Psalm 84:1-12 (NIV)

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,

LORD Almighty!

²My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

³Even 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.

⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty;

listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹Look on our shield, O God;

look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰Better 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.

¹¹For 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.

¹²LORD Almighty,

blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Reflection

What’s the good life? What are the times we never want to end? The Psalmist is speaking of the best days in his life, the days when he is close to God, when praise and thanksgiving flow so easily from his lips. “Blessed are those who dwell in your house” he declares. That’s the good life, to be in the house of the Lord, or in His presence, knowing that He is close. But that reality of God’s presence can extend to every area of our experience and so even a wilderness called Baka (or ‘weeping’) can become a place of life. Wilderness times can be part of the good life. In difficult times we can be called blessed as God carries us, taking us from strength to strength.

Responding to the Transmission

God’s presence in our lives is how we get to pass through every wilderness in our lives. As the Psalmist directs us, let’s put our trust in Him who will not leave us lost or dead. Let’s join in and declare that our desire is to know His presence with us so that wilderness times would be times of life and hope. Step by step, we depend on his faithfulness. That’s living ‘Wildernessly’…a life divinely lived.

fuckyeahlandofmary:

Aerial View of UMBC Campus by UMBC Community on Flickr.