancy Guthrie
It seems to me like they would want to leave behind, forget that history of rebellion in their family, or maybe calling themselves the Sons of Korah, was a constant reminder that they come, that they is a constant reminder they come not so much from Korah but from Korah’s sons who did not stand in the tents of the wicked but were saved by grace when the ground opened up and swallowed the rest of their family on that day, when their great great great grandfathers had been saved by grace, you know, maybe they just never wanted to forget it. This being saved by grace, it had become a core part of their identity, and, and they always wanted it to be on the tips of their tongues as they led the people of God in worship with hearts that beat with love for Him. I’ve just got to ask you, have you been saved by grace will then turn your eyes to the Lord in praise. The question for us, I think, as we read their words and sing their song, is this: Does my heart fall into rhythm with theirs, do we find that we simply cannot help but sing along with them, because our hearts beat with the same passion to praise him that’s been generated by the same grace. Yes, well, let’s hear their song of Psalm 84 and let’s let the sons of Korah test the condition of our hearts. There’s really three movements to the song, and so they present us with three examination questions that I think expose the true condition of our hearts toward God. This psalm forces us, I think, to ask three questions. Number one, does my heart truly long for the living God? Does my heart truly long for the living God? Number two, is my heart being strengthened by God, is my heart being strengthened by God. And then, thirdly, do I really trust that God has been and will continue to be good to me? So, heart test number one, does my heart truly long for the living God, and as we turn to Psalm 84 we say, Sons of Korah, recipients of grace, heart specialists, sing your song of praise to us in a way that brings the healing we are desperate for. Their song begins this way. How how lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart, my flesh sing for joy to the living God. 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, my God, blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah. So he begins. How lovely, I think. From the first words of exclamation, we can hear the hearts of the sons of Korah, that they’ve been captured by the beauty of the place where God dwells among them in their day, the most holy place of the temple in Jerusalem. Now, what makes this place so lovely, so beautiful? Well, it’s the beauty of the one who dwells there, the one whose holy laws are always for their good, written on stone and placed there in the ark, the one whose spirit hovers over the mercy seat. This was the one place in the whole universe that guilty sinners could come to and find grace and mercy. How lovely. And these sons of Kor, they’ve been there day and night, right on the doorstep, they’re guarding this lovely holy dwelling place, and it hasn’t gotten old to them. The daily goings on, they don’t bore them, they find themselves wholly engaged with the whole of their being. Did you see it in their soul, heart, flesh? they’ve got the kind of longing that, like, takes their breath away. It makes them faint, the kind of joy that erupts in a song that they just cannot keep to themselves. Now, what is it they sing about? They’re aware that the nations around them have temples, but none of those temples are indwelt by a living God.

Nancy Guthrie
The living God, the stanza begins with a place, this lovely place, but as you look through it, can you see that it ends with a person, the most beautiful, the most desirable person in the universe, the living God, who dwells in this place. Verse three, there it says, even the sparrow finds a home at the altars of the living God. Note that even, in other words, this is a home where all of God’s people, indeed all of God’s creatures, from the strongest to the weakest, from the greatest to the least, they find a place of belonging in His presence, a place of security for all, even the most vulnerable and needy, the most insignificant in the world’s eyes. All right, so we’ve got the sons of Korah are singing, and we kind of sense that the birds are singing, and all who have eyes to see the transcendent beauty. Me and have sought out the soul satisfying goodness of this living God. Simply cannot stop singing his praises. No one forces them or coerces them to do it. They are happy in God, they’re enjoying his presence, and they simply must sing. Our heart doctors, can you see that they’re looking at us, and they’re asking, Does your heart resonate at all with this kind of longing for the living God. Well, where’s the evidence? Do you love to come to the place where He can be found among His people, the church? and when you do, does your soul, your heart, your flesh engage with the songs sung and the word that is preached and the sacraments that are tasted and felt? I wonder if perhaps you might find yourself wanting to say, Lord, I need you to go to work on my heart. Lord, I need you to use these words of the sons of Korah to apply your shock paddles to this heart of mine that has become cold and passionless, and simply does not be in rhythm with yours. Would you instill in me a greater longing to be with you among your people right now, and a greater anticipation of that day in the future when we will dwell with you in your house forever. So there’s heart test number one. Number two is my heart being strengthened by God the sons of Kor, they’ve got a second check to make, and we find it in verses five through seven, where they invite us to sing, blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion, as they go through the valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs. The early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength, each one appears before God in Zion. You see those with happy, healthy hearts, they are not simply wandering through this life. They’ve got some clarity about where their lives are headed, instead of some sense of vague uncertainty. There is a goal, a destination out in front of them. They have set their sights on Zion, the city of the living God, where they’re going to be with His people, and it is drawing them forward. You see, they heard that voice crying in the wilderness, “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God, and their response have been yes. I want that highway to run, that highway that runs toward God, to run right through my heart, and from there all the way to that city of Zion, that city of God, that is drawing a people of every tribe, tongue, and nation into eternal blessedness in His presence. But this stanza makes clear, however, that while the people have set out toward Zion and are blessed, they don’t find this road to be an easy road, because it says they’re making this journey in the Valley of Baca. Now, this word Baca comes from a Hebrew word that means tears or weeping, so Baca refers to a type of weeping tree that grows in very dry desert conditions, and it drips resin or gum like tears. So it’s a picture of these pilgrims passing through a desert place that is a place of weeping, but it’s not just that.

Nancy Guthrie
That because did you see there in verse six it is also it becomes for them a place of springs what a picture this very dry desert and it’s being flooded with cool crisp clear waters, now that raises the question, How does that happen? I mean, this dirt, it’s the same dirt that was cursed back in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, and while it is certainly leading toward a place where God will wipe away all tears. For now, as they walk on this road, they shed very real tears, they experience very real, very deep suffering, the kind of suffering that every person who lives in this sin-cursed world experiences, but there is a difference in the way that those whose hearts are set toward Zion experience this suffering three times in this stanza. Look at it with me. Three times we read that they have strength. In fact, they’re going from strength to strength as they make their way through life in this world. They’re not simply getting older, they’re growing stronger. You know, sometimes I think, and I’m going to say we, but really I mean me. Okay, we’re not really all that interested in becoming stronger, are we? We might never say it, but we think, okay, you know what, I’ve been a Christian for a long time now, and you know what, I’ve got this now. Maybe I’d like to learn a few more things that would be that I find interesting, but if I’m honest, I do not want to risk more or deny myself more, and I certainly don’t want to suffer more, even though I know that these are the things God uses to make me spiritually stronger. So I’m turning 64 this year, and finally in this, my 63rd year, I’ve finally become convinced that I really do need to do some resistance training. Don’t be impressed with me, I’m pathetic, far more mush than muscle, I promise, and the whole reason I have put it off is because I hate the burn, right? Don’t you hate that you’re getting toward the end of your prescribed number of reps, and you begin to feel that muscle burn. I hate it, but I tell you, what I do like where it’s leading me, because it’s not quite as hard to heave my suitcase into the overhead bin over somebody’s head, and sometimes I can bend down on my knees to get something on the bottom shelf and actually get up again, that’s a good thing. Yes, as I’m willing to feel the burn, I’m going from strength to strength. My friends, we don’t want to just grow older, we want to grow stronger. We don’t simply want to learn more. We don’t, we don’t even simply want to serve more if that service doesn’t cause us to rely more heavily upon Christ. We want to grow stronger in faith, stronger in endurance. We want a fresh vibrancy in our lives that can only be described as a supernatural spring of living water overflowing in our souls, right in the middle of the hardest things, the driest places, and we’ve, we sense that the spirit is raining down on us new joy and life. What is it going to take? What is it going to take for us to be women? And about whom it can be said in her heart are the high is the highway to Zion. What’s it going to take to be said about us as she faces the losses of life that bring tears and the difficulties of life that bring deport disappointment. Something amazing is happening, because instead of becoming angry or discontent, instead of complaining or becoming increasingly cranky, she has the joy of the Lord. She’s not drying up spiritually, her spiritual life. Well, it seems to be flourishing. What’s it going to take? I can tell you what it’s going to take. Now, first of all, I have to tell you that the TGC conference is not where you necessarily expect to hear this, but what it’s going to take is a miracle. And see, I’m going to invite you to claim your miracle, claim your miracle. This is what I’m saying to you, but you know what? More than that, it’s what the sons of Korah are saying to you.

Nancy Guthrie
They’re testifying to us as those who have experienced this miracle as they have walked through the valley of Baca the Apostle Paul testifies to us about experiencing this same supernatural miracle when he writes to the Corinthian church, though our outer self is wasting away, you know this on the on our inner self is being what renewed day by day, it’s a miracle of refreshment and renewal on the interior of our lives that makes us spiritually strong in the midst of the most painful seasons of life. I kind of think if, if the Apostle Paul was here and he was musing with us over Psalm 84 he would say to us, when I found myself in the valley of Baca, and I begged God over and over to bring me out of it. Instead, he met me in it. In fact, this is what Paul has actually testified to us about this supernatural miracle. He says three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that this thorn should leave me, but instead I heard Jesus say to me, My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. He says, so therefore I will boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that listen carefully, the power of Christ may rest on me. Do you hear what comes down like the early rain? What’s going to come down to make Paul’s Valley of Weeping a place of springs? The power of Christ. There it is. There’s the miracle, the supernatural experience of the power or strength of Christ coming down from God to rest on us. This is how we go from strength to strength. We receive the supernatural strength we need to keep walking forward in faith, in spite of whatever difficulty God allows in our lives. My friends, the sons of Korah are running a check on our hearts, and they’re asking us, Do you find as you are making your way through life in this world, that you are progressing from strength to strength, and not just when the sun is shining on your life, but when things turn dark, this is what we want, and so we pray, Lord, I don’t want to be consumed by fear or resentment when I find myself in the valley of tears in this life. When my tears begin to flow, would you cause you. Your springs of living water to fall on me in such a way that I’m going to be able to call that place and the difficulty in that place as the place where you met me and you generated supernatural springs of genuine joy. Heart test number three. The sons of Korah ask us, Do I really trust that God has been good, and that He will continue to be good for me. To me, verse 10, they write, “For a day in your courts is better than 1000 elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. This is interesting. It looks like they remember how their ancestor Cora complained about the place that God had given them as doorkeepers in the tabernacle, and they’re saying, in stark contrast to their ancestor, no, it is not too small of a thing that the God of Israel has selected us from out of the congregation to bring us near to Himself at the temple. There is no place I’d rather be. Can you see, God has done a miracle in their hearts, and ho, how we need this same miracle of grace in our own hearts, so that we can say, Lord, save me from rebellious discontent. Rain down the power of Christ, so we can be content as we journey toward you, and as we serve you, wherever it is that you have placed us. You know, some of us have bumper stickers on our cars that say what we would rather be doing. You’ve seen these, right? I would rather be knitting. I’d rather be at home with my dog. Well, maybe you don’t have a bumper sticker on your car, but I wonder what your life says about what you would rather be doing. I would rather keep my options open, so I’m not even going to make a commitment to serve. I would rather be doing what she’s doing. I’d rather have what she has.

Nancy Guthrie
Lord, fill us with a clear-eyed aversion to the tent of wickedness, the tents of envy, the wickedness of apathy that are constantly inviting us to make ourselves at home. There, you know, Lord, we need you. We need you, because verse 11, you, Lord, are a sun and shield, because you, Lord, bestow favor and honor. You see, the sons of Korah know about who God is and what He gives, and they have become convinced that it is better to be near Him than 1000 days away from him, that being on just the doorstep of the tent is better than the pleasures of the tents of the wicked. They have experienced him as a sun and a shield. He doesn’t reflect some other light. He is the source of light. He, in fact, he is the source of every bit of warmth and light in the world. He doesn’t merely provide temporary relief from problems. He is a shield. He’s our eternal security. Also, there in verse 11 it says he does not, no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. There it is. This is what keeps us looking for him and longing for him, praising him. It’s because he is the source of every good thing in our lives. Now, maybe when you hear this, you think, well, I can think of some good things that he has withheld from me. Perhaps from your perspective, maybe you feel like he’s withheld from you the good thing of a happy marriage, or children, or the family size, or situation you’ve hoped for. Perhaps he’s withheld from you the position you want, the body you want, the abilities you would like to have, the opportunities you’d like to pursue. Do are you finding it difficult at this point to sing along with the sons of Gora when they sing that no good thing. He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Well, once again, they’re testing what’s going on in our hearts. They’re helping us to see the things that we are letting define his goodness, rather than the things he has said define his goodness, and what is it the sons of Korah tell us is his goodness. Look back there at verse 11, it’s not only his light, his protection; he bestows favor and honor. Now, favor is the Old Testament word for grace, my friends. friends, the living God gives grace to people who don’t deserve it, and He bestows honor on those who have disobeyed and yet ask him for forgiveness. He is good, and he does not withhold these good things, favor and honor from those who walk uprightly. Wait a minute, those who walk uprightly, who is that? Is that is that people who have never sinned? Is that people have never failed? People who have a spotless, spotless record. No, these are people who have sinned and failed and have turned to the only one who gives grace to sinners, and who honors those who have failed, and ask forgiveness. He never withholds the goodness of his grace and forgiveness from anyone who asks for it. What goodness. Finally, here at the end, verse 12, we read, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you, Lord of hosts. In other words, the Lord of heaven’s armies, friends, the whole world can be against you, but when you know that God is for you, that He has engaged the whole of heavenly armies to protect you, that His desire is to be good to you. You can rest, you can trust him to get you through this valley of tears on your way toward Zion. So we see in Psalm 84 that the sons of Korah have helped us to check our hearts, but you know what, they don’t have the power to change our hearts. There is only one doctor who can heal us of our apathy toward God and our inclination to want to give up in the valley of weeping, who could heal us of our insistence that God be good to us in the way we want Him to be good to us. My friends, we need Dr. Jesus. It’s only as we are joined to Jesus, that one who left the lovely dwelling place of God to dwell with us to do a work of healing in our sin-sick hearts.

Nancy Guthrie
You see, Jesus embodied perfect longing, ardent zeal for His Father’s house. In His heart were the highways to Zion, even as He experienced the dryness and difficulty of life in this world, calling out from the cross, I thirst, and as He did, He made it for us a place of springs. Indeed, He is the source of the living water that satisfies the thirst of the world. He is the only one who has really deserved favor and honor from his father. He’s the only one who has ever walked uprightly without fail, and yet he shares that favor and honor he deserves with all who will what put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in you, Jesus, every good thing. We have ever known has come and will come because of you, my friends. One day our longing for the courts of the living God will come to an end, because those courts will be our home and day our journey through the valley of weeping will be over, and we will indeed appear before God in Zion. One day we’re going to have eyes to be able to gaze at the glory of Jesus, who’s going to shine as bright as the sun, and we will experience the favor that Jesus deserves as we get to hear our Father say to us, Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master, and on that day we’re going to say the sons of Korah were right. There is nothing good that you have withheld from me. Our hearts and our flesh will sing unending praise to the living God in His very presence, let’s pray, Jesus, we know that you were swallowed up, you went down to Sheol for our wickedness, so that we can anticipate an eternal future, not simply on the doorstep, not simply on the edges of the goodness of God, but that we can have the boldness to approach the throne of the living God with confidence that we will receive grace and mercy. The day is coming, and we’re going to look to you, and we’re going to say what the sons of Korah said to us in Psalm 84 is really true. Blessed is the one who trusts in you. And on that day our song of praise will have only just begun. Forever we’ll find ourselves blessed to dwell in your house, singing your praise. Amen.