The Psalmist continues:
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
First off. Oftentimes we talk about how the Lord is our Strength, but here we also read that the other way around is true as well – That our own strength is in the Lord. Our moving in power, therefore is not without the Lord by our side. Also, we draw our strength IN Him.
But I want to look at that other half. In other translations, it says that those who find their strength in the Lord have their hearts ‘set on pilgrimage’; But I want us to pay closer attention to the Aramaic Bible in Plain English, where it says, ‘in whose heart are (His) ways’. We’ve already established last week that our ways are established by Christ, who is our Way, but here we also see confirmation that, indeed, He is in our heart. And what does this imply? Let’s keep reading – As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
John 7:38 says “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now, because we believe in Christ – That is, we accept, acknowledge and appreciate that our strength is in Him, and He is the Way alive in us – Out of our being (our heart, ‘our belly’ in other translations) shall flow rivers of living water; We bring Christ, we bring Life as water wherever we go. In fact, even if we find ourselves in the Valley of Baca (which, according to Warren Wiersbe, is symbolic of any difficult and painful place in life, where everything seems hopeless and you feel helpless, like ‘the pit of despair’) – we turn it into a place of springs, of relaxation!
…And this is where I ended the actual spoken sermon yesterday. Although I was able to share a good bit out of what I wrote here so far, when I got to this point I didn’t know what else to say.
Just so you know I went pretty hard on talking about how we praise because we have the presence of the Lord, versus how we used to praise for the presence of the Lord to ‘come down’. In the process we also made swipes at how we ought to give focus and praise upon the Revelator, and not the revelation.
Thinking about it now, all this probably came out because I watched The Whale the night before, and while I found the portrayal of the missionary with the Endtimes focus amusing, I was pretty interested in drawing perspectives from the statements of the more anti-religious characters in the movie. They lashed out at the missionary saying that Christians (specifically) had some sort of ‘air of superiority’ about them; and now that I run it by me again, I initially thought it would be a call for us to move in humility, but I guess some other people view our union with Christ in this negative, cynical light, for no deep reason, but, well, in general.
Anyway yes, considering there was quite the number of more ‘old-school’ people in the fold, I felt I needed to clarify by saying that I do believe in revelation, but it’s not for our own edification, but for the body – in other words, one person receiving revelation should serve as a reminder for the entire Body – a reminder that because we have Christ, we do receive revelations.
I suppose everything from here on out expresses how I intended to end the entire message. I may continue this, this coming Sunday.
Now, I will need to skip a couple of verses. So far, we’ve established that as we continue to intentionally take our time, being, and efforts to meditate and essentially enjoy the Lord, we are fully refreshed, and as such, we naturally appreciate His presence.
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Considering all that we receive in the Lord in His presence, and all the benefits that exist as we intentionally seek Him, we are inspired to say such words. Let’s be honest: there was a time that we would say such things to butter up the Creator of the Universe, just so that we would have the slightest glimpse and experience of His presence. Now I could be wrong, and it may not necessarily have taken such a great… ‘theological’ leap for us to realize that we can say these same words, if only to express that anywhere with God is the best place to be.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Anywhere with God is the best place to be… Because when we enjoy the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are in light. We are protected. And the Psalmist is pretty straightforward in saying that all actual favor and any real honor comes from God – and in fact, all that is good comes from God, and through Christ we have been made upright and therefore worthy of all the goodness of God. Indeed, this brings us to say,
O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Now, as in the message I shared last September 3, I could have stopped here, but I feel there is a need for us to check on the other side of the coin – that is, in our analyzing the value of seeking, we would automatically be brought to realize that it was Christ who sought us first.
I’ll share that in the next post to conclude this entire thing. Should get this done soon because I need to work on next Sunday’s message following this one.
Until the next post, God bless you!
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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