In God's House. Psalms 84:1-4

To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young-Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah

Notes

v.2a My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord;

For only the priests could enter the sanctuary and the rest of the people into the courts. GBN. As NT testament believers how much more should we desire to enter the courts of a of a gracious and merciful God considering How the OT (God of Wrath) believers desired to enter into His Sanctuary and they could NOT. Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Do we feel the same burning desire after God? David is here crying for it; he needed no clutter of bells to ring him in to the service, he carried his bell in his own bosom. SDC.

True subjects love the courts of their king. TOD. Courts (def.) private, special place; house or residence where one loves to dwell

lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls

Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

Christ's endurance of the sinner's hostility ensured that there is no reason for believers to become weary and discourage. He will furnish you with the same Spirit, and will support you with the same strength. He conquered the continual opposition of sinners with meekness, patience, and perseverance: He has left you an example that ye should follow his steps. If ye trust and constantly confide in Him, ye shall receive strength; ye shall not be weary: if ye attentively look to Him, ye shall have continual courage to go on, and never faint in your minds. ACC

Daniel 9:1-3 Preparing to Pray....

Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

1) How did Daniel understand?

Daniel understood by the word of the Lord coming through the prophet Jeremiah. We can understand God more by referring to His Holy Word. © For even though he was an excellent Prophet, yet he daily increased in knowledge by the reading of the scriptures. GBN

(1 Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.)

Prophecy of the seventy years divinely given to Jeremiah is so powerful that another OT prophet referred to it. This has NOT happened all that much in scripture.

2) And I set my face unto the Lord God...

Preparation for prayer begins with the mind of God. Colossians 3:2 Set your affection {affection: or, mind} on things above, not on things on the earth. With fasting ... (mortifying the things of the flesh); sackcloth, and ashes (soberness, seriousness).

3) If God is sovereign, do we need to pray?

1-3 Daniel learned from the books of the prophets, especially from Jeremiah, that the desolation of Jerusalem would continue seventy years, which were drawing to a close. God’s promises are to encourage our prayers, not to make them needless; and when we see the performance of them approaching, we should more earnestly plead them with God. MHCC

and as he saw nothing that indicated a speedy termination of their oppressive captivity ACC

Oftentimes we want to see some indications of God’s word before we pray?