“How lovely is your dwelling place O Lord of hosts! My soul
longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God. Even the sparrows finds a home and the swallow a nest for
herself, where she may lay her young at your alters, O Lord of host my King and
my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praises.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you in whose heart are the highways to
Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer, give ear to,
O God of Jacob. Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
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 the wickedness. 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. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who
trusts in you.” Psalms 84
How does the psalmist view the goodness and grace and
character and worth of God? What is being commanded?
The obvious joy of the Lord shined through the people in
Burundi. Now that I have been home for five weeks I am slowly being able to
articulate lessons that I have learned in these last few months. My joy in the
Lord has been a theme. It has been easy for me to believe a lie that that
seeking pleasure is “selfish, self-seeking, prideful,” which has ironically lead
to discouragement and too much concern with the situations I am in and people’s
approval.
I have been reading Desiring God by John Piper. Blaise Pascal is quoted in Johns book, “All
men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ,
they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others
avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The
will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every
man, even those who hang themselves” (Piper, 19).
We get to delight ourselves in the Lord, a pursuit of joy IN the Lord. We don’t make God out of
pleasure, but He is our pleasure. John describes that we tend to have it
backwards, we are far too easily pleased.
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and
sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who
wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is
meant by the offer of a vacation at the sea. We are far too easily pleased”
(Piper, 21).
Seeing the people of
Burundi who have been through unimaginable trauma praise the father through
song and dance solidified more of what the Psalmist writes. Reading John’s
writing helped this click for me. How incredible that the Lord of all of the
universe loves us, has plans, guides so that He may be praised; our creator.
I don’t know if I will have another opportunity to go to
Burundi or not. I learned more about the Holy Spirit while I was in Burundi. How
incredible that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are not our own,
but bought with Christ’s blood. A new creation; eternally praising our father.
Praise: the completion of enjoyment. The process of how the Lord provided peace
and finances through the whole time leading up to my time in Burundi was incredible
to experience. As of right now, I don’t have peace about it and I will continue
to pray and see how the Lord directs my steps. I see how I have found security my own plans, and I
need to be patient and wait on the Lord right now.
Next step: Denn Hague, The Netherlands!
