This is a very well-known and well-loved Psalm; a beautiful Psalm. Its a psalm of pilgrimage.

Every year crowds would flock to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. They would make the journey from every part of the territories occupied by Israel. They would make their pilgrimage to the Holy City to worship at the Temple. This Psalm is the musing of one unnamed pilgrim as he makes his way up to Jerusalem. Hes longing to get to Gods house - he has this intense desire for the House of God. He longs to be with the company of Gods people, worshipping. We read about it in vv1-2. This traveler is even jealous of birds! The Temple courtyards were open to the sky, and the great eaves provided a place for good nesting, so there were always these birds in and around the Temple. The writer says: Oh, to be one of those birds who can make their homes right there in the house of God. (vv3-4.) I guess this theme follows on closely from my message last Sunday morning. DO YOU HAVE A LOVE LIKE THIS - A LONGING FOR GODS HOUSE? A passionate desire to be in His presence night and day; to LIVE there?! You know, we must be careful lest we grieve God with our attitudes. What are we expressing to God when we act as though coming into His presence is just another one of the things we do through the week. But at the same time, if we were to be meeting with some V.I.P. at work, or some celebrity, we would spare no effort - nothing would be too much trouble. Wed be excited - anticipating spruced up - ready. What message are we sending to God? The writer of Psalm 84 has no such conflict of priorities. Hes left his work-a-day life behind him. Hes heading up to worship, and hes just longing for Gods presence. Now I want for us to zero in together on the next few verses. vv5-8 *READ+. Here is: ADVICE FOR TRAVELLERS. In order to get HOME to Gods presence, the Psalmist knows that there is a JOURNEY to be made. He describes this journey as happy (Blessed is the man...), because the thought of the destination motivates him. Even through HARSH, difficult, dangerous places; Blessed is the man... This is a very clear picture of OUR journey/pilgrimage through life. Our destination: the Heavenly City - Gods ETERNAL presence. Would you note with me what I see here in these verses, this morning: 4 KEYS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PASSAGE THROUGH LIFE (Would you like a successful, victorious journey through life and over into eternity? Well there are some principles right here. Important ones. 4 keys for a successful passage through life. 1. LOOK TO GOD ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH. ("Blessed is the man whose strength is in You.")

How many have found that the Christian life is impossible without Gods strength? YET so often our greatest battlefield is about learning to trust Him instead of doing it on our own steam. Thats human nature. But we must understand . . . ZECHARIAH 4:6 [READ]. Im inspired by the life of the Apostle Paul. He had a particularly rough passage, didnt he?! (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). But in the last days of his life he was able to say - 2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8 [READ]. What was his lifes secret? The answer is in 2 Corinthians 12:9 *READ+. His strength was in God! And this is the only way to beat burnout. You do NOT have enough resources in yourself to make the whole journey. Christians burn out because they strive in their own strength - you can wind up just running on nerves! And you know, you can get so far, but youll never finish without Gods strength. ILLUSTRATION: Man setting out across the Nullabor desert with just half a tank of gas - thinking that will be enough to get him all the way home to Devonport. If I just drive a little slower. But there are simply not enough resources. Wed think such a man was crazy, wouldnt we?! At some points there has to be refueling. Refilling. Its just as crazy to believe you can finish the Christian life on your own strength - on your resources. If you ask them, most Christians will agree that we cant make it in our own strength, yet SO many do not take steps to ensure Gods strength for themselves. Well, how DO you live in Gods strength? ISAIAH 40:29-31 *READ+. Its in: - Waiting on God - Devotional life - Gods Word - Prayer. I used to look for God to give me the spectacular insights - the hidden mysteries - about how to defeat all my enemies and move mountains in my life. The I grew up, and I discovered that if I disciplined myself to get the BASICS of the Christian life right (Bible, prayer, church, witnessing) MY ENEMIES FLED AND MY MOUNTAINS CRUMBLED. Why? Because I was living daily in the Lords strength! Simply, but powerfully, being built up and led on by God. I believe that if you keep to the basics consistently - do them often enough - God will get blessing to you! Remember this: THE MAIN THINGS ARE THE PLAIN THINGS. Blessed is the man whose strength is in you. That is the first key for a successful passage through life: LOOK TO GOD ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH. Then, the second key is this:

2. PUT YOUR HEART INTO THE JOURNEY. (Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.) Im one of those people who hates stopping when I have to drive a long distance. (I once drove 16 hours straight from Melbourne to Coffs Harbour - after work on Friday!) When I get in the car . . . my heart is set on pilgrimage! People whose hearts are set on a journey: a) Make the right preparations. b) Dont get side-tracked. You know, God loves wholehearted people. People who throw themselves into life. In fact, He has some things to say about half-hearted people, doesnt He?! (James 1:5-8; 4:8; Revelation 3:15-16.) Put your whole heart into the journey. MAKE YOUR LIFETIME COUNT! We shouldnt be people who are just letting life pass us by - being dictated to by our circumstances - waiting out our time until Jesus comes - we must have our eyes on the finish line, but our energies, our heart, our hands and feet, ought to be occupied with making the journey count - living for Jesus - Paul wrote: For me to LIVE is Christ. Its not wrong to want to do something with your life. And remember: THE PROCESS IS IMPORTANT. What you learn and achieve here is important to God, otherwise He may just as well rapture us all when we come to Christ. This, then, is the second key for a successful passage through life: PUT YOUR HEART INTO THE JOURNEY. Dont wish your life away. And dont just let it pass you by. Make it count for Gods glory. Grow. Learn. I have two more keys to share with you from this great Psalm, but our time is gone. Ill share them with you on our next occasion together.

We began to look at some verses of this Psalm together the last Sunday morning I was preaching, and you may recall that I didnt finish all that I wanted to share with you and so we return to it again today. To refresh your memory: This is a Psalm of Pilgrimage. It is set in the glory days of Israel, when they were a united kingdom with their own land. King David was most likely on the throne when it was written. Every year crowds would flock to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. They would make the journey from every part of the territories occupied by Israel. They would make their pilgrimage to the Holy City to worship at the Temple. This Psalm is the musing of one unnamed pilgrim as he makes his way up to Jerusalem. Hes longing to get to Gods house - he has this intense desire for the House of God. He

longs to be with the company of Gods people, worshipping. We read his hearts cry in verses 1-2. This traveller is even jealous of birds ! The Temple courtyards were open to the sky, and the great eaves provided a place for good nesting, so there were always these birds in and around the Temple. The writer exclaims: Oh, to be one of those birds who can make their homes right there in the House of God. Verses 3-4. Hes left his work-a-day life behind him. Hes headed up to worship, and hes just longing for Gods presence. That is the theme of Psalm 84, set for us in the opening verses. But then we zeroed in, for the focus of our attention, on what follows in verses 5-8. Here we see: Advice for Travellers. In order to get HOME to Gods presence, the Psalmist knows that there is a JOURNEY to be made. He describes this journey as a happy one (blessed is the man), because the thought of the destination motivates him. Even through HARSH, difficult, dangerous places - blessed is the man. This is a very clear picture of OUR journey (our pilgrimage) through life. If you look up 1 Peter 1:17, and 2:11 youll see that Peter describes the Christian in just exactly these terms: a sojourner, a pilgrim - literally a resident alien. We are passing through this world, our destination is The Heavenly City - Gods Eternal Presence. And we do well to remind ourselves of this every day, to keep our priorities straight and true. Now in these verses, as I began to deal with them last time, we discover that there are 4 Keys For A Successful Passage Through Life. (Would you like to have a successful, victorious journey through life and over into eternity ? Well there are some guiding principles right here - verses 5 to 8). The first key we looked at already, and it is this:

1. LOOK TO GOD ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH. Its that first statement of verse 5: Blessed is the man whose strength is in YOU. What an all-important key this is; testified to by every page of Scripture. The Christian life is not merely hard - it is IMPOSSIBLE without Gods strength. Jesus, God our Savior, is both the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2). He commences this work of salvation in us, He continues it in us, and He will complete it the first day we stand before God in Eternity. To live this life we MUST have Gods saving strength, His keeping strength, His enabling strength. Our own resources are completely inadequate. Yet, so often, our greatest battlefield still is about learning to trust Him instead of trying to do it on our own steam. Remember the Zechariah 4:6 principle: Its not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord. HOW do we live in Gods strength ? Primarily by our waiting on the Lord. A consistent devotional life - time in Gods Word and in His Presence. They that WAIT UPON THE LORD (literally) shall RENEW STRENGTH. So, the first key for a successful passage through life we looked at was LOOK TO GOD

ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH. Then the second key we found also in verse 5 is to:

2. PUT YOUR HEART INTO THE JOURNEY. Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, WHOSE HEART IS SET ON PILGRIMAGE. Make your lifetime count! We ought not to be people who are just letting life pass us by being dictated to by our circumstances. We MUST have our eyes on the finish line, but our energies, our heart, our hands and feet ought to be occupied with making the journey count; living for Jesus! Paul wrote: For me to live is Christ! Thats the second key: PUT YOUR HEART INTO THE JOURNEY. Exploit every opportunity that every day brings to grow and develop for the glory of God. And thats where we left off. Lets quickly come now to the last 2 keys for a successful passage through life. The 3rd thing is this:

3. SEE THE OPPORTUNITY IN EVERY TRIAL. Oh, preacher, why do have to mention trials? Its been inspirational up to now - why spoil it all by talking about trials?! Because, friends, its right here in the Psalm. In fact, trials are on nearly every page of the Bible. The Bible talks about them a lot, because they are common to every person on the face of the earth. And if some well-meaning person has suggested to you that Christians arent supposed to have trials - that were never supposed to ever have a cold, that we wont ever experience sadness or loss, that we shouldnt ever feel a financial pinch - then I think you should go back to that well-meaning person and invite them to read their Bible through again. The 3rd key here to knowing a successful passage through life is NOT to pretend trials dont exist ... but rather to SEE TRIALS AS OPPORTUNITIES. Look with me at verse 6 [Read]. The Valley of Baca. The Valley of Baca. The Hebrew word Baca comes from a root word which means: to mourn, wail, or lament. The Valley of Baca is literally: THE VALLEY OF WEEPING. Havent we all passed through some Valleys of Baca? Some Valleys of Weeping. Havent you? But here it says that, if the Lord is your Strength, and if your heart is set on the journey, you can see the Valley of Weeping become a spring. What to others is a place of bitterness can to you become a place of blessing. A place of growth. You might like to write this down as something to remember: Faith dares to dig blessings out of hardships!

It might not always be apparent, but the opportunity for growth and blessing is always right there in the middle of the trial. Its not always easy, but with Gods help, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, we can use trials as OPPORTUNITIES. a) Opportunities to prove God b) Opportunities for growth c) Opportunities to be a shining testimony to others [ILLUSTRATION]: I received a telephone call just several weeks ago from a lady in a church we used to pastor. She has been through a traumatic time with a very serious and potentially life-threatening illness, and she described to me some of the things shes gone through in this terrible trial. I told her how sorry I was for her - how I longed for her to be clear of that thing. But she stopped me, almost mid-sentence. She said: Oh, please pastor NO! She told me how when it all started she felt devastated, but it caused her to cast herself on God like never before in her Christian life. She said: Ive never felt so close to Him. This is eternal life the way Ive come to know the Lords presence. And she said this: Its been a terrible time in many ways - but I wouldnt trade the blessing this has brought me for the finest health in the world. Thats why Im calling you pastor ... to tell you that Im doing fine! Thats digging blessing out of hardship! The Valley of Weeping has become a spring for her! - There is no oil without squeezing the olives, - No wine without pressing the grapes, - No fragrance without crushing the flowers. [ILLUSTRATION]: This week I was reading the story of a man named Worral. He had been stricken with rheumatoid arthritis at age 15 ... by middle age he was totally paralyzed except for 1 finger, could barely speak and was totally blind. But he had a string tied to that one mobile finger that could turn on a tape recorder. By that means he wrote for national magazines, authored books and led a happy and influential life from his bed. It all started because after initial prayers brought no healing, he accepted his lot graciously and said, "Well Lord! If this is the size plot in life youve staked out for me, lets you and me together show the world what we can grow on it." Now that is an extreme case of trial - one that you and I may find it hard to relate to but the principle is true even with more common trials. The Valley of Weeping can become a spring of life. We all love the mountain top experiences; times of blessing and sunshine - but where does the fruit grow? You wont find many orchards on mountain tops - oh, the view is nice up there, BUT THE FRUIT GROWS IN THE VALLEYS! And its those trials in our lives that God can use best to bring us on from glory to glory by His Spirit. The question is: WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE ? Do you see trials as opportunities? Are you going to let that thing make you bitter or make you better?! Oh, get it into your spirit ... even tears can be turned into living waters. As CampbellMorgan once wrote: Faith digs wells in the driest places and finds that living water.

Did Joseph see the whole picture of the opportunity that presented itself by his trial sold into slavery by his brothers - carried off to a foreign land all alone - accuded by Potiphars wife and wrongfully imprisoned?! Could he have imagined in his wildest dreams that it would ultimately lead to him becoming Prime Minister of Egypt, and the Saviour of his entire family? Im quite sure he COULDNT have seen how God was going to use all his hardship to orchestrate such a wonderful outcome. But I do know that Joseph trusted in the hand of God. He had confidence in the One who does all things well! He did not have a copy of the New Testament - it hadnt been written yet - but He trusted in the eternal truth of God that we read about in Romans 8:28-29, that All things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose! And this leads us into the fourth, and final, key for a successful passage through life. The third key is SEE THE OPPORTUNITY IN EVERY TRIAL. The last key is to:

4. REMEMBER THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL. Hes ALWAYS in sovereign control. He will never surrender His position on the throne to any person or any thing. He cannot be usurped. He cannot be defied. God is in control! Lets read together verse 6 of this great 84th Psalm ... [Read]. Here is the promise of God. The promise of Him who sits on the throne, far above all! If I am (1) looking to God alone for my strength, and (2) if Ive put my heart into the journey, and (3) Im looking to see what opportunity God might have in every trial, then the sovereign God will do two things for me: a) He will direct my steps in strength, and b) He will bring me right through to my eternal destination Do you see those 2 things there? a) He will direct their steps in strength they go from strength TO strength This is the promise of God. I mentioned it earlier, but let me just pause to read to you from 2 Corinthians 3:18 [Read]. from glory TO glory. And Who does it? The Spirit of the Lord. This is the work of God in a persons life. When you allow the Holy Spirit free reign in your life, you will go from glory to glory. You will grow from strength to strength, until you bear the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. Oh, let God do that in your life! Submit to Him, I urge you today. b) He will bring them through to their destination Each one appears before God in Zion (the Holy City) This pilgrim Psalmist is just longing to get to Jerusalem - to the House of the Lord. And

here is the assurance - God will bring him through, safe all the way. Can you be sure that youre going to make it all the way to Heaven? Can you really know? ABSOLUTELY. He IS the Author and the Finisher of our faith! Paul, in the last days of his life, wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith - not words of uncertainty - but a powerful declaration: I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that (Eternal) day.

CONCLUSION: Friends, I dont want to just limp through life - by the grace of God I want to go from strength to strength! With faith in God I believe I can outgrow my difficulties. I believe YOU can outgrow YOUR difficulties. Here again are the 4 keys to a successful passage through life, as we see them in Psalm 84: 1. 2. 3. 4. LOOK TO GOD ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH. PUT YOUR HEART INTO THE JOURNEY. SEE THE OPPORTUNITY IN EVERY TRIAL. REMEMBER THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL.

Amen.