A Valley of Tears
or a Spring
How lovely are
Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints For the
courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
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| PikiWiki: Valley of Tears in Golan Heights |
Why
is it that some people always seem to be on top of their troubles, while other
seem to succumb to theirs?
Within
Psalm 84 resides an answer that many forfeit.
God does not remove all heartache from our lives. Many endure great
pain and great loss; some even death. But can we even in this be the victor?
Consider
the psalmist’s streams flowing with Psalm 84. The psalmist’s heart and flesh cried out for the living God—His beauty; His courts; His Presence. How long has it been for you?
Pause.
Reflect.
The
Holy Spirit.
His Presence.
You
know Him.
Can you sense Him?
Is He strumming the strings of your heart today?
Right
now?
Listen
to Psalmist as he writes to those whose heart’s dwelling is God Himself.
How blessed are
those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.
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.
We will, as everyone does from time to time, find ourselves in the Valley of Baca—Weeping.
But these people in whose heart is the highway to Zion, who have made their
dwelling and heart’s desire God Himself, they, when they pass through the same
valley as others do, they instead make it a place of springs and pools of
blessings.
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| odysseyonline.com |
Unique
strength in found in these worshipers of God. Instead of Baca Valley taking
its toll on them, they instead change the valley. Baca Valley becomes subservient
to them. In fact, they go from strength to strength as they pass through. They
make it a spring!
It’s
a choice we get to make. We are all just passing through. But what will the valley’s
effects be on you? That’s the choice. Some sadly never see the choice. They
blindly walk through. Their eyes only on their circumstances, dull to the God
Who walks near, seeing only the natural. Their journey is their dwelling
place.
The
others, these pilgrims, who have within their heart the highway to Zion… they
too pass through. They still weep, but their tears, they become water for their
Valley. They see God in their Valley of Weeping. They have learned to see God in everything: everywhere. And for that they water the land.
What would have been is instead transformed into springs. Springs that water
their Valley and pools of blessings they leave behind, as they go from strength
to strength. Each one appears before God in Zion.
The
Valley of Baca is of unknown location. It may or may not be a real place. What
we know for sure is that the psalmist passes through this valley on their way
to Zion.
We all must pass through weeping on our way to Zion too. It is how we
pass, rather where we dwell as we pass through, which makes all the difference.
