The Message of the Psalms

PSALM 84: PILGRIMS IN THE VALLEY OF TEAR

The Christian understands heaven to be where God dwells
and more immediately, as the Hymn writer put it; “Where
Jesus is, ‘tis heaven there.” But the Scripture also presents
heaven from another perspective; that place at the far end
of the valley of tears. The lights of the heavenly Jerusalem
are often diffused by the tears of life, as we make our way
towards the place where there are no more tears (Rev. 21:4
cf. Ps. 80:5, 6:6). This Psalm introduces us to that pilgrim
who can dig happiness out of the hardships of life (Vs. 6). 1
The psalmist presents the pilgrimage in three
aspects;

1. The longing for home, a distant hope (Vs. 1-3).

Where God dwells is described as amiable, the idea in the
Hebrew emphasizes the subjective more, giving the feeling
of the Psalmist; “How loved….” What makes this place so
well beloved is the presence of the “living God” who
animates his soul and flesh (Vs. 2).

2. The Journey to home, through a vale of tears

(Vs. 4-8).
Tears are often the bread that feeds the Christian (Ps.
80:5), and the wearying activity of the night hours (Ps. 6:6).
As the instrument of God, suffering is the best interpreter of
the Psalms that the heart has. It is suffering that opens up
the Psalms, brings to life the promises that were once a
dead letter. It is suffering that can personalize the Psalms.
It is through suffering that we are enabled to see clearly
with the eye what previously we only head with the ear (Job
42:5).

It is through the vale of tears that we long to be where

praise is unimpeded (Vs. 4). Until then we are strengthened
1
This Psalm is taken by some to show the longings of the soul for the
eternal rest; the heavenly Jerusalem (Horne). Others see it as referring to
the house of God, the assembly of God’s people (Spurgeon, Dickson). Still
others bring these two ideas brought together in the word “tabernacle”
which, as a tent, moves here and there until it reaches that true country
and final rest (Nicholas Heminge). As a living and a complex book these
applications are quite legitimate.

2010, Victoria Free Presbyterian Church

 The Message of the Psalms

by that blessed hope, enabled to look up out of the

darkness (Vs. 5-6) and brought to appear before him in
glory (Vs. 8).

3. The Enjoyment of home, a simultaneous

reality (Vs. 9-12).
The fact that the journey to this distant land is through a
vale of tears is not inconsistent with the blessing of the
present reality. It is faith that solves the paradox of life (Vs.
12). The Christian is at the same time seated in glory (II
Corinthians 5:1; Ephesians 1:3) and wandering through
Baca, the valley of tears.

2010, Victoria Free Presbyterian Church