In Whose Heart Are the Highways to Zion – Psalm 84

Pilgrimage songs are beautiful things.  The pilgrim is traveling toward the holy place of God’s dwelling, his or her heart full of praise.  Even the rough places, dry and arid, seem like springs and pools to them, for the joy set before them.  They gain strength as they near their destination, and everyone makes it safe to God’s abode.

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

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.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.  Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah

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.

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah   Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!

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.  For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor.  No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!  (Psalm 84 ESV)

For an Israelite pilgrim heading to Jerusalem this song on his lips meant he really wanted to go the prescribed festivals like Passover or Weeks or Tabernacles.  He would gladly journey from the farthest reaches of Israel to be in God’s house, would gladly be a doorkeeper or the most menial task in God’s temple if it meant he could stay there all the time.  And he would pray for the king whose responsibility it is to maintain the security of this place. 

We too can give testimony to the Lord being our sun and shield, bestowing favor and honor on us that we don’t deserve.  We see that He does not withhold any good thing from those who love Him and obey Him.  We trust in Him.  Our journey to the temple is one of the heart as we commune with Him in prayer.