Tag: Joy

The Trip to Church (Psalm 84:5)

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” (Psalm 84:5)

Have you ever thought, “I really wish I was in the car driving to church right now”?

Maybe that thought sounds strange to you, but it points to an important question: Do you ever feel a deep yearning in your heart to be worshiping God in his house?

Such was the longing of the author of Psalm 84. This psalm is about the longing, the joy, and the blessing experienced by Jewish pilgrims as they traveled the highways to Zion (Jerusalem) to worship at God’s temple. The psalmist sings that his soul longs for the temple courts of the Lord (84:2). He declares that the happiest people in the world are those who find strength in God and rejoice to be traveling to worship their God (84:5). He believes that a day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. Thus, he would rather be a doorkeeper in the temple than dwell in the tents of wickedness (84:10).

Psalm 84 continues to capture the longing of God’s people today for nearness to their God. In Christ, we are pilgrims in this world on the highway to the New Jerusalem where we will spend eternity worshiping our God. We are the happiest people in the world because God is our strength and our hearts can rejoice in our pilgrimage.

At the same time, the longing of this psalmist is relevant for our present experience of worshiping God. We no longer walk to a temple to make sacrifices and bring offerings to God. But we do get to travel each week to the gathering of God’s people, the church. As the New Testament makes clear, God’s people are now his temple (1 Cor 3:16; Eph 2:21).

Therefore, every week when we gather together as a local church to worship our God, we are experiencing something even better than the pilgrims on the highways to Zion. It is true that worshiping God isn’t necessarily about a place anymore, but it does include a people gathered in a place.

So back to the original question: is there a yearning in your heart to be worshiping God with his people each week? When you drive to church is your heart in it? Is it a duty or a delight to be on the highways to church?

For God’s people today, each Lord’s Day spent in worship with the people of God is better than a thousand spent elsewhere. Each Sunday, we gather to confess to God, “Our strength is in you alone!” We gather to praise him and find our strength, joy and blessing in him. He is our sun and our shield. What better way to spend a Sunday than praising this God with his people?

The trip to church, even on the hard days, is a rich delight for the people of God. We are pilgrims journeying toward the New Jerusalem, and each gathering of Christ’s people is a small foretaste of the joy in store for us.

The Delight of My Heart (Jeremiah 15:16)

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)

God’s Word is a joy to God’s people. The words of our God bring us delight and spiritual sustenance. They are sweeter than honey and more valuable than gold (Psa 19:10). This has been the experience of God’s people through the ages.

It was also the experience of the prophet Jeremiah. God called Jeremiah out as a prophet and gave him his word. Jeremiah consumed God’s Word, and it was his joy and the delight of his heart. He was happy to follow God’s ways and trust his truth.

Yet in context, Jeremiah’s words here are part of a lament. To be clear, he is not lamenting his experience of finding joy in God’s Word but how his own people treated him as a result. In finding joy in God’s Word, Jeremiah separated himself from the false, sinful joy of his compatriots (Jer 15:17). He felt just anger at their disregard for God and his truth. He felt isolated in the midst of a people in rebellion against God.

In other words, Jeremiah delighted in God’s Word, but this actually made his life harder. Joy in God’s Word will not bring us a carefree, easy life in this broken world. Sometimes, our joyful obedience to God’s Word will lead people to reject and ostracize us. We may feel alone at times when we choose delight in God’s Word over the sinful pleasures of the world.

But God promised Jeremiah: If you keep speaking what is precious (i.e., God’s Word), you will not be defeated, “for I am with you to save you” (Jer 15:19-21). The world may oppose God’s truth, but they will not have the final victory over God’s people who delight to obey and proclaim God’s Word.

Jeremiah had a difficult task of proclaiming a message that prophesied God’s coming judgment on a people who were following their stubborn hearts (Jer 16:12). We, however, have a better message that fulfills Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry! The true Prophet, Jesus, has come, and he suffered the reproach of his people. He took the judgment we deserve so that all who trust in him can have peace with God and everlasting life.

So, how much more should we delight to read God’s Word, study God’s Word, obey God’s Word, and proclaim God’s Word! God has set a feast before us in his Word. Will you dig in today and find joy? Will your weekly priorities reveal a joy in hearing, doing, and sharing God’s Word? To be sure, this will make your life harder at times. But the joy of knowing God through his Word is more than worth it.