The Traveller’s Prayer (Psalm 84:8-10)

We can see from the layout of the psalm that the word ‘selah’ occurs between verses 8 and 9. This would suggest that verse 8 belongs to the previous set of verses. Yet there is a common feature in verses 8 and 9 and that is that the psalmist speaks to God in each of them. So it is appropriate to take the verses together as this enables us to think about the matter of prayer.

What is prayer? Many definitions can and have been given. Prayer is a straightforward conversation with God in which we speak to him about the concerns of our hearts. In any conversation, it is important that we know to whom we are speaking. It is also essential for a meaningful conversation to have a suitable topic to speak about. After all, if the conversation partner is not interested in our topic, the conversation will not proceed.

Who can pray?

This is an important question. At a basic level, we could say anyone who can talk. Of course, by speech we don’t mean only spoken words because all of us can interact with God silently in our minds. Yet even if prayer is silent, it cannot be wordless except in situations when we do not know what to say, such as the occasions Paul has in mind in Romans 8 regarding those who only groan when praying. The fact that anyone can speak to God is a reminder that we are his creatures, and when such bring matters to God it is a form of prayer. This is why we can ask government bodies to remember the importance of prayer.

Yet the fact that there is this general availability of prayer should not blind us to the fact that usually prayer requires a personal relationship with the Lord. We can see that the composer of the psalm has such a relationship because he calls the Lord ‘my God’ in verse 10. How do we get into this relationship? We do so by believing in Jesus.

Who to pray to?

We can see from the psalm how the psalmist regarded the Lord. He uses two different names in speaking about him, and each of the names tells us something about the Hearer and Answerer of prayer. While a correct understanding of God does not in itself guarantee answers to prayer, it does prevent us from offending him by making inappropriate prayers.

The first title that the psalmist uses is ‘Lord God of hosts’. In this title, there is a description of the Lord with a mighty army. We have to remember that the psalmist is using an illustration that his contemporaries would realise depicted the greatness of God. A ruler’s greatness at that time would be revealed in the size of his army and his ability to defend his people and defeat their enemies. So here the psalmist travelling to Zion thinks of the Lord’s resources.

Why would he think about God in this way? Perhaps he did so because he was conscious of enemies and wanted to remind himself about the divine protection that the Lord would provide. Would he be kept safe as travelled? He reminds himself that his God has superior power to any earthly monarch. It is good to know that heaven’s army is on our side.

Who were the soldiers in this amazing host? I think it is possible that the psalmist is referring to the angels. Often they are described in the psalms as heavenly soldiers sent to further his kingdom and help his people.

Moreover, we can see in this name of God a reference to his covenant commitments. We can imagine a ruler with a powerful army who is totally unreliable and who could turn against those who looked to him for help. Our God will never do this, and we know he will not because he keeps his promises.

Of course, we need to move the psalm into its New Testament meaning. Who is the Lord of hosts today, in charge of the heavenly army, committed to the defence of his cause and overcoming its opponents? The answer to that question is Jesus. He has been given all power in heaven and earth, and if the army is the angelic host we know from the New Testament that they are sent by him to help the heirs of salvation.

The second divine title that the psalmist uses is God of Jacob. Does he mean Jacob the patriarch in particular or is he using that name as a description of Israel in general? Perhaps he means both in the sense that some of the traits of Jacob marked his descendants. Or maybe he is calling us to note God’s faithfulness to one who tried on many occasions to manipulate people. I would say that we are being called to think about what God did for Jacob and then apply those details to our own situations.

The God of Jacob put up with the scheming of Jacob. His scheming got him into all sorts of trouble, yet the Lord did not abandon him. This does not justify the scheming of Jacob, but it does remind us that when we try and manipulate events and fail, the Lord remains faithful.

The God of Jacob blessed the sorrows of Jacob for his benefit. Jacob had many sorrows, some caused by himself and others inflicted upon him by his own children such as when they pretended that Joseph had been killed.

The God of Jacob was Jacob’s shepherd. Jacob confessed this in his old age when he blessed his sons: ‘the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day’ (Gen. 48:15). His example is a reminder that we should expect older believers to appreciate this reality more than younger believers. After all, they can look back over a longer period of time and observe many ways in which the Lord led them.

There is a possible connection between the two divine titles in the narratives in Genesis 32. In that chapter we are told that the angelic host met Jacob at Mahanaim and later in the chapter he wrestled with God at Peniel for a blessing. Maybe the psalmist was conscious of angelic protection as he travelled to his destination and prayed earnestly about it.

How do we combine those two descriptions? William MacDonald has done so when he writes in his commentary this sentence, ‘The One who is infinitely high is also intimately nigh.’ The Lord who is surrounded by the worshipping heavenly host is delighted to meet with those who, like Jacob, are unworthy.

How to pray

In verse 8, the psalmist shows us how to pray. He uses the little word ‘O’ when he uses the name of God. We use that word when we want something strongly – using it reveals the intensity of our desires. Moreover, he urges God to pay attention as he prays. We can see this in the insistence of the psalmist that the Lord listens to his requests. Here we have holy boldness. Of course, the boldness is not based on an inflated view of himself. Instead it is based on the promises of God. The Lord had promised to listen and here he is asked to listen by the psalmist.

I would also suggest that the psalmist knew his prayers could be answered because of the presence of one whom he calls the Lord’s anointed, which could be a reference to the High Priest or to the King. The Lord’s anointed here is described in two ways. First, he is the shield of his people and, second, he is one whom the Lord can look at with pleasure. The traveller does not suggest that his needs in themselves are a sufficient reason or motive for the Lord to answer his prayers. Do we not have in this reference to the Lord’s anointed a twofold description of Jesus? He is our shield and he is the one who has been anointed with the Holy Spirit in order to give spiritual blessings to all of his people. How long will he be our shield? For as long as the Father can look on his face with delight! And that is only another of saying forever.

It is good when we are praying to recognise the place that Jesus has, and to think about his place from our perspective and from the perspective of the Heavenly Father. From our perspective, he is our shield from the wrath of God. Our sins deserve punishment and Jesus is our shield because he has borne the punishment. Then, from the Father’s perspective, Jesus is the Anointed One who has received the Spirit because of his great victory on the cross when he defeated the powers of darkness and made atonement for our sins.

The assessment of the person praying

It looks from verse 10 that the person praying was one of the sons of Korah because they were the ones divinely chosen to be the doorkeepers in the temple. Maybe he wrote this verse after he had been able to get to the city for one of the feasts, or perhaps he wrote it as he recalled periods of service he had participate in on previous occasions in the temple. As we look at his assessment, we can see that it involves a comparison and a confession.

The comparison concerns numbers: in the first half of verse 10 he contrasts days and in the second half he contrasts locations. One day in God’s courts is better than one thousand days away from it and the temple is better than all the tents of sin. It is not hard for us to deduce from his comparison that we should ask ourselves two questions: (1) what day do I like best? and (2) what place do I like best? We should do this because the answers to those questions are what the psalmist says in his confession, and they will inform us about whether or not we are genuine travellers.

We miss the point if we think that the psalmist was prepared to be only a doorkeeper, as if the role was not very important. This role was not insignificant in the running of the temple – the doorkeeper was responsible for maintaining the sanctity of the temple (keeping out inappropriate persons) as well as ensuring the security of the temple articles from thieves. The point is that the psalmist was prepared to do what God had called him to do and he was prepared to keep on doing it. He was delighted to serve the Lord in this way.

It was also the case that the psalmist had been born into this role as one of the sons of Korah. No doubt, some of them would have engaged in their duties in a very formal manner and some may have imagined that all that mattered was an outward conformity to God’s instructions. The psalmist is a reminder that the Lord does not want formal and mere external conformity to his requirements. Is his desire not a powerful challenge to those of us who have been baptised, but who have not had a change of heart? It is possible to look right and be totally wrong.