Psalm 84 Pilgrimage is our faith journey with Jesus Christ.

We can read this psalm as the desire for someone living far from Jerusalem to go on pilgrimage to the Holy City. They yearn to be there; they envy the birds, for the temple had open as well as closed areas, who can nest there; they celebrate those who have the joy of dwelling there and serving God in constant praise. They look to be blessed also and so their hearts are set on pilgrimage. The journey may not be easy – it will take them through dry, arid, parched places, but they will be blessed by raising up springs and by God’s autumn rains. Then they will arrive. There they will pray. There will rejoice even in the humble role of being a door-keeper – for all the greater roles are already allocated – which they would not swap for all the joys of life in the homes of the worldly. And there they will expect God’s blessing, flowing from His goodness to those whose walk is blameless and who trust in Him.

This is pilgrimage as an event – a religious trek from wherever you are to a building expressing God’s blessing as medieval Christians pilgrims journeyed to Canterbury, as others still do say to Lourdes. But let us look at it another way – not as a trek from place to place, but our faith journey through time. We have no need to go to a special building to find God for we are as Peter tells “like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” [c 2:5] And as Paul in Romans 8:29-30, using the words from Today’s Living Bible “from the very beginning God decided that those who came to Him …. should become like His Son, so … having chosen us, He called us to come to Him; and when we came, He declared us “not guilty,” filled us with Christ’s goodness, gave us right standing with Himself, and promised us His glory.

We are God’s dwelling place, and the Holy Spirit enlivens in our hearts the call to live like Jesus. By faith we cry out with delight in being with Jesus and grow an increasing desire to become ever closer to Him – abiding in Him, for without Him we are and can do nothing. [John 15:4 ff] Pilgrimage is the faith journey of our relationship with Jesus Christ. It belongs to all creation; it belongs to us.

It is our great desire but when we are honest with ourselves we see our desire challenged. Other yearnings, other pressures pile in on us and we can easily lose our strength for the way, we can readily be put off by the difficulties of the way – especially the barren patches where God does not seem to be with us and we can be tempted away by the tents of the wicked which look as attractive homes of ease to our weary ways.

We need God’s strength. We need His refreshing rains. We need a sense that He hears our prayers. We need a flavour of His looking with favour upon us. And most of all we need to keep our eyes on Jesus for His is the way we are walking. God looked with favour on Him; may He look with favour on us. See what the Father has done for Jesus. He shines the light of His glory upon Him. He exalts Him above all others. He favours and honours Him. He withhold no good thing from Jesus for His walk was blameless. Yet the ever nagging question: can that be said of us. And the ever honest answer. No. None of us is blameless before the Lord. But there is another solution.

We may not be blameless but we can trust in Him who is – even for His forgiveness when our trust fails. And in that trust is our blessing, the fulfilment of our faith’s pilgrimage. The yearning of our souls, our fainting for the courts of the Lord, our heart and flesh’s crying out for the living God will be satisfied for as John tells us in Rev c21 v3-4 in the new creation “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with us and we will be His people, God Himself will be with us as our God. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. Glory to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever more. Amen.