Scripture Read: Psalm 83, 84
Key Verse: Psalm 84:10
“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.”
Observation:
While reading chapter 84 I felt such a sense of peace and calmness from beginning to end. When everything all around us is falling apart there is no better place to be, than abiding in the presence of the Lord.
Psalm 84:10 is a scripture that I recited in church every Sunday as a child. I didn’t understand its true meaning until now. So often we do and say things out of habit. It’s important to live, breathe, and totally embrace God’s word, for understanding and guidance. It is then that the word takes life and meaning.
In our Father’s house, He shields and protects us. He has promised to give us grace and peace if we diligently seek Him. “I would rather live one day in God’s house than one thousand in the sinful world.
Application:
We have so much to look forward to in the future, living in the presence of God with total peace and joy. Awesome!!! I am also reminded that this journey on earth is worth the rewards that are waiting for us. This is preparation and training ground and it’s temporary! We get a snapshot of what’s to come in Psalm 27: One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Prayer:
Lord, I thank you for this journey; I thank you for the experiences and daily challenges that I face. I know that this is temporary and that you are preparing and equipping me for the things to come. Please remove anything that may be a hindrance. There is no better place to be than in your presence. Protect me Lord from evil and pain and help me to be mindful of the things that I say, do and think that may bring pain to others.
By Debbee 217staff team
“Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When they walk thru the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains!
They will continue to grow stronger and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.”
Psalms 84:5-7
We are pilgrims on a pilgrimage to heaven. We don’t always “set our minds” to it like we should but when we do: when we really fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), and ‘follow hard after him’ (Ps. 63:8), we find a secret strength and a mysterious joy despite the toil of the journey. Even in the hardest times: places others would consider a ‘Valley of Weeping’, we can find His refreshing (6a). There may have been storms but they leave behind ‘pools of blessing’ (6b). We may not see it now, but all of it is making us stronger (7a) as we set our minds to this pilgrimage towards the eternal city of God.
For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. -Isaiah 50:7
I need to be more determined on fixing my eyes on where I am going and on the one I ought to be seeking. I need to “set my face like a flint” in utter determination. But I get distracted, not just by hardship, but by silly things; foolish things and I get caught up in things that are just a waste of time. I step off the path into rabbit trails that take me away from my ultimate goal: the Heart of God.
If only I could set my mind on Him and stay on the path, I will find secret strength and mysterious joy. I will find, in the valley of weeping, a place of refreshing. I will find after the storms I face, pools of blessing and I will continue to grow stronger as I am tested and tried along this pilgrim’s way.