Psalm 84 says “Blessed are those whose strength is in you”. Interesting then to read the whole Psalm and find out what it means to find our strength in God. On a monday morning it might just be the very thing you need. Or maybe it is personal or financial. difficulties. Whatever it is, you’re probably thinking I really need God’s strength at the moment.
The psalmist starts by recognising ‘how lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!’ It starts from there, from recognising that the best place you could be is in God’s dwelling place. He is the LORD of hosts, the title used to remind his people that God commands the host of heaven and there are millions upon millions of angels who serve Him. The psalmist then turns to himself and says ‘my soul longs, yes faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.’ The next secret of strength is having that longing in your heart to be in God’s dwelling place, even just to be in the courts of the LORD for in those days no-one could enter the Holy of Holies. The psalmist’s desire to meet with God was so strong that if he didn’t he said he would faint. Our thirst and hunger and passion for God
- is
our strength!
The psalmist understood that every creature has a home, even the sparrow in their humble nest. And our hearts cannot rest until they find their rest, their home, in God. We were made for Him and without Him there will always be that nagging doubt that we were made for more than this. And so he says ‘ Blessed are those who dwell in your house ever singing your praise! Blessed are those whose strength is in you’. To have our strength in God is to recognise that His dwelling place is the best place we could be and to be those who hunger and thirst to find our home in Him.
The next verse is interesting! ‘In whose heart are the highways to Zion.’ What does that mean? Every year the people of God would pilgrim up through the highways of Israel to the mountain of God for their festivals and songs and feasts. The psalmist is saying that those who are strong have the highways to God’s dwelling place in their hearts! When we need that strength we can look inside us and remember our times of pilgrimage and meeting with God. Maybe it was our very first experiences with God. Maybe it was a time of prayer and fasting in our lives when we really met with God. Maybe it was an experience of God’s faithfulness in the toughest of times or a word of prophecy that God spoke to us. Whatever it is we all have those ‘highways’ in our hearts and the time we need them is when we need strength from God.
‘As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.’ Those who have the highways in their hearts can pilgrim to God any time. You don’t need a conference or festival, or a great speaker or worship leader. You can pilgrim! And as you start to do that you will make the valleys a place of springs. You will start to know God’s presence and blessing where you need it most and the springs will turn into pools and you will go ‘from strength to strength’ until you appear before God in Zion. Your strength is found in your pilgrimage and knowing the destination of God’s presence that you are pilgriming to!
And that begins to put the psalmist in the place where he can pray ‘O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer!’ Before you jump straight in with your requests try a bit of pilgriming first!
‘For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.’ The only thing that is going to keep you from the tents of wickedness is the longing to be in the house and presence of God. To know that simply being a doorkeeper is better than anything else by far. Nothing and no-one compares to God. A day in his presence will see you through a thousand days elsewhere. An encounter with him will sustain you for years.
‘The LORD God is a sun and a shield; no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!’ The LORD blesses and protects, it is a double blessing! He is a sun and a shield. Walking uprightly is the way to know his blessing and provision. The last line sums it up, this is all about trusting in God and the one who does is blessed and finds their strength in Him.
Happy pilgriming!
1. He doesn’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
The man who is blessed doesn’t take advise from those who aren’t! Literally he doesn’t ‘walk in their advice’. What are the sources of advise in your life as we all have them. Do we ‘walk’ in advice that isn’t helpful to us? The latest news or trends, how to get rich quick or succeed in life? Even the latest Christian fad or celebrity? We have to be careful who are friends are.
2. He doesn’t stand in the path of sinners.
This is going one step further. From walking in advice that isn’t helpful to standing in the path of sinners. If you stand in the path of a truck you’re going to get hit! Don’t stand in the path of sinners and then complain when things go wrong. Get out of the way of the truck!
3. He doesn’t sit in the seat of the scornful.
The lowest form of wit is mockery. It’s the easiest thing in the world to sit and criticise and mock and scorn. Don’t sit in that seat. Don’t be the one who says it will never change or ‘there’s no hope’ or ‘I can’t do it’. Be a God-believer as with Him all things are possible.
