http://bible.us/Ps84.10.NLT A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.

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The Psalms never cease to amaze me. Mostly because I believe that the Psalmists were being honest. When this Psalmist says he would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of God than to live the good life in the homes of the wicked, I believe that is how he felt.

This Psalm is ” Of the Korahites” according to my Bible. The Korahites had an interesting beginning with their patriarch, Korah, opposing Moses in the wilderness. It was quite the messy situation and Korah suffered the consequences of his rebellion, but the “sons of Korah” were spared. Yet, the sins of the father, in some ways, did rest on the sons because they were to become gatekeeper (or door keepers) for the Tent of Meeting and later the Temple. This means, while their lives and line were spared, they could not enter the templ

That background is important to understand this verse. The writer is a doorkeeper to the temple. He is not to enter the temple, but to remain outside. Imagine what it would be like to watch the worshipers enter day after day, yet, you had to remain outside watching. No wonder he says a day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. He was always outside looking in…he just was trying to imagine what it would be like to go into the Temple. Try to sense the yearning to just once enter the temple of God. Nevertheless, he realizes that he would rather be a doorkeeper than to live a good life in the house of the wicked.

I wonder if someday I will be able to say the same thing. I live a life of conflicting goals and desires. I’m pulled in a hundred different direction. Perhaps this Korahites can help me to realize that God is the ultimate goal. Nothing I could ever desire can compare to him. Maybe the Psalmist can help me to see a day in God’s courts is better than any where else!