Exhaustion (Psalm 84 series)

I’m exhausted.  I’ve been feeling it awhile, but today, I’m admitting it.  

It’s not just Fridays.

it’s not just cold, dreary days of January.  

It’s a deep exhaustion that comes from daily being surrounded by bad news and constant need.  I’m depleted, devoid of the bank of energy that usually fuels me. 

When I read this verse recently, “Blessed are those whose strength is in You,” it hit me square on.  

I’ve spent hours doing a deep dive into the passage (and for the next few days I’ll be sharing the series). 

All of Psalm 84 is about the presence of God.  Although the psalmist refers to the Temple or Zion as a specific dwelling place of the Lord, the theme of the scripture is  the psalmist longing to just dwell in that Presence.  He says those who dwell there in His House (such as the priests) are blessed; they sing praise continually, because they have constant access to that desired presence of God. 

But then he writes about those who DON’T get to just sit around the house of God all day—these are people who were trying to make their way there.  Boy, do I know that feeling!  Right now, I’m overwhelmed with the pressures of Covid restrictions and the grief of those who are losing loved ones daily because of this disease.  I’m not in Zion;  I’m in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and it seems never-ending.   Of course, I’m speaking figuratively, but for those of us trying to make our way *back* to the Presence of God, the song-writer promises, “Blessed are those who strength is in You”

And isn’t that a GLORIOUS relief. I’m a pretty strong personality—I’ve certainly been told that often enough. But I don’t have to live in my own strength (cause it’s GONE), and I don’t have to minister and meet needs out of my strength, either.

Psalm 28:8 says that God is  “the *saving strength* of His anointed (KJV).” His strength is inexhaustible, and when we’re feeling exhausted, He is our “saving strength!”