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Jo Penn February 05, 2026 0 0

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Psalm 84 (NIV-UK)

1 How lovely is your dwelling-place,
    Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, 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 have her young –
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
    listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield, O God;
    look with favour on your anointed one.

10 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 favour and honour;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose way of life is blameless.

12 Lord Almighty,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Psalm 84 reads like the author’s love song to God and the place (temple) where God dwells. The author longs to be there even as a doorkeeper or like the swallow building a nest near the altar. There is much to praise God about – and those that are close to God are blessed with good things. In fact, trusting God with one’s life brings favour and honour (verse 12).

Brené Brown is a researcher, coach, writer and follower of Jesus, who loves to talk to leaders about the importance of trust. She likens building trust to you putting marbles in a jar each time someone has done something that proves that they are someone to trust. As you go through each day you naturally note who did something that built you up, who chose to thank you, who really listened to you. Our task is to build up a store of marbles with others so that when the time comes for you to ask people to trust you then there is evidence showing that you are someone they can trust. These everyday moments of kindness and connection make a team able to work together through the situations that they face.

This building trust through small moments of kindness and care also works for making friends, within family and other relationships where we have to work together.

How does God put marbles into our trust jar each day? One way that we can see God’s faithfulness to our wellbeing is by being intentional about listing God’s gifts to us each day – the breath of life, the provision of food and shelter, for work to do, for friends and family, for good news. This invites us to thankfulness and trust.

Yet trust in God is not just about the good times – can we remember where God has provided things for us when times were hard and difficult? For me, I thank God for the provision of a rented flat at a key time in my life. 

Prayer:

Lord God,

Increase my thankfulness for all you provide, that I may see how trustworthy you are.

Help me to be more trustworthy for others.

Amen.