The Blessing
By William M. Self, Sr.
“How lovely is Your dwelling place,
O Lord Almighty!”
The Pilgrim’s blessing is lost
When you lose sight and settle in
Its beauty is its purity and
Righteousness don’t compromise it
John Wayne made the word pilgrim popular in the
1962 movie, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”.
Jimmy Stewart played Ransom Stoddard, the pilgrim.
23 times Tom Donovan played by John Wayne
addressed the green horned pilgrim, Ransom Stoddard.
Another book that made the word
“Pilgrim” popular is “Pilgrim’s Progress”.
Wikipedia says… “A
Pilgrims is a traveler
who is on a journey to
a holy place”.
Pilgrims are those willing to leave
everything in search of a holy place.
America is famous for its pilgrims.
Men and women searching for a place to worship God.
Over time, the pilgrims settled and
the question is where are we now?
Psalms 84 is the pilgrims Psalm…
“How lovely is your
dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even
faints, for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.”
That is the cry of a pilgrim.
The pilgrim journey is hard and the Psalmist says…
“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 Valley of Baca, Baca means weeping.
I find inside of me this weeping as I see pilgrim’s settling
in.
When we make this life home, the standard of purity,
and righteousness that make the dwelling place of the Lord’s.
Almighty so glorious!
When we settle for less, we focus on making this life
more comfortable and compromise the standard of God.
The Psalmist who keeps his focus on his
pilgrimage found hope in the valley of weeping (Baca).
It became a pool of blessing.
Don’t compromise your purity and
righteousness for anything in this world…
Because nothing compares to the lovely
dwelling place of the
Lord Almighty.
It is better to be a door keeper than to
dwell in the house of the compromisers.
Remember the Lord will shield and…
“no good thing does he
withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
O Lord Almighty, blessed
is the man who trusts in you.”
Scripture Reading
Psalm 84 NIV
84 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.
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, 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.
For the
director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
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