PSALM 84
1How 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 walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,blessed is the one who trusts in You.
Psalm 84 BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE STRENGTH IS IN GOD
Springford Baptist Church: Sept. 10, 2023.
This is the time of year when many people are making pickles
and relishes and bottling all sorts of things. I remember when I would come home from school and my Mom would have wonderful smells of what she had been preserving in the farm kitchen. Now it is one thing to have these bottles of jams and peaches and pears and tomatoes and sauces lining the shelves, but as we know you need to be able to open the lids. If you have a jar that you are trying to open and cannot, what a relief to have someone whose strength is what is needed.
We can be reminded that likewise when we are lacking strength that God can provide the strength we need.
We read in Psalm 84:5 “Blessed are those whose strength is in You (that’s God) whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”
Do we live each day aware of needing God’s strength and reaching out to receive His strength?|
Are our hearts set on pilgrimage?
We will want to look more closely at what it can mean to have our hearts set on pilgrimage.
I think of a Christian summer camp where their goal is to see the campers come “one step closer to Jesus”. When our hearts are set on pilgrimage and we want to keep travelling closer to our loving God, then we find that we are receiving strength from God for each step of the journey.
This Psalm 84 speaks of someone longing to come near to God in His temple.
It is this longing for God that sets our hearts on pilgrimage to come near to God and to find our strength in Him.
As the psalm begins, the writer is expressing longing for the house of the Lord and being able to meet with God there.
“1How 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.” (Psalm 84:1,2)
It is a compelling desire to be closer with God that would have our heart and flesh cry out for the living God. There is nothing that can replace an experience of God close with us. When we have experienced this then our hearts are set on pilgrimage. We long to again receive His strength and to be convinced that He is with us.
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. (Psalm 84:3)
The psalmist is here recalling that there are birds that have easy access to God’s temple and can even build a nest for their young near the altar.
This is our prayer that we have close access to God and also our children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews. Where we have found strength in God, we want those who are young to discover this same possibility.
I am reassured to think that as I can turn to God to provide strength for whatever I am facing so can those whom I love.
Those of you who have raised your families in church but don’t find them in church now, can trust God to reveal His love and care and strength for them when they do recognize that need.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You. (Psalm 84:4)
When our hearts are set on pilgrimage closer to God, we do look forward to praising God in His house. Does this mean that when we come to worship God, we have no problems or anxious concerns? Absolutely not. Yet, when we do gather to worship God, we can receive reassurance of His strength and that we are never alone. This gives us reason to praise Him!
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. (Psalm 84:5)
When we are finding our strength in the Lord, then we are determined to come nearer and nearer to Him. We recognize that nothing else is sufficient to satisfy us and so our hearts turn to Him.
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. (Psalm 84:6,7)
This describes God’s people travelling to worship God in His temple in Zion (Jerusalem).
Even when our pilgrimage closer to God takes us through difficult valleys, we are given strength.
God’s people on the way to Zion can remember the strength of God for their ancestors as they travelled through the desert of Sinai on their way to the Promised Land.
What do you make of that phrase, “from strength to strength.” (vs. 7a)
This assures me of God extending His strong hand to help us and when we are passing through a difficult valley, God reaches out to give us strength so that we do not give up. There is fresh strength from God provided as needed! When we feel we cannot go another step, God is right with us to give us His strength. Our strength must be in the Lord not in our limited resources.
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 walk is blameless.
(Psalm 84:8-11)
This intense desire to be close with God is expressed when the psalmist writes “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” (vs. 10) There is nothing that can compare to a close encounter with God.We can be close with God when we come to church to worship God with other people who also love God. We can be close with God when we receive His strength in our day to day living and are deeply grateful.
There is blessing in finding our strength in the LORD.
We can echo the last verse of this psalm,
“12 Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You.” (Psalm 84:12)
Wherever we are needing to find strength from God right now, I pray that we will choose to trust God and to receive the blessing of knowing God close with us and inviting us to keep journeying closer to Him always. May our hearts be set on pilgrimage.