Psalm 84 - The Grandeur of the Tabernacle

In the introduction to Psalm 84, it tells us a little bit about the author. It says this is "A Psalm of the Sons of Korah." The only thing that is important for us to remember about that as we study this Psalm is what is found in 1st Chronicles 9:19, "The Korahites were in charge of the work of the service, gate keepers of the Tabernacle." Do you see? They had an official job. They were gate keepers at the tabernacle.

So what do these gate keepers say? Psalm 84:1, "How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!" They are addressing God. They had been standing there on the job, looking around, and it hits him. "Wow! This is magnificent!" They realized just how gorgeous, how lovely, the tabernacle was.

Of course it was. God's home must be the most beautiful, most magnificent, most glorious place in the universe. And it is in heaven. We can get little glimpses of it here and there in Scripture, especially in Revelation 21. Paul caught sight of it, and he said he coudn't tell us about it because it was beyond words. John saw it and had to resort to magnificent symbols to describe it - an emerald rainbow around the throne, a sea of glass as clear as crystal, walls of jasper, gates of pearls, streets of gold. What an awesome place the temple of God is in heaven.

And the earthly tabernacle was a pale replica of that. Did you know that the earthly tabernacle used the same plans as the heavenly one? Hebrews 8:5 tells us that, speaking about the priests,

"Who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'"

The earthly tabernacle was a pint-size replica of the one in heaven. It was like a model airplane compared to the real thing.

And God revealed the pattern to Moses, He gave the blueprint, on Mt. Sinai. So the Israelites did their best to make the tabernacle just as beautiful as they could. No price was too great to pay. No sacrifice was too great to make. They gave and gave and gave until Moses had to tell them, "Enough is enough!" Exodus 36:2-7 records the event:

"Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholioab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. so they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, 'The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.' So Moses gave a command, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, 'Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.' And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work done - indeed too much."

Wow! What sacrificial giving.! If the members of our churches were ever to give like that, can you imagine what could be accomplished for God? Could you imagine people giving until the pastor had to stand up and tell them, "Stop! You've given way more than is needed."

But no sacrifice was too great for them, not for the the temple of God. And you can read about the grandeur of the tabernacle for five chapters in Exodus. Exodus 25-30 gives intricate details of the tabernacle. No wonder the sons of Korah were in awe looking around at it. No wonder it made them want to praise God.