Psa 84:1-12 “Turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”

Psa 84:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
Psa 84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Psa 84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
Psa 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
Psa 84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
Psa 84:6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
Psa 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
Psa 84:8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
Psa 84:9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psa 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

I recently heard a story about a young boy who told his father that he loved the fish he was eating, to which his father replied somewhat jokingly “is that why you caught the fish and killed it and are now eating it?” “You love the taste of the fish and what it provides for you?”, the father went on to gently explain to his son.

This is somewhat akin to Christ saying these words to His disciples:

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

The man who told this story used it as a backdrop to explain that real love gives of our own life to others as we invest ourselves in them, not for what we can get out of the relationship, but for what we can give to the other person. He went on to say that we are blessed to give our life to others because with that investment comes the rich reward of coming to know that other person and seeing that part of your life manifest in theirs, and I would add and their life in you.

This thought conveniently follows the pattern of the very next verse in:

Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

The story teller went on to explain that, like this child, we have a misconstrued understanding of what love is, even when we first find the love of our life, that person who fills our emotional needs and provides many things for us (as Babylon does), as we do for them, and this is what he deemed “fish love” referring back to the young boy who loved fish for what it could do for him.

From a physical perspective, I thought how aptly that story makes clear how much higher our Father’s love is for us, and how it was and is manifest through the life of Christ that was given to us. His actions of investing His life in us would ultimately lead to our being able to have their Life manifest within us, so that we in turn could become fishers of men who would go out and be as He was and is in this earth (1Jn 4:17), loving to fish, but not fishing for love. The only way that will happen is to have that first self-centered nature burnt out of us by filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ, that is what will give us great reason to rejoice and again I say rejoice.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

God does not need our love and praise, and He is not fishing for it, and he knows how blessed we will be if we grow in that nature and mind of His, so He gives us His only begotten son and establishes a means for us to be reconciled to Him through Christ. It is with the mind of Christ that we can praise and love our Father and cry out like the lively stones that we become through him (Rom 5:10, Joh 15:9, Luk 19:40, 1Pe 2:5).

That same bridge that Christ is for us unto the Father is what we are becoming through Christ for the rest of the world.

1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

God also uses humanity’s (our) most base carnal instincts to accomplish His purpose of reconciling us to Him, and Christ is that fish who is captured and killed and eaten so we can have true life, which is demonstrated in these parables found in John 6:56, John 21:9-12 and John 12:24.

God does fish for us (Joh 4:23), however, from our carnal perspective, we think He is fishing for our love, when in truth the catch and the calling, the line, the hook and the sinker so to speak have all been predestined by our Father (Joh 21:6).

When we know and believe this, we also believe that all of the casting that did not catch any fish were equally working according to the counsel of God’s will, as was the moment when the fish were caught with a cast on the “right side of the ship”, which symbolizes the power of God that gives the increase at the appointed time (Eph 1:11, 1Co 3:16).

Joh 21:9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
Joh 21:10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
Joh 21:11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
Joh 21:12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

In time, and only by the grace and faith of Christ, do we as God’s children come to learn and understand the true love of God as we’re fed by our Lord the fish and bread He prepares in John 21:9, which represents the fleshly trials that this life presents through all our interactions that are fiery by design (he prepares them). Like the hot coals that are needed to cook that fish and bread, this occurs so it can be nourishing to our souls that are maturing in Him as we go through the consuming fire that purifies His words within us (Heb 5:8<, Rom 5:6-8, Heb 12:29, 1Pe 1:7).

It is important to note that it is fish and bread, and that they work together because the bread is tried on the fire like the word of God, and it is needed to strengthen our hearts (Luk 22:19, Psa 104:15) as we come up against the multitudes in this life who will be against us, the many fish of the sea, the whole world whom Christ has promised would be against us (Mat 10:22).

It is God’s love being shed abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5) that makes it possible for us to love our enemies and love the world while they are yet sinners whom we now love as God loves us and loved us (Rom 5:8). It is God’s love which enables us to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ as we present ourselves a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) who are blessed to learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and that to be a lamb for the slaughter, as our Lord was, is a great blessing as it will provide the food which this world needs and is unknowingly starving for (Isa 53:7, Rom 8:36, Act 20:35, Isa 3:1, Hos 4:6).

I recently saw a video that was heart wrenching to watch, but I can see now how the Lord had me watch this to remember that we are not laying down our lives for ourselves only, as I’m sure we know. At first that is all we can see and understand because of all the wounds that we need to have healed in our own broken down prodigal experiences, but ultimately this experience of evil that we experience (is, was and will be) comes to be better understood through the healing and strength we receive in the inn which represents the body of Christ, the church, in the parable of the Samaritan (Luk 10:34-35, Col 1:24).

Eventually our perception of what has happened becomes something that is not for ourselves but for the lives of others who will come after us, and for each of us who have come into the midst of the garden of paradise today where we “now rejoice” in ‘My suffering for you’ and see that the conclusion of that parable Christ was teaching cannot be reached until we are all the different characters represented in it. That is the narrow road which enables us to become a neighbourly neighbour or good Samaritan as we call it (Eph 2:4-6, Rev 2:7).

The story I watched was simple: the child was on a talk show and his mother was one of many single mothers on the stage who were trying to raise their children without a father. Consequently the children had all sorts of disciplinarian issues that they were going to set straight right in front of the entire world on national television by having a man dressed as a sergeant come out and give some hard advice to the children who were going to go to some kind of children’s’ boot camp. I began to think “why am I watching this?”, and then remembered the title of the short video was about ‘a heart warming experience’, so I trusted that it was going to end well, which it did.

The Lord gave that one particular little boy, who was being drilled by the sergeant, to answer to his question that had the whole audience cheering. He said to the troubled child who would have to spend the next four months with him unless he changed his tune “do you want me to be your father for the next four months son?” to which the scared little child said, “yes, sir, I would like that” to the surprise of the sergeant who then asked “why do you want that, son?”, (and this is the part that is heart-wrenching for us as God’s children who have the spirit of God, which is the spirit that is typified in Elijah who wants to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers (Mal 4:6)) to which he replied “I have no father”.

That is why we are here today, that is why we write emails and do studies and phone each other and build each other up, because this world needs and wants to be loved by a real father, a strong father who will be there for them. After that little lad said what he said, the sergeant bent down and gave him a big hug and walked off the stage with him. It was amazing how the producers had the tables turned on them by a little child, and it makes me think of Christ’s words in Matthew 19:14. God made a way for this little one to say what he had to say, and He is going to make a way for us as the bride of Christ to let the stones cry out, so that reconciliation and healing can begin to take place in the land of all the fathers and children and mothers and daughters (Luk 19:40). Of course we know that age (being older) is not what we are talking about here because we can be hundred years old from the point that we die and be raised as a babe in Christ who has yet to grow into a mature son who must come through judgment (Oba 1:21).

When Christ said “If these should hold their peace”, it reminds me of last week’s title “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace^H2790, and be not still, O God”. In other words, it is going to happen and the gates of hell will not prevail against God’s purpose for the church (Mat 16:18).

This week’s study will hopefully have the Lord directing our hearts to see why it is that we are to become as little children (Mat 18:3) who trust God as our strong Abba Father who we want to turn to, even as we give up our life and lose everything so that we can gain eternal life (Mat 16:25).

The verses we are about to study reminded me of how we are adopted children of God, grafted into His family, unlike Christ who was the only begotten of the Father (Joh 1:14) who never had to have his heart turned to His Father or His Father turned to Him, in the sense that Christ could not and would not rebel and never did anything against His Father because He had the spirit without measure and was learning obedience by the things which He suffered in His sinful flesh, which never manifested as an act of sinning even through the most severe and diverse temptations. He truly cleaved to His Father and is our example of how we ought to cleave unto Him as our refuge (Joh 17:5, Joh 3:34, Heb 5:8, Heb 4:15, Deu 13:4, Deu 4:4).

Usually when physical parents adopt children they take their time, and they plan, and they have to consider many details to know for sure that this is a right and loving decision for the child they are hoping to graft into their life. However, God’s love is manifest in that process while we were yet sinners and he had already determined instantly that we would be His children that He would love; and so we read:

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

We are called to be fishers of men, to love fish who we will graft into the body as God grafted us in, and ultimately, with the mind of Christ, we will not fish for love for selfish motives (Mat 23:15) but rather love to fish.

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

When someone loves you with the love that God loves us, and your heart has been prepared to receive that love, you cannot help but want to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the father (Mal 4:6), and that’s a good thing and the starting point that God is using within those in the body of Christ who have many fathers and sons being reconciled today in the spirit, so that we can be the fishers of men who will be used to reconcile the rest of the world in His perfect time (Mat 4:19).

Psa 84:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernaclesH4908, O LORD of hosts!

“How amiable are all thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts”?

This is our prayer, to grow to love those tabernacles who don’t love us back (Mat 5:44, Luk 14:14), because those tabernacles are God’s, and He loves them, and Christ loves them. It’s just that he has not yet actively set his loving work of chastening and scourging them to receive them as sons today (Joh 3:16, Joh 10:16, Rom 9:13, Heb 12:6).

If we are truly to be considered His sons today, we must love those whom we see, which gives evidence that we love God who we don’t see, and demonstrates that His love is being shed abroad in our hearts (1Jn 4:20, Rom 5:5).

If we are God’s “Gittith” (harp) today, then that song that He is playing on our heart strings will be for the sons of Korah^H7141, which word demonstrates the process of ‘three Israelites’ and ‘two Edomites’ – a witness of our flesh that will be destroyed by the combination of the names, just like the fish and the bread we read about earlier on the fiery coals of John 21:9: ‘three Israelites’ and ‘two Edomites’ which equals five (5), which number symbolizes grace and faith.

Psa 84:2 My soul longeth^H3700, yea, even fainteth^H3615 for the courts^H2691 of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

This longing and fainting “for the courts^H2691 of the LORD” occurs within our heart and our flesh that cries out for the living God. With the mind of Christ, we long to be judged within those courts, to be cleansed by abiding in the word even when that chastening ‘smarts’. We learn not to despise it because we know that it is for our good.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Rev 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Pro 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

This is the longing that Christ spoke of to his disciples to drink within the temple which we are. It is that longing to be with the living God that is going to purify the temple, and that longing is a gift from God that drags us unto Christ who in turn satisfies our thirst and hunger to walk in these courts “in the way everlasting” that is pleasing before our Father.

Mat 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Joh 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Psa 84:3 Yea, the sparrow^H6833 hath found an house, and the swallow^H1866 a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.

The sparrow which finds its house is the elect who find their rest in the Lord (Heb 4:11), and the swallow likewise witnesses to the fact that in His courts there is a haven where we, she, the church, can “lay her young” at God’s altar which is the cross, “O LORD of hosts^H6635” “and my God”.

The context of Matthew 10:28-32 also bears witness to God’s provision that helps us see why the word “hosts”^H6635 is connected to war and an army, which we are part of (Eph 6:12), and fighting together with God as our helper (Heb 13:6), my King, and my God.

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Mat 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

What God is doing within his “two sparrows“, which represent the witness of Christ within us today, is of more value than what is happening within the world, the “many sparrows“. Christ does not say that the Father loves these sparrows more than the “many sparrows” (Joh 3:16), but rather is telling us that our experience of being sacrificed at the altar is for them. This section of the parable “and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father” is a reference to the one seed that we are which must die in order to bring forth fruit, which is what God has called us to do for the benefit of all those who will come after us (Joh 12:24, Gal 3:16) and that is why those “two sparrows” that represent Christ in us are more valuable than the “many sparrows” who are yet to be saved and who don’t have Christ in them yet (Rom 8:9).

(Sparrow^H6833 (of this verse) = “bird”(s) in Leviticus 14) speaking of leprosy in the house (our tabernacle of verse 1, our dwelling place) and it being cleansed with the blood of this bird:

Lev 14:48 And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
Lev 14:49 And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds^H6833, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
Lev 14:50 And he shall kill the one of the birds^H6833 in an earthen vessel over running water:
Lev 14:51 And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird^H6833, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird^H6833, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
Lev 14:52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird^H6833, and with the running water, and with the living bird^H6833, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:
Lev 14:53 But he shall let go the living bird^H6833 out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean. (This is what will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the father)

Swallow^H1866 is only used once in this Psalm and once in Proverbs 26:2. Interestingly, that number is related to H1865 which is used in the old testament as “liberty” and “pure” which only confirms that sound pattern of what God is doing with his “two sparrows“. Every sacrifice is made pure with fire, and it’s important to note that the sparrow is a small but significant sacrifice, just as we are the weak of the world, but nevertheless blessed to be the kind of first-fruits who first offer our lives as a living sacrifice (Mar 9:49).

Swallow A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: the same as H1865
H1865 derôr   Total KJV Occurrences: 8
liberty, 7
Lev_25:10; Isa_61:1; Jer_34:8; Jer_34:15; Jer_34:17(2); Eze_46:17
pure, 1
Exo_30:23

This Psalm is really a comfort to our souls, and this verse in particular reminds us that we have been blessed to find refuge in the house of the Lord because God has made a way for us in the wilderness to keep His words through Christ so that they can abide with us in liberty and purity.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Psa 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
Psa 84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
Psa 84:6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
Psa 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

These verses Psalms 84:4-7 witness to the fruit that comes about as a result of abiding in the (pure/purified) house of God.

Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

The fruit of “praising thee” is on our lips with songs of thankgiving.

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

We are told that when the Lord is our strength, the one through whom we can endure all things (Php 4:13), that our hearts are set on “the ways” of “the way” (Joh 14:6) and we will find ourselves “passing through the valley of Baca (weeping^H1056) make it a well”, which is a beautiful reminder for God’s elect that our weeping, our sorrow in this life, will be turned to joy (Psa 126:5-6).

God will fill our lives with “the rain” that “filleth the pools^H1293” which symbolize the spirit of God that makes it possible for us, who are blessed to go from “strength to strength” or “glory to glory” (2Co 3:18) appearing in heavenly places before God “in Zion” (Eph 2:6, Eph 4:6) and ultimately coming up on mount Zion to provide living waters for the rest of the world from the “well”^H4599 which is Christ who is the fountain of life, the source of life, the vine (Oba 1:21, Rev 22:2, Joh 15:5).

Pools^H1293 berâkâh Total KJV Occurrences: 69

[64 times mentioned as some form of blessing/blessed]

– Strong’s: From H1288; benediction; by implication prosperity: – blessing liberal pool present

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Psa 84:8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
Psa 84:9 Behold, O God our shield^H4043, and look upon the face of thine anointed.

Give ear and behold “O LORD God of hosts” is our prayer and we need to “Selah” [pause] for a moment to consider the magnitude of the promises that have been given to us, and to remember that God is “our shield” and He is looking “upon the face of thine anointed”, those two sparrows that He is working with in this age, as the apple of His eye.

Zec 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Zec 2:9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
Zec 2:10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.

Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

We are called unto this blessing to know God and Jesus Christ (Joh 17:3) so that one day we can bless the multitudes with those living waters that will come forth from the fountain of life, or well of life, Jesus Christ and his Christ.

Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield^H4043: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Psa 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

“For a day in thy courts” is a reference to the day of the Lord where we are being measured against the measuring rod or plummet, Jesus Christ, so that we can show the house to the house (Rev 11:1, Eze 43:10).

God has called the weak of the world to inherit this greatest inheritance and honour (1Co 1:26) to be in the midst of the true body of Christ, raised in heavenly places together right now. We are blessed to be broken by the Lord so that we have a contrite and broken spirit as the weak of the world, who now want to take the lower seat, and to only be a doorkeeper (Isa 66:2, Luk 14:10).

Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

God is also in the process of making our face like a stone in the positive sense (Isa 50:7, Mal 3:6) – or like a impenetrable shield^H4043 – and it is that quality of changing not and appreciating the day of the Lord that we are experiencing within the house of God that is spoken of in this Psalm as “the LORD will give grace and glory”.

We need to confidently standing fast against the enemies within and without (Heb 10:35, Php 1:28-29) and know that it will be through the chastening and scourging that every son receives that we will be dragged to Christ (Heb 12:6, Joh 6:44) who blesses us so that we can trust in Him even to drink the cup that our flesh could never drink without His life within us making that possible (Mat 20:23, Col 1:27, Mat 19:26).

God will not “withhold from them that walk uprightly”. He will not withhold from accomplishing the process of making it possible for us to drink the cup indeed, and go through a lifetime of pruning (Act 14:22) so we can bring forth much fruit and lay up store, or treasure in heaven, through this life (Mat 6:20). God has called us to be blessed (1Pe 3:9, 1Pe 2:21, 2Th 2:14, Rom 12:14) and again will not “withhold from them that walk uprightly”.

We are blessed today to understand that our commission as the body of Christ is to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” which is something that is going to take a long period of time, but ultimately every heart will be turned to God when He is “all in all”, and that is our hope which we labour and suffer reproach for together.

Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing^H1293: [that word translated “pool” in verse 6]
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.