Worshiping the Lord – Being the Church Through the Valley

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You; Whose heart is set on a pilgrimage.” - Psalm 84:5

Another blessing found in Psalm 84 is for those who draw their strength from the Lord and set their hearts on meeting together to worship. For those in the psalmist’s day who were making their way to God’s house, worship was abiding with God. Not everyone could live in Jerusalem, or at the House of God like the Levites.  Likewise, most of us reading this don’t work at a church, but we make our way there multiple times a week to worship and serve.  We go through the “Valleys of Baca,” the valleys of weeping, the times of disappointment, the times of grief, and still we come.  As we go through these valleys, "and many autumns with falling brown leaves and cold, slashing rain" (Boise), we are beaten down, but not crushed.  On the contrary, we go on from "strength to strength," strengthening each other along the way and blessing all we meet, until we appear before him in glory.

Today, because of the global health crisis, we are unable to meet together and worship in a building. But with that same heart set on a pilgrimage, we can draw together through technology to worship from our homes. Even more, we can reach out to neighbors to see how they are doing, pour into our families, and look for ways to share who Jesus is and what He said.  “In a time when we cannot go to church, we are being called to be the church to the hurting world.” (Greg Laurie)

Worship is being with God and finding our strength in Him. Worship is walking and abiding in Him through the "valleys of weeping" and bitter times and continuing to press in and reach out. Worship is growing from “strength to strength” with the sure hope of appearing before Him.  Worship is serving others and strengthening each other along the journey. Let’s continue to set our hearts on worshiping together through online services and being the church to each other and the world.