A pilgrim sets out in the morning, and he has to journey many
days before he gets to the shrine which he seeks. What varied scenes the
traveler will behold on his way! Sometimes he is on the mountains, and in time
he will descend into the valleys; here he will be where the brooks shine like
silver, where the birds sing out, where the air is balmy, and trees are green,
and luscious fruits hang down to gratify his taste; and in time he will find
himself in the arid desert, where no life is found, and no sound is heard,
except the screech of the wild eagle in the air, where he finds no rest for the
sole of his foot, the burning sky above him, and the hot sand beneath him, no
roof of trees, and no house to rest himself; at another time he finds himself in
a sweet oasis, resting by the wells of water, and plucking fruit from palm
trees. One moment he walks between the rocks in some narrow gorge, where all is
darkness; at another time he ascends the hill, Mizar; now he descends into the
valley of Baca; and in time he climbs the hill of Bashan, "a high hill is
Bashan;" and yet again going into a den of leopards, he suffers trial and
affliction. Such is life, ever changing.
Who can tell what may come next? Today
it is fair, the next day there may be the thundering storm; today I may need
nothing, tomorrow I may be like Jacob, with nothing but a stone for my pillow
and the heavens for my curtains. But what a happy thought it is, though we do
not know where the road winds, we know where it ends. It is the straightest way
to heaven to go round about. Israel’s forty years wanderings were, after all,
the nearest path to Canaan. We may have to go through trail and affliction; the
pilgrimage may be a tiresome one, but it is safe; we cannot trace the river upon
which we are sailing, but we know it ends in floods of bliss. We cannot track
the roads, but we know that they all meet in the great metropolis of heaven, in
the center of God’s universe. God help us to pursue the true pilgrimage of a
pious life!
[Charles H. Spurgeon]
✞✞✞
Psalm 68:15 ... The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.
Exodus 6:4 ... And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Psalm 107:7 ... And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Psalm 119:54 ... Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.❤