A psalm to read before you head out, no matter the destination
By Dean Collins
Sweeping views of Los Angeles from the Getty Center
On a visit with my son and his wife in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago, we decided to drive from their home to the magnificent Getty Center. I drove through the congested traffic of the teeming freeways, and finally we arrived at the museum sitting on the top of a mountain. A tram took us from the parking deck to the top, and we entered to spend too short a time viewing art from several centuries, created by some of the world’s greatest artists.
But as splendid as the art is the building housing it. Designed by architect Richard Meier with exterior walls of travertine stone and aluminum cladding, it is a glistening marvel. And then there’s the view. The vistas are spectacular in every direction.
I remembered this uniquely beautiful building since then when I came across Psalm 84. “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts,” the psalmist declares. I can’t help but believe that dwelling place is more brilliant than anything constructed here on earth, even the Getty.
Habana Vieja, near the Malecon, Havana, Cuba
A different journey
But as I read this beautiful and encouraging psalm that speaks of the dwelling place of God, his glory, and the joy that is ours as we journey through life with him toward eternity, my mind recalled another highway I traveled eighteen or nineteen years ago. Six friends and I went to Cuba on a special permit for a week. We traveled several highways across this island country. The land and the people are beautiful. The buildings and homes almost everywhere are in various states of disrepair. Poverty is prevalent. The government has failed, but the believers are filled with joy.
I think it was in or near Camaguey that I sat one evening with about twenty new Cuban friends on a concrete patio. I had learned to sing about four or five praise songs in Spanish, so I played the guitar and led a time of worship. My pronunciation was awful, but no one seemed to mind. Heartfelt praises to the living God filled the air. A medical doctor from a nearby hospital shared a testimony of what God was doing in his life and practice with limited government resources and patients who had no ability to pay. He testified of the many times he saw God heal his patients.
A peaceful strength
I was there during a difficult season of my life. But that evening I felt the peace and the strength of God as I worshiped. I can’t help but think about the different feelings I had in the grand Getty Center compared to this modest patio in Cuba. God was in both places. His creativity was visible in both places. But in Cuba, there was more joy and in some ways more beauty. I witnessed people who were walking through poverty and oppression and yet moving from “strength to strength, “ as the psalmist put it in this psalm.
I don’t have contact with anyone in Cuba currently. In spite of the unrest in this broken country, I have confidence that the people of God there find hope as they place confidence in God to meet every need.
We will all get on a highway today or soon going somewhere we have decided is important. I suspect some of these drives won’t feel very joyful as we navigate traffic and impolite drivers. Maybe the best thing we can do before we head out is read Psalm 84 and remember where our strength, hope, and joy originate. It is in the service of the living God and in moments of praise that we will find everything we need. The things of this world do grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 84:1-12
Photos by Lydia Koh and by Darius Soodmand on Unsplash ESV
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