The Valley of Weeping
In The Valley • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
The Valley of Baka
Baca: Weeping
Valley of Weeping, tears, loss.
A geographic site named “the Valley of Baca” is nowhere identified in Scripture. “Baca” is a Hebrew word meaning “balsam tree,” and the sap of this tree oozes like tears.
The “Valley of Baca” is a name for any difficult and painful place in life, where everything seems hopeless and you feel helpless, like “the pit of despair.”
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
Strength is in you
We believe when we get to the end of our strength, there is a heavenly strength, there is a divine strength, from God for those that know Him.
The text does not say blessed is the strength of those that go at it alone. Blessed are those who pulls themselves up by the boot straps. Or those that are really determined.
Doing burn outs on chest day at school. 120/10 = 120 reps.
When you are at the end of your strength His strength is made perfect.
Were does your strength come from?
trust God to enable them to walk one step at a time and one day at a time.
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
Whose hearts are set on pilgrimage
Pilgrimage: Road, Highway, travel
Growing strong in God’s presence is often preceded by a journey through barren places in our lives.
5 What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
The person who loves to spend time with God will see his or her adversity as an opportunity to experience God’s faithfulness even more deeply.
If you are walking through your own Valley of Weeping today, be sure your pilgrimage leads toward God, not away from him.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
Pass through
The people who love God expect to pass through this valley and not remain there.
Trust God to enable them to walk one step at a time and one day at a time.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5 (NIV)
5b weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
they make it a place of springs
They plan to pass through but while they are there they make it a place of springs.
We say God, I need a miracle. God says pick up a shovel. Make a desert, a garden.
To make a place of springs you will have to work for it.
You can live for 3 days without water.
Digging deep enough to find water. Even a dry river bed could be a resource. At a bend, dig 3 to 6 feet down and look for damp sand, indicating the presence of water. Instead of continuing to dig, let water seep into the hole from the surrounding sand.
He shows up when we act.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
It’s wonderful to receive a blessing, but it’s even greater to be a blessing and transform a desert into a garden.
Q: What wells are you digging in this current season?
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
Autumn rains - cover it with pools
like Samuel and Elijah, they pray down the rain.
18 Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.
7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
Strength to Strength
Where does our strength come from?
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Strength to the weary
7 They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
Till each appears
Have you ever gone through a season of life that has broken you? A season that drained your energy, tested your resolve, or wore you out? Today, we want to talk about a place called “Baka.” It literally means weeping. It was a point on the journey of pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the ancient middle east.
What wells are you digging in this current season?
Do you believe that God can give you joy, peace, strength, and more in the middle of it?
What keeps you from believing that and what is one step you can make towards opening yourself to receive His joy, peace, strength, and love?
“We are going to get there.”
Q: How have some of the valleys you’ve experienced shaped who you are today? How have they shaped your understanding of God?
5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
End with:
SERENITY PRAYER
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
The Pilgrimage to God’s House. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. The happiness of the permanent dweller is reflected in the pilgrim. He has a special sense of God’s strength and has in his heart the highway to Zion. As he passes through the waterless valley, where only balsam trees can grow, a change takes place. The parched valley is transformed into a place of springs as the pilgrim receives and transmits the blessings of God.