From the Poetic Psalms to a Gospel Sojourn

Possibly you’ve had the experience of being so incredibly engrossed in a book that you’ve not paid a bit of attention to the conversation swirling around you. Or maybe you’ve been repeatedly called to the dinner table but haven’t arrived at “a good stopping place,” so you’ve just continued to read, thereby incurring the frustration of your family? Or maybe the clock chimed 3 a.m., but you’re still turning pages, promising yourself that you’ll go to bed at the end of the next chapter - a promise you’ve broken for the past six chapters? Can you relate? Some in our community have expressed the tug to keep turning pages in the Psalms, because they haven’t “found a good stopping place” yet. We totally get it!

Our year together in the Psalms has been nothing short of amazing and inspiring. These beautiful words of prayer and praise, penned thousands of years ago, live just as vibrantly in us today as they did when first written. That is one of the miracles of God’s Word. It never “ages out” of relevance. As we shift our attention and energy from “A Year in the Psalms” to a “Sojourn with Jesus,” the words of Psalm 119 build a bridge between the two themes.

Psalm 119:17-24

¹⁷Deal bountifully with your servant,

that I may live and keep your word.

¹⁸Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of your law.

¹⁹I am a sojourner on the earth;

hide not your commandments from me!

²⁰My soul is consumed with longing

for your rules at all times.

²¹You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

who wander from your commandments.

²²Take away from me scorn and contempt,

for I have kept your testimonies.

²³Even though princes sit plotting against me,

your servant will meditate on your statutes.

²⁴Your testimonies are my delight;

they are my counselors.

ger -- sojourner

Verse 19 picks up the very idea of a “sojourn.” This is not an oft-used word, but it is perfectly situated to add both depth and context to our transition from the Psalms into the Gospels. The noun in Hebrew is ger (sojourner). The meaning includes aliens, strangers, and immigrants. The verb form is even more interesting. That Hebrew word is gur (sojourn). This verb means to abide, dwell, inhabit, live as aliens, reside. Those synonyms for sojourn directly relate to your walk with Jesus. Each word defines exactly who we are as His redeemed people and how we are to regard our time here on earth.

gur -- sojourn

Verses 17-24 of Psalm 119 remind us of the comfort God lovingly provides in times of difficulty and distress. The psalmist, who was in close relationship with the LORD, depicted himself as a pilgrim on this earth, one who was constantly longing for God and refusing any alienation from Him. We are called to live like the psalmist, clinging to the promises of God’s Word amid the storms of life.

There are a few other passages in Scripture that use the word “sojourner.” Each of those verses

assures us that the Lord provides special protection and expresses deep compassion for the sojourner. God’s own people experienced that same sense of statelessness while they were held captive in the land of Egypt. God is abundantly clear about sojourners:

Exodus 22:21

“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

SO, please don’t feel pressured to find a “good stopping place” in the Psalms before joining VFM’s Sojourn with Jesus in 2026. The Psalms are embedded in the Gospels, and you’ll enjoy those crossovers after digging so deeply into the Psalms this past year. Rather than feeling pressured, you’re merely being invited to walk with Jesus through His life story as told by the Gospel writers. As we travel, we will remain close by His side. We will tarry where He tarries. Together, we will move with Him through the mission field. We will stand at the foot of the cross. We will marvel at the empty tomb. To paraphrase the psalmist, we will become sojourners on the earth who take delight in the testimonies of Jesus, longing to keep His Word. May we behold wondrous things as we linger in the Gospels throughout the New Year!

Sojourn with Jesus Resources