The autumn season is finally upon us. Frost was on more than the pumpkins this morning! Regardless of your position on global climate change, the fall months are a welcome contrast to the heat from the months of summer. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), summer 2019 was the hottest summer on record (the last 150 years) for the Northern Hemisphere. This past August tied for the second hottest on the entire planet.
Some notable facts connected with the heat of summer include the retreat of sea ice. The August Artic sea ice coverage was 30.1% below average, right behind 2012’s record-lowest extent. Antarctic sea ice extent was the fifth smallest August on record. Europe, Africa and Hawaii had temperatures that ranks among their three hottest Augusts on record. Africa had its warmest June through August since records began.
We are anxious to be refreshed by the breezes of autumn.
Autumn in the Bible
But did you know that the Bible also talks about the refreshment of autumn? There are several references to autumn rain in Scriptures. Depending on your translation of the Bible, you may see the rains called autumn rain, early rain or former rain. Precipitation and cooler climates were very significant in the days of the Bible.
Farmers in the Mediterranean would have two growing seasons, but the primary season was in the fall and then they would harvest in the spring. The practice revolved around the rain patterns in their climate. In the summer, there would be very little rain. The rainy season would then begin in the autumn and continue through winter and spring. Autumn rains broke the summer drought and softened the parched land, preparing it for the new season’s crops.
There is great symbolic significance to the refreshment of autumn. Just as the rain refreshes the dry soil, God refreshes the souls of His people with His Spirit. Our “dry” seasons of life may include disappointment, turmoil, grief, discouragement, depression, or sin. Sometimes the busy nature of life can leave us drained even when we aren’t facing huge trials.
During the weeks of November, we will be spending some time looking at some important concepts from Psalm 84. We will learn key lessons to taking advantage of the refreshment of autumn in our spiritual lives. The psalmist writes, “Blessed are those whose strength is in You.” Just as the farmers looked for rain to end their dry season, look to the autumn rains of God’s Spirit to bring peace, renewal and energy to your spiritual desert.
Psalm 84 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
The Joy of Worship
(For the music leader. A psalm for the people of Korah.)
84 Lord God All-Powerful,
your temple is so lovely!
2 Deep in my heart I long
for your temple,
and with all that I am
I sing joyful songs to you.
3 Lord God All-Powerful,
my King and my God,
sparrows find a home near your altars;
swallows build nests there to raise their young.
4 You bless everyone who lives in your house,
and they sing your praises. Selah
5 You bless all who depend on you for their strength
and all who deeply desire to visit your temple.
6 When they reach Dry Valley,
springs start flowing,
and the autumn rain fills it with pools of water.
7 Your people grow stronger,
and you, the God of gods, will be seen in Zion.
8 Lord God All-Powerful,
the God of Jacob, please answer my prayer! Selah
9 You are the shield that protects your people,
and I am your chosen one. Won’t you smile on me?
10 One day in your temple is better
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather serve in your house,
than live in the homes of the wicked.
11 Our Lord and our God,
you are like the sun and also like a shield.
You treat us with kindness and with honor,
never denying any good thing
to those who live right.
12 Lord God All-Powerful,
you bless everyone who trusts you.
The 84th Psalm shouts to us, pleading with us about a longing that is deep within. This man is homesick, not longing for the confines of a neighborhood but for the house of the Lord. The mood is very similar to that of Psalm 42 and 43, which are also representative of the singers of the temple called the Korahites. The singer proposes to help us break free from the despair and gloom through the power and praise found in song.
Three times the psalmist uses the word “blessed”.
God’s presence a blessing
The psalm begins with “how lovely” is Your dwelling place, O Lord! It is the language of poetry – of romantic love poetry. It is a blissful almost gleefulness. Psalm 42:4 and 43:4 give us a peek at the utter delight that a dedicated servant of the temple finds in offering himself in his role. It is a joy that the uncommitted cannot quite fathom (see Amos 8:5).
Talk to a preacher about the joy of serving the Lord through the service of a local congregation of people. Ask him to explain the fulfillment found in serving both God and man. Talk to him about how he feels when he is away from the congregation – even on vacation. Speak about the feeling when he returns “home.”
The Christian can find similar equivalent in the love they share for the brothers – individually and collectively the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).
My soul longs, faints, treasures, chooses, yearns for, desires, prefers, hopes, elevates, and even covets the Temple – to be in the presence of God.
The New English Bible translates the phrase, “I pine” for the courts of the Lord.
The things of this world – the journeys through the parched desert – tempt, tease and even provide adventure. But steps in the heat of the sun do not satisfy. The heat leaves us tired, stretched, weary, longing for a drop of cool relief.
Bring on the rain.
Unless Christians, old and new, are convinced of the duty to diligently and inductively search Scripture, as Bereans, for themselves, there is little hope of anything close to Biblical literacy. The goal in the study of literature, especially the Bible, is to determine the various authors’ original intent for writing to the original audience (audience relevance). Interrogating Scripture with who, what, when, where, why and how needs to be taught and reinforced. Wooden literalism must be tempered by an understanding of the poetic and apocalyptic nature of the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek which are loaded with simile, metaphor and hyperbole. Unfortunately, many denominational preachers and teachers have been conditioned In Seminary to propagate pet dogma as “truth” and are concerned about the congregation becoming “confused” by going to far on their own. Pity. Jesus had a message He passed on to His disciples and later empowered them with the Holy Spirit to assist them in teaching the early church. And let’s not forget to gain an understanding of the OT since the NT IS swollen with allusions to it. WARNING: What we find approaching Scripture this way is that popular doctrines expounded in churches today are fictions accepted as truth. Let me leave you with this. Get “Christianity’s Great Dilemma” by Glen Hill who undertook this effort because he became discouraged by what he had taught as gospel truth for almost 50 years. No more agreeing to disagree.
Eph 4: 5-6
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Ralph