“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...
“Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You.” - Psalms 84:4 In Psalm 84, we see there is a blessing to those you could live near the house of the Lord. The tabernacle represented the very presence of God, and being near meant you were closer to God. Worship happened at the tabernacle because that is where the Lord was. Today, we worship together with a song, a word of praise, a prayer, a word, an encouragement, or a challenge. Yet, the heart of worship is being with God. In His presence, we have fellowship with the eternal. The sons of Korah are writing of themselves in Psalm 84. They served in the Lord’s...
“Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” - Hosea 6:3 People often feel like they are not doing enough for the Lord. They desire to have peace and clarity in their lives, but are stuck and paralyzed by indecision and apathy. They want to feel close to the Lord which they interpret as feeling a sense of peace or happiness. Jesus declared it is the Father’s will that He would not lose one believer. (John 6:39 NLT). Our salvation is dependent upon the perfect sacrifice of Jesus and our faith in Him. No...
“…and they cried out to the Lord,… So Judah defeated Israel on that occasion because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their ancestors.” 2 Chronicles 13:14b, 18 We see the character of our Heavenly Father throughout the scriptures. In 2 Chronicles 13 Israel was divided, and the northern kingdom of Israel was attacking the southern kingdom of Judah from both sides. In verse 14 it is recorded that King Abijah of Judah and his people looked to the Lord and cried out for help. Even though Abijah was a very evil king, he looked to the Lord in a time of deep crisis and the Lord answered. Look at the willingness of our God to respond swiftly to...
But when Jeremiah had finished his message, saying everything the Lord had told him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people at the Temple mobbed him. “Kill him!” they shouted. “What right do you have to prophesy in the Lord ’s name that this Temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed and left with no inhabitants?” And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the Temple. - Jeremiah 26:8-9 Reading through Jeremiah, it can be difficult to get into the headspace of God's people at that time as they were being attacked and taken. It is easy to discount their continued disobedience and rejection...
