“Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” Pilgrimage is associated either with old-fashioned tradition or something entirely devoted to Catholicism or Islamic culture. It brings up images of medieval Christians, covered in shawls or hoods, carrying crosses and alms, travelling over mountains and valleys to spy on a relic of the faith. However, the concept of a pilgrimage is not necessarily something old-fashioned, and it is incredibly applicable both to our modern lives and to our Christian walk of faith.
Psalm 84 is a beautiful depiction of pilgrimage, bringing forth images of a pilgrim running towards the safety and warmth of God’s temple. “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Ps. 84:2). While it depicts a pilgrimage from the time of the sons of Korah, well before our modern era, the concept of a pilgrimage has not changed, even if our journey is more metaphorical than theirs. While the pilgrims in Israel would literally journey to the temple in Jerusalem, we are journeying toward God’s heavenly kingdom in our walk of life and faith. While the Israelites would journey through mountains and valleys and cities, we walk more metaphorically—we go through our lives with our eyes fixed both on our heavenly destination and the God who is leading us there. Think of the pillar of fire and cloud in Exodus that led the Israelites to the Promised Land—they knew where to walk because their eyes were fixed on the pillar of the Lord. The same can be said for our modern journeys—we have our eyes fixed on our Lord, even if His pillar is not literally before us. His Word is also constantly before us; we can look at our Bibles almost as a map for our journeys of faith.
What does this look like practically? The psalm proposes something that is almost a juxtaposition—this walk is both individual and communal. In verse 5, we read, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” This pilgrimage is a choice that we need to make on our own. Our hearts need to choose the Lord, and our hearts also need to make that decision to dedicate our lives as a walk of faith to the Lord. However, this is not a journey that we need to make on our own. Immediately after, in verse 6, we read, “As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring.” While we need to decide on our own to go on this pilgrimage, God has given us a community around us to support us, walk with us, and share in our joys and sorrows. And this community is a beautiful and uplifting thing. Verse 6 talks about the “Valley of Baca,” which is a symbolic place that represents dryness and suffering, and the psalm tells us that this pilgrimage turns it into “a spring”. While life throws many trials at us, having this Christian community around us can bring us peace.