IF I ONLY HAD ONE DAY
Psa. 84:10-12
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the
wicked. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is
blameless. 12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Intro:
V. 10a - Consider for a moment that you only had one day to live.
What would you do with that one day? – Give time to answer (top 3 ), give time to ask – check..
Maybe you would spend it doing something you had always wanted to do, but had never gotten the
chance- go to a place you want to go, buy you always wanted to buy,
Maybe you would choose to spend it with family and friends.
Maybe you would want to spend that one day fulfilling some fantasy or dreams
In this verse, David seems to be considering that thought and comes to the conclusion that one day
spent serving God is better than 1,000 days spent doing anything else.
It seems to me that David is saying that if he only had one day in which to live, that HE WOULD SPEND
IT SERVING THE LORD.
If I only had one day, how would I spend it?
I think I would want to spend it serving the Lord.
How about you?
In these verses, David talks about his decision and the reasons why he feels this way.
Let's look at these 3 verses as we think on the thought, IF I ONLY HAD ONE DAY!
If I Only Had One Day, I'd Want To:
I. V. 10 BE FOUND IN MY PLACE - Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked
1. In My Place Of Service –
David tells us that he had rather be the door keeper in the House of God that to enjoy the all
the wealth and luxury of evil.
o gatekeepers protect the holiness of the tabernacle
In other words, David says that he would rather be found serving the Lord than serving the
Devil!
I say "Amen" to that!
The Bible makes it clear that every saint of God has a special place of ministry and service to the
Lord, 1 Cor. 12:7-12. - 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there
is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to
another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another
prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another
the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one,
just as he determines. Now, while some positions are more visible than others, none is any more or less valuable than any
other position in the body of Christ. The greatest thing a man can say is that he is being faithful to the task God has called
him to. If I had one day to live I would want to be found in my place of service doing what the Lord has called me to do!
(Note: He just wants to be in the door, where he can look in every now and again and see the Lord at work.
There is no safest place , safest condition, safest state than to be in the place of SERVICE TO THE
LORD!
2. In My Place Of Surrender – HOUSE OF MY GOD
The words "my God" seem to infer a sense of devotion to God. –
o Devotion to God entails FULLY SURRENDER and YIELDING to HIS WILL.
David is saying that he wants to be found in his place, SURRENDERED to the perfect will of God
for his life.
In other words, he wants to die on the battlefield faithfully serving the Lord who sought him
and bought him out of sin and destruction.
If I had just one day to live, I'd want to live it still surrendered to the Lord's will for my life.
There is no higher calling than that of simply being what the Lord wants you to be!
Note: When the Lord is "MY GOD" all of His things will become exceedingly precious to us and
we will want to be near Him at all times!
3. In My Place Of Satisfaction –
WHERE DO WE GET OUR SATISIFACTION?
When can life be more fulfilling? – When we are surrounded with friends, when we get the
approval of people, when you acquire new things?
Nothing is more satisfying than serving the Lord and Knowing That You Are In His Will
David is telling us by his decision that he believes the LORD'S WORST is still better THAN THE
DEVIL'S BEST!
Christian should learn this truth: "ALL THE DEVIL'S APPLES HAVE WORMS!"
o This world will offer many things to entice God’s people.
o These are apples handed to us freely by the devil, it appears enticing but it’s end is our
destruction.
If I had but one day to live, I'd still want to be found in my place serving my Lord!
What about you?
If I Only Had One Day, I'd Want To:
I. BE FOUND IN MY PLACE
II. V. 11 ENJOY GOD'S PROVISIONS - For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing
does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
1. His Presence
David calls the Lord a sun.
Like the sun above, the Lord is ever with His children, Heb. 13:5 - “Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you; Matt. 28:20. – I am with you always even until the end of the age.
Like the sun above, the Lord is ever providing comfort for the journey.
God lights our way, He warms our way and gives guidance to us along the way.
Just as the suns delights the hearts of men, so the Lord delights the hearts of His children!
2. His Protection
The Lord is also called a shield.
Just as He provides warmth and light for our journey, He also provides protection for His people
in the way.
The Psalmist tells us that we are protected by the Angel of the Lord, Psa. 34:7. - The angel of the Lord
encamps around those who fear him and he delivers them.
He is above us to give us what we need and He is all around us to protect us as we journey
toward Heaven.
3. His Promises - 7487 promises
Promises of God entails conditions and commands- our part is to OBEY!
Now the Psalmist tells us that the Lord will give Grace and Glory.
This is a two-fold promise to every child of God.
We are promised His grace while we travel and he promised His glory when we arrive at home.
There is help for today and hope for tomorrow.
God is simply promising to get us home safely!
4. His Plenty –
Here we are reminded that the Lord delights in providing for the needs of His children,
Luke 12:32 - Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
We must remember that we are His children and the sheep of His pasture, Psa. 100:3. - Know that the
Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his[a]; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
One reason we have the troubles we have and worry as we do is that WE HAVE FORGOTTEN TO
WHOM WE BELONG!
We are the Lord's people and we are His responsibility, Matt. 6:24-33.
He will bless your life, it is simply a matter of your learning to trust Him and rest in Him!
III. V. 12 SHARE GOD'S PROMISES - Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you
This Psalm closes with the Psalmist praising the Lord and exalting Him.
In doing so, he reminds us that genuine happiness can be produced only by placing one's faith and
trust in the Lord.
This speaks of a life that is yielded and walking in true faith.
The person who walks in faith is blessed and can count on the Lord showing Himself strong in their
need - Matt. 6:33.
Like the Psalmist, God's people need to be in the business of spreading the word that faith in Jesus
pays off.
Our job is to share the Gospel of grace with a world that is sold under sin!
If I only had one day, I'd want to spend it telling someone about Him! – tell others of God’s goodness,
of HIS faithfulness,of your experiences, of your testimonies (when you get a good experience out of a
product, service, place – we tell others of our experiences, we even recommend it to people)
THIS SHOULD BE THE ATTITUDE OF GOD’S PEOPLE!
Conc:
If you knew that tomorrow would be your last day upon the earth, how would you spend it?
God help us all to decide to spend whatever remains of our days for Him and His glory.
Blessed is the man who does!
