A Song for the Journey (3)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 84.5-7
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.

Sing Psalm 84.5-7
(Holy Manna: Brethren, We Have Met to Worship)
Blessed are they whose strength is founded in Your strength, O Lord above.
All whose hearts in You are grounded journey in Your strength and love.
Though they weep with tears of sadness, grace shall all their way sustain.
In Your Presence, filled with gladness, they shall conquer all their pain.

Read Psalm 84.5-8

Preparation
1. What did the psalmists know as their strength?

2. How did that help them along their journey?

Meditation
The word “blessed” here ties back to the first psalm, where “Blessed” is the opening word of the Psalter. Here “blessed” means something like “completely happy and fulfilled”. They are blessed throughout their journey in life who find their strength in the Lord (v. 5), by meditating and walking in His Law and all His Word (Ps. 1.1-3).

The psalmists compare the life of faith to a pilgrimage to God’s temple in Jerusalem. We know that the end of our journey will be to see Jesus face to face, and thus to be like Him (1 Jn. 3.1-3). We must set our heart for the journey, resolved that we will not be distracted from the path of His commandments (1 Jn. 2.1-6), and drawing on His strength for every step of the way. We will have some hard times, we know. We all must go through low points of weeping (“Baca”), but God can turn those into times of refreshment if we keep our heart set on His Word and draw our strength from Him (v. 6).

In this life we go “from strength to strength” (v. 7) – or, as Paul put it, from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3.12-18) – as we cleave to the Lord in prayer (v. 8) and persevere in our journey toward His dwelling place. Our progress toward God is gradual in this life. Gradual, but real. We can know more strength and glory every day of our lives as we set our face to see the face of Jesus and walk the path He has marked out for us.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
In 1955 Parker Brothers created a board game called Going to Jerusalem. As a child, while playing this game, I learned an important thing: Jesus’ intention was always to go to Jerusalem to die. Indeed, His heart was set on it. His pilgrimage (Ps. 84.5).

We, too, are called to pilgrimage; and to set our hearts on it. “My heart is set on keeping Your decrees to the very end” (Ps. 119.112 NIV) Or, as the NKJV has it, “I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very end.” Either way, we are called to follow God daily until we have no more days left, until we are at the end of our journey.

Jesus’ example for us is an unflinching one.

In the game, every turn brought Him closer to the end.

For the players, whoever got there first, won. (A dichotomy, to be sure.)

Isaiah wrote of Jesus: “For the LORD God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced;
therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed” (Is. 50.7).

“Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem…His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem” (Lk. 9.51, 53).

Jesus was doggedly determined to go to Jerusalem. For us.
“And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mk. 8.31).

As we follow the Lord Jesus’ example of determinately going to Jerusalem, His Spirit will lead and guide us. He has gone before us to show us the way (Matt. 28. 7). In fact, He is the way (Jn. 14. 6). And on our way, we will need a guide for the journey found in His Word and Law. This was not a game for Him, nor is this a game for us. It is serious business. And we, like Jesus, have set our faces like flint to make it to the end.

“Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (Ps. 119.54). Heartset.

Reflection
1. What are some things that could keep you from fully setting your heart for your journey to our Lord? How can you keep from being distracted or derailed by these?

2. Why is it important that we travel this journey of faith with other believing friends?

3. How would you counsel new believers to cleave to Jesus throughout their journey to the Lord?

The pilgrims to the heavenly city may have to pass through many a valley of weeping, and many a thirsty desert; but wells of salvation shall be opened for them, and consolations sent for their support. Those that press forward in their Christian course, shall find God add grace to their graces. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on the Psalm 84.1-7

Closing Prayer: Psalm 84.1-4
Offer yourself to the Lord for today’s journey. Call upon Him for the strength you will need to live for His glory in everything you do.

Sing Psalm 84.1-4
(Holy Manna: Brethren, We Have Met to Worship)
Lord of hosts, how sweet Your dwelling; how my soul longs for Your courts!
Let my soul with joy keep telling of Your grace forever more.
Like a bird upon the altar let my life to You belong.
Blessed are they who never falter as they praise Your grace with song!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.