God has brought this Psalm to my mind over and over again. Now I've read it before, but not with eyes that truly understand. Not with a heart that melts into the words.
Psalm 84
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.
Selah
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. [b]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Selah
9 Look upon our shield, [c] 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.
How beautiful is that? This gives us such a picture of heaven, doesn't it? The idea that we would yearn so mightily to be with God. That our flesh would cry out for the living God.
The language of this Psalm is so beautiful, but the Valley of Baca in particular strikes me.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
Now in googling the valley of Baca, I found some interesting things. Some refer to it as the valley of tears, or the desert. Bakka is a real place, and most certainly lies in desert sand.
I can assume by this, that the valley spoken of is not an appealing place. I picture it as dry, barren, dark. A place of passing through. A place to get beyond.
So. This valley is one most would not willingly pass through. Uncomfortable. Barren. Dry.
Cause we've all been there, right? The valley? The place where we are dry. Where we can see no end. Where we are just trying to pass through- to get through?
But the believer, in passing through, makes it a place of springs.
Just by simple belief, the desert is changed. To a place of springs. Relief from the heat, water to the desert. Sustenance and drenching coolness where there was none.
Wow.
This Psalm holds so much joy for those who have experienced loss.
10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
Can you imagine? A place of such beauty and rest and peace that it is better to spend just a few fleeting moments there, than to spend a thousand anywhere else? That is where my sweet Joshua is RIGHT NOW. With God. In the place all believers yearn for.
It makes Heaven so much more REAL to me.
But when I read this Psalm, I am always struck to tears by this passage:
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
They go from strength to strength. From moment to moment. From mountain to mountain.
Until they appear before God.
You can't have the mountain without the valley. And if we see our relationship with God as a journey, it's clear that we will have to go through both to get to Him.
Here's to a walk through the valley. To turning a place of barrenness into a place of lush beauty. Desert to springs.
From strength to strength.
