A brother in Christ was laughing with me about how I make lists. It set me to thinking about how I organize, deal with, and convey information. I do make lists, either numbered or bulleted (1), often indented much like outlines I enjoyed in school, and metaphors. Somehow, those seem worlds apart, lists and metaphors, but they seem to delineate the two most divergent (2) types of human thinking, analytical and creative.
So, when I run across lists or metaphors in the Bible, my mind and emotions sit up and take notice. Reading through the Psalms recently I came to the following verses in Psalm 84:5-7:
“How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength,
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.”
Heart as highway is certainly metaphorical, but initially I struggled with what it meant, how it represented the heart. Two sources of confusion were 1) What is the antecedent of “it”? and 2) What is the meaning of the metaphor in light of the change from inanimate, singular “it” to personal, plural “they” and “everyone”? Further, confusion arises from how to end verse 5. Many translators believe that “to Zion” is implied because verse 7 ends “in Zion.” Translations without this phrase struggle to make sense out of the words. The context of the psalm is the temple in Zion.
Clarity came to me by zooming out to see what the overall message was before making inroads (3) into the details of the metaphor. How does one gain strength in God? He is a believer, a follower, a disciple, a worshipper. These children of God are blessed because each one makes his heart to contain multiple highways for God, to God, to and for blessing, to and for worship, and to and for righteousness.
When these hearts pass through the valley of weeping (“Baca”), they make them into springs. The early rains (those needed to sprout the crop) make blessings (literally, pools (4)). These highways in the blessed ones’ hearts are wet, initially with tears, but ultimately with life-giving springs and pools. The antecedent of “it” is valley of Baca. The antecedent of “they” is the ones’ whose hearts are highways.
“Strength to strength” reminds me of the phrase in Romans 1:17, “faith to faith”, which I find to be very confusing words. I don’t know exactly how to interpret it, but the passage certainly conveys a transition from the strength of trusting in God through the trials of the valley of weeping to the triumphant appearance before God for worship (5).
And what is the ultimate point to be understood? Those who trust in God have strength and blessing even in the midst of sorrow, and they mark the world with that blessing, being enabled (strengthened) to appear before God for worship. So, “direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone” (1 Samuel 7:3 (6)), and He will bless and strengthen you.
- https://clearlyscientific.com/best-practice-writing-formatting-bulleted-lists/#:~:text=Sub-bullets%20should%20be%20indented%20further%20in,%20and%20it%E2%80%99s%20worth
- I am using the word divergent, not as opposed to convergent thinking, but in the usual way of considering the distance between the two, as in right and left brain.
- I hope that you didn’t miss that one.
- https://biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/84.htm
- I keep assuming worship because Zion is where the temple was and that was where the children of Israel worshipped. The wider context of the psalm is about worship before God in the temple.
- 2 Chronicles 11:16-17, Isaiah 51:1, Hosea 6:3
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