The Pilgrim Way
Psalm 84 is a Psalm of pilgrimage. It wonderfully gives us insight into the hearts of worshippers on their way to the house of the Lord. During their long and difficult journey through the barren wilderness, their oasis, which gave them strength for the journey, was the joyful anticipation that they would appear before the presence of God.
As believers, whose bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we too can receive strength for our pilgrimage through this temporary life. Our strength comes by partaking of God’s glory now through the Spirit and by looking to the greater glory of Jesus to come (1 Peter 5:1). Because of the shed blood of Jesus, we don’t have to travel to Jerusalem to enjoy the transforming presence of God. Jesus resides in us by the Spirit. As we seek His face in scripture-fed, Spirit-led, and worship-based prayer so that we might live for His kingdom, we can experience His manifest presence in us and His resurrection power working through us.
The Psalmist begins this song of pilgrimage by proclaiming: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2). What made the dwelling place of God so lovely to the pilgrim? It wasn’t the furnishings of the temple. Rather, it was the presence and glory of God that he adored. And having encountered the glory of God, the Psalmist testifies, "My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord."
The heart of the pilgrim in Psalm 84 reminds me of the apostle Paul. When explaining to the Corinthians how he was able to endure hardship in his pilgrim ministry, he writes: “For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,” 2 Corinthians 5:2). What shaped the longing of the pilgrim’s heart? What shaped the longing in Paul’s heart? The manifest glory of God. Glory shaped their longing and their longing shaped the trajectory of their lives. What you long for will shape your life and destiny.
Where did Paul get his assurance of the glories to come, which shaped the longing of his heart and the trajectory of his life? Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 5:5 that God gave us His Spirit as a guarantee, as a pledge, as a down payment to us of the greater glory to come. The primary ministry of the Spirit is to shine the glory of Jesus in our hearts, to make His presence real to us. Moreover, the Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts and makes us alive to the glories to come. Because of the Spirit within us, there is an "already and not yet" reality to our salvation. The already reality of our salvation is that in our earthly bodies, we can know the beauty of Jesus and His resurrection power at work in us through the Spirit. But the fullness of the glory and reality of our salvation is yet to come.
Because Paul through the Spirit tasted the glory in his earthly body, because he set his mind on things above, and because his inward self was being renewed day by day, Paul longed for the fuller glory to come. The already and not yet glories of God shaped Paul’s longings, desires, and passions which made him the man that he was.
Many today are not content about where they are in life and want out. They want a change of circumstances. They believe that if they had a new spouse, a new car, a new job, or a new place to live they would be happier. But what many discontented people need most is not a change in their circumstances but a change in their heart. What they need is a glory-shaped longing that satisfies their souls and gives them a God-sized reason to live that’s greater than themselves.
When testifying of the pilgrims who traveled through the hard and barren wilderness unto the house of the Lord, the Psalmist writes in verses 5-7: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 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.” When the longings of our hearts are being shaped by the glory of God, our hearts become the highways to Zion. That is to say, the longings and affections of our hearts for God will propel us upward and forward. The strength we find in the Lord and the longing to know Him more become our oasis through the Valley of Baca, the valley of weeping.
Like Paul, who testified: “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day,” (2 Corinthians 4:16) the pilgrims, who tasted the glory of God and longed for more, went from strength to strength and each one appeared before the presence of God.
Recently, I came across this helpful acronym for God’s manifest glory: God’s Love Overflows Restoring You. When God’s love is overflowing in our hearts, it will shape our lives, it will give us a longing to know Him and to make Him known. When the glory of His restoring love fills our hearts, our aim will be to please Him. And we please Him best when we die to self by the Spirit so that the glory of His overflowing love in our lives would bring restoration to others. (Psalm 84:11-12; 2 Corinthians 4:16).
What do you love and long for the most? What you love and long for will shape your life. As James Smith noted in his book, You Are What You love, “You can’t not love. It’s why the heart is the seat of the human person, the engine that drives our existence. We are lovers first and foremost. If we think about this in terms of a quest or journey metaphor, we might say that the human heart is part compass and part internal guidance system. The heart is like a ‘multifunctional desire device’ that is part engine and part homing beacon. Operating under the hood of our consciousness, so to speak—our default autopilot—the longings of the heart both point us in the direction of a kingdom and propel us toward it. You are what you love because you live toward what you want.”
As the psalmist indicated, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2).
O may the glory of Jesus, God’s Love Overflowing and Restoring You, be your greatest pursuit and your greatest longing. As we abide in His Word, abound in His work, and awake to His wonder, His glory will shape our longings and propel us to live for His kingdom so that we would be found faithful before the presence of our Savior.
In your service,
Pastor Marco
As believers, whose bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we too can receive strength for our pilgrimage through this temporary life. Our strength comes by partaking of God’s glory now through the Spirit and by looking to the greater glory of Jesus to come (1 Peter 5:1). Because of the shed blood of Jesus, we don’t have to travel to Jerusalem to enjoy the transforming presence of God. Jesus resides in us by the Spirit. As we seek His face in scripture-fed, Spirit-led, and worship-based prayer so that we might live for His kingdom, we can experience His manifest presence in us and His resurrection power working through us.
The Psalmist begins this song of pilgrimage by proclaiming: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2). What made the dwelling place of God so lovely to the pilgrim? It wasn’t the furnishings of the temple. Rather, it was the presence and glory of God that he adored. And having encountered the glory of God, the Psalmist testifies, "My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord."
The heart of the pilgrim in Psalm 84 reminds me of the apostle Paul. When explaining to the Corinthians how he was able to endure hardship in his pilgrim ministry, he writes: “For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,” 2 Corinthians 5:2). What shaped the longing of the pilgrim’s heart? What shaped the longing in Paul’s heart? The manifest glory of God. Glory shaped their longing and their longing shaped the trajectory of their lives. What you long for will shape your life and destiny.
Where did Paul get his assurance of the glories to come, which shaped the longing of his heart and the trajectory of his life? Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 5:5 that God gave us His Spirit as a guarantee, as a pledge, as a down payment to us of the greater glory to come. The primary ministry of the Spirit is to shine the glory of Jesus in our hearts, to make His presence real to us. Moreover, the Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts and makes us alive to the glories to come. Because of the Spirit within us, there is an "already and not yet" reality to our salvation. The already reality of our salvation is that in our earthly bodies, we can know the beauty of Jesus and His resurrection power at work in us through the Spirit. But the fullness of the glory and reality of our salvation is yet to come.
Because Paul through the Spirit tasted the glory in his earthly body, because he set his mind on things above, and because his inward self was being renewed day by day, Paul longed for the fuller glory to come. The already and not yet glories of God shaped Paul’s longings, desires, and passions which made him the man that he was.
Many today are not content about where they are in life and want out. They want a change of circumstances. They believe that if they had a new spouse, a new car, a new job, or a new place to live they would be happier. But what many discontented people need most is not a change in their circumstances but a change in their heart. What they need is a glory-shaped longing that satisfies their souls and gives them a God-sized reason to live that’s greater than themselves.
When testifying of the pilgrims who traveled through the hard and barren wilderness unto the house of the Lord, the Psalmist writes in verses 5-7: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 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.” When the longings of our hearts are being shaped by the glory of God, our hearts become the highways to Zion. That is to say, the longings and affections of our hearts for God will propel us upward and forward. The strength we find in the Lord and the longing to know Him more become our oasis through the Valley of Baca, the valley of weeping.
Like Paul, who testified: “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day,” (2 Corinthians 4:16) the pilgrims, who tasted the glory of God and longed for more, went from strength to strength and each one appeared before the presence of God.
Recently, I came across this helpful acronym for God’s manifest glory: God’s Love Overflows Restoring You. When God’s love is overflowing in our hearts, it will shape our lives, it will give us a longing to know Him and to make Him known. When the glory of His restoring love fills our hearts, our aim will be to please Him. And we please Him best when we die to self by the Spirit so that the glory of His overflowing love in our lives would bring restoration to others. (Psalm 84:11-12; 2 Corinthians 4:16).
What do you love and long for the most? What you love and long for will shape your life. As James Smith noted in his book, You Are What You love, “You can’t not love. It’s why the heart is the seat of the human person, the engine that drives our existence. We are lovers first and foremost. If we think about this in terms of a quest or journey metaphor, we might say that the human heart is part compass and part internal guidance system. The heart is like a ‘multifunctional desire device’ that is part engine and part homing beacon. Operating under the hood of our consciousness, so to speak—our default autopilot—the longings of the heart both point us in the direction of a kingdom and propel us toward it. You are what you love because you live toward what you want.”
As the psalmist indicated, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2).
O may the glory of Jesus, God’s Love Overflowing and Restoring You, be your greatest pursuit and your greatest longing. As we abide in His Word, abound in His work, and awake to His wonder, His glory will shape our longings and propel us to live for His kingdom so that we would be found faithful before the presence of our Savior.
In your service,
Pastor Marco