How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place, O Lord of Hosts!

This meditation is based on a passage for March 13, 2011 in the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Psalm 84

Reflection and Question: This psalm is a beautiful poem of praise said by a devout pilgrim on the way to the temple in Jerusalem. Images, like the swallow who builds a nest at the altar and the doorkeeper who dwells there, place a picture in our minds of the goal: the temple. At the same time, the pilgrim’s journey is captured in the springs that water the valley of Baca or the longing for God that strengthens the poet to walk uprightly such a long way. I can well imagine Jesus and the disciples sustaining themselves by reciting this psalm as they walked. What journey are you on toward God?