Daily Devotion

July 1st, 2006

Psalms 84:5-6  Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.  (6)  Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.

Three times a year the Jewish man was required to climb the Judean mountains and present himself to God at the Temple in Jerusalem. Even though these pilgrimages were done in either spring or fall when the weather is relatively temperate, the journey was long, arduous and dangerous. These pilgrimages represented the greatest of Jewish privileges. The messianic inspired joy of partaking in the festivals of the Feasts of the LORD (Lev 23:4) greatly dimmed the inconveniences of the trip.

The pilgrim traveled out of love for His God. It is the journey of the homing pigeon back to its nest, after accomplishing its mission; of water purified, returning to the sky of its maker, after baptizing the earth; of the Bride offered in love to the impassioned expectant Bridegroom after a long betrothal; of the stranger finally returning home--man eagerly returning to his God, after his wearisome pilgrimage on earth.  

Such a man is in denial of physical reality. There is no danger, no inconvenience, no trial, and no tear that one would not face for such a journey, for even the vale of tears (“Baca” is Hebrew for ‘weeping’) is transformed into a “well” filled by the former and latter “rains” of God’s blessings.

We are strangers and pilgrims on this earth on a journey back to the home Jesus has prepared for us (Joh 14:3). Let us not be weary for the length, danger and difficulty of the way. Let us live in the all-empowering strength of God, who can transform our valleys of tears into wells of blessings.  

Hebrews 11:13,16  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (16) But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Patrick Lumbroso
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