TRANSFORMATIONAL WEEPING
Opening Prayer
Thank you, Father, for your Word, for those things it teaches me, for the ways it encourages me, and for the means of grace it offers me in Christ.
Read PSALM 84
Psalm 84[a]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
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,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.[c]
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield,[e] 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 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Footnotes
- Psalm 84:1 In Hebrew texts 84:1-12 is numbered 84:2-13.
- Psalm 84:1 Title: Probably a musical term
- Psalm 84:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 8.
- Psalm 84:6 Or blessings
- Psalm 84:9 Or sovereign
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Consider how God is near you today. Think of some of the ways in which you can know his presence with you. Now take some time to praise him.
Think Further
What a lovely focus the psalmist brings here, desiring to be close to God and recognizing the incomparable blessings that come from God. Yet, there is a cry of desperation in these words, for the sparrow and swallow have a home in the house of God, but the author writes as one who is far off, yearning to be closer to God’s presence. The focus is on the pilgrim, the one who chooses to make the journey to come to Jerusalem, on this occasion through the dry valley of Baka. The word Baka is derived from the word ‘to weep’ and the valley is sometimes referred to as the ‘valley of weeping.’
I once asked a dear Christian friend from India his views on alternative ways to share communion. Rather than enter into any controversy, he simply stated that whenever he approaches communion he approaches as one who is broken.
He sees the agony of the cross in direct response to his own life and is deeply thankful and broken for the gift of God. I am encouraged to return to this thought whenever I become too familiar with any aspect of my relationship with God.
I picture pilgrims coming through the valley with weeping, their tears soaking into the dry ground, making it a ‘place of springs’ (v. 6). As we read elsewhere, ‘Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.’1 Their journey leads them toward the presence of God, but the journey itself is transformational. Our walk with God can bring transformation through all the seasons we travel. Our weeping, our joy, our commute, and our stillness can all bring transformation. Unlike those in the day of the psalmist, who travel to God’s temple, we ourselves are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Apply
As ‘presence bearers,’ consider how God can use you to be transformational in even the most barren of places. Be encouraged to know that God chooses to use the broken.
Closing prayer
I lift up to you, loving Father, those who go to the hard places and share the gospel. Bless them; speak through them so that others will come to know your abundant love, your peace, your joy.
1 Ps 126:5
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