Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday August 18, 2009

The other day I got to thinking about a statement made by David, the former shepherd, when Ben Mott quoted the source for the thought. Here is the verse and then my take:

Psalms 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."

The part of the verse for my thought is "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God…"

David is referring to a very low station in the house, or actually service of the Lord as opposed to a high station in any other area of life. A high station is fine as long as service to Christ is not abandoned or relegated to secondary priority.

What David meant by "tents of wickedness" is anybody's guess, so have at it. It makes sense to me that "tents" represents that which is out of bounds according to God's instruction on such things. The "tents" would be a position that is looked up to, even longed after, a place of secular respect and honor and perhaps pleasure, and certainly when attained would provide more than adequate remuneration.

By contrast the position of "doorkeeper" in the house of the Lord would be a place or position held in low esteem by the secular mind. A verse in 1Chronicles 9:21 "And Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." comes to mind and it implies a doorkeeper may have been an inspector to make sure the men passed muster prior to being given entrance to the House of God as to their having met the ritual requirements of true Jews. David clearly states even this position would be better for a spiritual person than the widest fame, or the richest lifestyle.

In our society even churchy people are consumed by the concept of "more." Those who claim to help the battered and bruised souls are gaining their own tent of pseudo wholeness by charging exorbitant fees as they counsel and console the "believers" who must have more or at the very least their own way, rather than the Lord's will in their life.

Paul wrote to a young preacher and gave sweeping advice to him on the best station in life. 1Timothy 6:6: "But godliness with contentment is great gain."

If you don't have everything you think would make you happy, you can always accept the truth of Paul's statement. It is really, at the deepest level what we all are searching for.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2009 Use with credit.

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