Using Psalm 84, let’s consider what God might say about our pilgrimage through life. On what should we be focused?
- We should live with a passion for God’s presence.
Psalm 84:1-4 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O 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, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
Passion is something that is cultivated in our lives as we pursue an interest, as we become a part of a team, as we educate ourselves, as we immerse ourselves in that activity, and as we put ourselves in certain atmospheres.
Listen, your relationship with God is the only part of your earthly existence that will follow you into Heaven. To live life disconnected from God’s presence is to then live for that which is only temporary. To live life disconnected from God’s presence is to live for things which will never satisfy you long-term. To live disconnected from God’s presence is to wander through life and come up empty. Everything is meaningless apart from a relationship with God. Everything. It is our connection with God that gives us a sense of identity, purpose, and passion for life.
The Israelites in the OT knew what the Presence of God meant to them as they journeyed through the wilderness. They were led by the presence of God. They were fed by the presence of God. They were protected by the presence of God. Isaiah 63:9 says, “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” There is rescue in God’s presence. There is an uplift in God’s presence. There is security to be found as we are carried along by the Presence of God. There is an exhilaration, a high higher than any other earthly high, when we are in the presence of the Most High God!
No wonder the writer of Psalm 84 wrote, “My soul years for the presence of God.” “My heart and flesh cry out for the presence of God.” “Blessed are those who dwell in your house.” Why were they blessed? Because they were connecting with the presence of God.
This concept of the Presence of God was huge to the OT pilgrims who were making their way to the Promised Land. In Exodus 33, Moses had a conversation with God about their pilgrimage to the new place. He begged God not to leave them. He said that there was no way they could make the trip without Him. He said in verse 15, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
Do we have that kind of passion for God’s presence in our lives? Moses didn’t just want to sign up for the protection and the favor and the guidance of God, in the same passage, he asked God to teach Him his ways. He also sought the instruction that came from close fellowship with God. He wanted an intimate relationship with God. Later in Exodus 33 he asked God to show Him His glory. He knew nothing could compare to seeing the glory of God, the manifested presence of God.
It is the presence of God in our lives that distinguishes Christian people from any other pilgrim on this planet! Pursue the presence of God. That is the priority of a Christian pilgrim. Put everything else on hold if you have to in order to engage with Him. That pursuit will give you the perspective you need to make the journey.
Well, not only should Christian pilgrims live with a passion for the presence of God, but we should also live with a reliance on God’s power. True pilgrims who are pursing God’s presence and who are living with eternity in mind can make the pilgrimage and not lose strength, not lose heart.
Moving on in Psalm 86. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. “Baca” is a Hebrew word meaning “balsam tree.” What you need to know about the balsam tree is that it has sap that oozes from it like tears.
The Valley of Baca is a name for any difficult and painful place in life where everything seems hopeless. It is the valley where you feel helpless. It is the pit of despair where there is a constant pit in your stomach and a dread for tomorrow. For God’s people who are living with a passion for His presence and who are counting on His power to see them through, the Valley of Baca isn’t wanted or welcomed, but it is walked through with an expectation that we will walk through it, overcome it and celebrate victory on the other side.
God’s people are the only people who can claim that “all things will work together for their good” (Romans 8:28). Notice again what verse 6 says: As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. For Christian pilgrims, the Valley is a place of transformation.
I have found that when God strengthens you to get through the valley He is also working on your heart at the same time. God is an awesome multi-tasker, Church. He is accomplishing something in us in the valleys of life. He just keeps telling us to breathe in His presence, and as we walk through the valley, He starts pointing things out. He teaches us about fully relying on Him. Things start to look beautiful even in the valley. There can even be rejoicing in the valley.
God can take us through the wilderness, through the thorns and thistles, and cause us to come out with greater strength, more courage, and more passion than ever. Only God’s people know what it is like to be infused with strength when you think you can’t go on. Only God’s people know what it is like to find real peace in the midst of the storm. Only God’s people can possess joy in the journey even when it takes what some may think is a detour through the valley. Only God’s people can see the goodness of the Lord in the midst of sorrow and pain.
Usually, a walk through a valley takes energy from us, but that isn’t what happens when we walk through the valley in the power of the Lord. Look at verse 7: They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Paul said, II Corinthians 4:16-18 “16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Paul was a pilgrim whose eyes were on his eternal destiny at all times.
But listen, none of this empowering is possible if we are relying on ourselves to get us out of the valley. Our tears will overtake us. Our grief will overpower us. Our depression will defeat us. Our doubters will discourage us. We will be valley focused rather than eternity focused.
Notice again what verse 5 says: Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. Notice the Psalmist didn’t encourage us to set our hearts on the valley and give our emotional selves to the valley. He said we will be blessed if we live with that eternal perspective and remind our hearts that we are just passing through. Sometimes we have to tell our hearts what to feel because they get valley focused instead of eternity focused. Sometimes we have to encourage ourselves in the Lord and get focused on what is real and what is real isn’t always the same as what we can see.
God didn’t create us for us to die in the valley. He didn’t make us to leave us in the desert. We are headed somewhere. We are always moving toward an eternal reality. The Bible says that God has set eternity in our hearts. Ecclesiastes 3:11. There is a sense that we will be on the other side of everything that holds us back and tries to hold us down one day. We are moving towards a reality with no more tears! There will be no oozing sap in heaven! Hallelujah!
Finally, as we pilgrim towards our eternal home, let us look to God for protection and provision.
9 Look upon our shield, 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 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
God has done everything necessary to ensure we are going to make it. He will protect us and take us safely to our eternal home, and I am willing to get into any boat that He says He will guide. He has provided salvation for us in Christ and will provide for our daily needs as we trust in Him. The blessing of God doesn’t isn’t withheld until we die and go to heaven, but verse 12 reminds us we are already blessed if we are trusting in God.
I am not talking about a one-time trust, but a moment by moment trust, a walk of trust, an unbroken commitment to follow where He leads and reliance on Him to provide. But what happens sometimes is when we go through the Valley and want something to make us feel better immediately, something to divert our hearts and minds from the pain, something to take the edge off our suffering, so we stop trusting in God and look to those earthly, temporary things to satisfy us. Whether it is a relationship, a drug, a bottle of alcohol, a sexual fantasy, a gambling escapade a credit card shopping binge, or something else, we shift our minds and hearts from our eternal Provider in an effort to guide our own lives out of the valley. It never works. It just takes our strength and keeps us in the valley longer than we would have been had we not taken charge.
Our trust in God, moment by moment, will dictate the quality of our walk as pilgrims in this land. Rather than rely on our own understanding, seek the presence of God. It will sustain you. Rely on His power. It will transform you. Allow Him to protect and provide for you. It will satisfy you! Let’s place our hand in His hand and not let go. Something greater. Something beautiful is waiting for us. Live in the light of eternity and the reality that we are just pilgrims, and we are merely passing through.
