Psalm 84
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.[c]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.[d7 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,[e] O God; look with favor 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 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.
Good morning. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week. I'm sure schools will not miss the opportunity to showcase Thanksgiving reenactments performed by their students dressed as Pilgrims. While the image of a pilgrim holds great significance for those students wanting to understanding their nation's history, it serves even greater purpose for those believers trying to comprehend their identity in God's kingdom.
As pilgrims, those who boarded the Mayflower took it upon themselves to leave their homes and journey to a foreign land. One cannot understate the difficultly, nor underestimate the fear of deciding to leave behind everything familiar and head for a place to which one had no understanding or connection.
And yet the difficult journey into the unknown is worth the risk for the pilgrim. For the pilgrim does not wander aimlessly, but instead plans his or her pilgrimage with a specific destination in mind. While the Pilgrims in the Thanksgiving story had their hearts set on the New World, Psalm 84 invites all believers to journey to a place more wonderful and glorious than anything our imaginations can formulate.
Psalm 84 sends out the pilgrim not for some massive rock resting on the shoreline, but rather for the dwelling place of the Lord Almighty. I don't know about you, but I am profoundly convicted by the opening verses of Psalm 84. How many times a week does my soul yearn for the courts of the Lord? How many times a day does my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God? Has my zeal for the Lord ever caused me to pass out?
Psalm 84 convinces the pilgrim that the blessings awaiting at the house of the Lord far outweigh any possible threat or danger one may encounter along the way. Upon reaching its destination, Psalm 84 encourages the pilgrim to fill the house of the Lord with unending praise for the strength God gives to all who risk loss and suffering to arrive at His door. Even if for a time the journey passes through arid valleys of desolation, Psalm 84 persuades the pilgrim to trust that eventually the drenching autumn rains will quench his or her thirst. Consequently, Psalm 84 declares that the longer the journey the stronger the pilgrim becomes.
Even if only for one day, Psalm 84 urges the pilgrim to forsake the thousand distractions in their life so he or she might experience life in the courts of the Lord. Even if the only lodging available was on the Lord's doorstep, Psalm 84 presses the pilgrim to reject the spacious accommodations of the wicked. Even when all seems lost, Psalm 84 implores the pilgrim to receive the good things the Lord has to give to those who keep walking after Him.
Finally, Psalm 84 informs the pilgrim that he or she will need to possess a trust that only genuine faith can sustain. A trust that the Lord Almighty will be with them every step of the journey. A trust that the Great I Am will not fail to provide their every need when they reach their destination. A trust that Yahweh will deliver them from all danger.
So this week I ask all of us to consider, does our faith need to summon the courage to leave behind safe theories about God's will so our faith travels to a place it has never been? Should our compassion muster the strength to abandon comfortable assumptions about God's love so our compassion ventures to a destination it has never reached? Can our trust gather the confidence to jettison untested beliefs in God's provision so our trust goes on a pilgrimage?
CJE