This morning we reached the end of our ‘Songs of Ascent’ series, a series looking at Psalms 120-134. Ps 134 is only a short psalm of 3 verses, but it’s a psalm of praise and blessing.
Every year, Jews would travel to Jerusalem to worship God for the three main celebrations: Passover (commemorating God’s deliverance from Egypt), the Festival of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Festival of Tabernacles (harvest.) During the journey, they would sing these songs of pilgrimage to remind them of God’s help, provision, protection and deliverance. Imagine their joy and relief when they finally reached Jerusalem!
There is no sense of anticlimax in Ps 134. So often, when we reach a destination after much travelling, there can be a sense of anticlimax: I remember arriving in Vienna on a cold December day in 1988 and getting on a tram that took us into a rather dilapidated part of the city, nothing at all like I was expecting! Eventually, we found the stunning centre we were expecting, but that ‘first view’ was disappointing to say the least!
Many Christians secretly harbour a fear that that same sense of disappointment will sweep over us when we finally see God face to face. Nothing could be further from the truth. The revolutionary truth which needs to grip our minds, hearts and souls is that God is enough for us. We don’t need anything else; His grace is sufficient for us. (2 Cor 12:9). As Chris Tomlin sings
‘All of You is more than enough for all of me, for every thirst and every need.
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough.’ (‘Enough’, Chris Tomlin)
Not only will there be no sense of anticlimax or disappointment at journey’s end, we can also know the satisfaction God brings during the journey itself. Only God can satisfy!
‘There is a joy in the journey.
There’s a light we can love on the way.
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey. (‘Joy In the Journey’, Michael Card)