Psalm 84:5-9

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favour on your anointed one.  (Selah)

To be perfectly honest, I disgraced myself. At least that’s how I saw it then, and how I see it now. I entered a marathon and had to pull out at mile twenty-three. My friend Glen had persuaded me to join him on this venture, and right from the start, I had very few misgivings. I was confident that I was up to the challenge. After all I was a young, healthy, college student. I was used to heavy farm work during the summer. Certainly, this would be something I could handle, or so I thought.

It all began well enough. After all, it was a beautiful Saturday morning in spring, and thousands of people had turned out to participate in this twenty-six-mile event. Glen and I were excited to be part of the March for Millions, a fund raiser to help the hungry in third world countries. It seemed like half the population of the city set out from the starting point. This was great!

The first few miles went fine. By mile eight I was beginning to tire. By mile ten I had developed a large blister on the sole of my foot. By mile twelve the blister had broken and was bleeding. Soon other blisters were popping up like whack-a-moles at a county fair midway. The next few miles were pure agony. Every muscle in my legs was screaming for this torture to end.

All the while, Glen stuck with me, encouraging me, urging me on. My friend was doing fine. He was still bouncing around like a young colt out for a spring morning frolic.

By mile twenty-one my pace had slowed, and my gait was uneven. At mile twenty-three I hit the proverbial wall. Participants were dropping out like milk house flies caught in a fog of DDT. This was insanity; I could go no further. Some kind volunteer drove me back to the college; while the still energetic Glen went onto complete the full marathon.

My marathon experience was the complete antithesis of what is described in this portion of Psalm 84. Though I set my heart on this twenty-six-mile pilgrimage, I did not go from strength to strength. Just the opposite happened. My strength was drained away, and I never reached my end goal, the finish line, my personal Zion.

In retrospect it’s not difficult to determine why I failed, though my friend succeeded. While he was active on the basketball team through the winter season, I was lounging around the dorm. While he daily walked a mile to the college, I walked a few steps from the dorm to the academic center. While he was trying out for the track team, I was checking out the cheerleaders. My summertime muscle had turned marshmallow soft by the time spring rolled around. Glen was ready for the challenge; I was ready for the couch.

How about you? Are you ready for life’s great pilgrimage? Have you set your sights on Zion? Will you succeed in your faith walk or will you fall short of the great goal? Will you disgrace yourself as I did?

The pilgrimage experience is something that most twenty-first-century believers are unfamiliar with. But pilgrimage was a common community wide experience for all the residents of biblical Israel. It was decreed by Moses in the Book of the Law.

            Three times a year all your men must appear before for the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed. Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you (Deuteronomy 16:16-17).

In actual practice for the devout of Israel, this became a regular routine event—a family pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. The whole clan would pack up and travel in large caravans to the holy city. Much of biblical literature and history is centered on these pilgrimages. In fact, many of the psalms were written for the community to sing or chant as they made their way to Jerusalem. The Songs of Ascent—Psalm 120 through to Psalm 134—are specifically written for this purpose. With this in mind, here in Psalm 84 we read, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.”

To the Jewish faithful of biblical times, these words would bring flashback memories of many miles travelled on dusty roads to Jerusalem. For many pilgrims this was a long and arduously painful journey made on foot. From Galilee to Jerusalem is almost seventy miles. This trip was no quick one-day trot. It was a challenging multi-day journey, even for the physically fit. Weary bones, aching muscles, and blistered feet, undoubtedly were a common occurrence. Strength was needed for the journey.

Where did that strength come from? For many there was strength and encouragement from family and friends. People walked and talked together. They visited, swapped stories, reconnected with their sons and daughters, and renewed lapsed friendships. The miles go by quicker in the company of faithful friends.

We catch a glimpse of all this in Luke’s account of Jesus’ boyhood Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On the return trip we are told that Mary and Joseph thought Jesus was “travelling with some other people, and they went a whole day before they started looking for him. When they could not find him with their relatives and friends, they went back to Jerusalem and started looking for him there” (Luke 2:44-45, CEV).

With our post-modern fear of strangers harming our children, we may see in this story an example of parental irresponsibility. In reality it illustrates the strong sense of both family and community, which existed among these pilgrims. They looked after one another, and together they journeyed in fellowship as one body. They were knit together by the bonds of faith, family and friendship. The common experience of this annual pilgrimage cemented their love and commitment to one another. The nuclear family was so fused to the broader family of faith that it created a strong sense of mutual trust and responsibility.

We are called to a faith journey, despite our collective ignorance of pilgrimage during biblical times. After our initial introduction to Christ, we all find ourselves on a sacred pilgrimage. Many set out on this journey to the eternal arms of Christ, but there are many who fall by the wayside, unable or unwilling to continue the walk of faith. What characteristics mark the winners from the losers in this great marathon of faith? How can we ensure that we will make it safely to the other side of the finish line?  

Well inadvertently, we have already discovered one way to ensure success in our pilgrimage of faith. We are to undertake this walk together. This is a community walk. It is to be undertaken with family and friends at our side. Even in my failed marathon attempt, I had a faithful friend by my side. On my own, I likely would have quit at mile fifteen, but due to Glen’s encouragement I persisted for another eight miles. Pity the man or woman who has no fellowship in the journey—no one to boost their faith or urge them on.

The fellowship and regular encouragement of believers is essential, if we are to succeed in this lifelong marathon of faith. Join yourself to a church—a family of faith—that is journeying together with you to Zion, to the arms of Christ. Though your walk is yours alone, every marathoner needs a support team. If you are sincere in reaching Zion, you will welcome all the help you can get. This is not a trip for the self-isolating loner.

I cannot think of marathons without being reminded of Terry Fox. This incredible one-legged runner made it halfway across Canada in his great one-man pilgrimage to raise funds for cancer research. He ran the equivalent of a marathon a day for four and a half months from April 12^th to September 1^st, 1980. Most marathoners require a week or more to repair muscle and recharge their energy supply after the gruelling exertion of the run, but Terry was back on the road the next day to do it all over again. The stamina this requires defies description. Accomplishing such a feat on two legs is incredible, doing it on one leg, and a severed stump, quite simply boggles the mind.

Only a super elite athlete could hope to achieve what Terry Fox did. Physical conditioning is essential for success, but what about spiritual conditioning? If we are going to accomplish awesome things in God’s Kingdom, there is a spiritual conditioning that needs to take place inside of us. After all, Christ, the captain of our faith, has called us to be disciples, not bench-warmers.

Pilgrimage is not a spectator sport. But many view their Christian faith that way. The reasoning goes something like this: It’s fine for the paid clergy to engage in faith exercises such as regular Bible reading, fasting and prayer. Isn’t that why we pay them? The rest of us are busy with life’s daily grind.

The busy, world-engaged laity is far too often content to coast on the second-hand faith of church leadership. In reality our own faith muscles need development and regular exercise. If regular spiritual conditioning isn’t taking place, we become weak in our faith. We are fit for the couch—not the pilgrim’s route. We stumble when others question our beliefs. Temptations overwhelm us. Doubts drain us of our spiritual vitality. We conform to the thinking of this world. We are not reaching the world with the message of Christ; the world is reaching us, and pressing us into its mold.  

But there is a different path for you to walk, an upward path. Christ has gone ahead, and he has prepared that path for you. Following that path will lead you to the grandest adventure imaginable. You have the assurance of his presence, his encouragement and his help for the journey. His blessing goes with you, and here in Psalm 84, we have the sure promise of his unfailing word. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

Our strength is truly in him. He is our forerunner, who has cleared the way. In fact, he is the way. On his last earthly Passover pilgrimage Jesus walked the way of the cross, and it is the way of the cross that will bring us safely into his arms. There is no greater pilgrimage—no other route we can take to Zion, our eternal home.

Our strength is not in prayer. It is not in fasting. It is not in the discipline of daily Bible reading or Bible study. All of these spiritual disciplines have value. These are exercises that enhance our level of spiritual conditioning. They turn our marshmallow flab into rock hard spiritual muscle. But our strength does not come from them. Our strength is in the LORD. Strength for our pilgrimage comes only from him.

We can pray from dusk to dawn, but unless the Sun of Righteousness shines upon us, we are calling out in vain. We can fast for forty days, but unless the Bread of Life meets with us, and sustains us, our sacrifice has no value. Daily, we can read God’s Holy Word, but unless Jesus walks off those pages and into our life, this exercise is meaningless.

Christ is our strength for the journey. We undertake these disciplines in order to meet with him, in order to hear his voice, in order to see his will and his purposes accomplished. Spiritual disciplines are a means to reach our source. But prayer is not our source—Jesus is. It is essential that we hear from him when we pray; meet with him as we fast; discover his will for us as we meditate on his word. Then, we will have strength for the journey, because he will be the strength within us. He will be the way beneath our feet. He will be to us the Bread of Life that nourishes and sustains us in the pilgrimage. He will be the Living Water for our thirsty soul.

Only with Christ in us, can we turn the Valley of Baca into a place of springs. Baca is the Hebrew word for weeping. The place of weeping becomes a place of living springs, when Jesus passes by. Christ in us can make that happen. He is the great transformer, bringing light into darkness, joy into hearts of sorrow, hope into Valley of Despair.

You see our pilgrimage is not just for our benefit. We are on this journey to bring pleasure to the heart of our Heavenly Father, and his Spirit prompts us to bring Christ’s love to all the travellers we meet on this road of life. In our own strength this is an impossible task—a daily uphill marathon without an end in sight. But if we meet daily, with the One who is our strength, this is a doable task—no, an enjoyable privilege.

Best of all, we will be numbered among the throng that crosses the finish line. Then it will be said of us, “They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”

 

Bringing Life to the Psalms

1. Over a two-week period consider doing a daily reading through, “The Songs of Ascent”—Psalm 120 through to Psalm 134. What insights were you able to glean from these psalms? Can you see how the theme of pilgrimage is integral to these psalms?
2. Have you ever undertaken a major endeavour and fallen short of your goal? What did you learn from that experience? Sometimes we learn far more from our failures than from our successes. How have your failures helped to shape your life? Remember that God can turn our failures into stepping stones to success.
3. Are you building spiritual muscle or turning into a faithless couch potato? What spiritual disciplines are you exercising on a regular basis? Choose a spiritual discipline to focus on this week. Set an achievable goal, such as ten minutes of daily prayer. If you are in a study group, report back to others on your ability to meet that goal.
4. What can church leadership do to increase the sense of group pilgrimage within your congregation? Can you think of ways to build a greater sense connectedness within your faith community? What role might God want you to play in this regard?

Today’s post is Chapter 13 from the book Psalms Alive! Connecting Heaven & Earth by David Kitz. To find out more or purchase click here.