Sermon
I Cor. 10:13).
The God of the Valleys
IlY WESLEY
B EN-HADAD, king of Syria, had
gathered a great army to attack
Israel and to take away all the riches
of the land (I Kings 20:1-5). Ben-ha­
dad boasted that his army would out­
number the handfuls of dust remain­
ing in Samaria, a threat evidently
both of destruction and his irresist­
ible strength (vs. 10). Ahab, king of
Israel, feared the great Syrian army;
but God sent an unnamed prophet to
tell Ahab that the Lord would deliver
the enemy multitude into his hands
(vs.13).
As a result of obeying the prophet's
instructions, the Israelites defeated
the Syrians with "a great slaughter"
(I Kings 20:21).Ben-hadad managed
to escape on a horse.
Afterward, the prophet warned
King Ahab that the Syrians would re­
turn in the spring of the next year. In
planning that future campaign, the
servants of Ben-hadad said to him,
"Their gods are gods of the hills; ...
but let us fight against them in the
plain, and surely we shall be stronger
than they" (vs. 23).
God sent a man to advise the king
of Israel to strengthen his resolve.He
said, "Thus saith the Lord, Because
the Syrians have said, The Lord is
God of the hills, but he is not God of
the valleys, therefore will I deliver all
this great multitude into thine hand,
and ye shall know that I am the Lord''
(I Kings 20:28). For seven days the Is­
raelites and the Syrians faced each
other from their camps; then the great
conflict took place. The Israelites
killed one hundred thousand Syrians
in one day.The others fled in confu­
sion and disarray (vss. 29-30).
HE IS THE GOD OF THE VALLEYS
As is true of all Scripture, this his­
torical incident offers important prac­
tical lessons. First, just as the Syrians
well as the God of the mountains (cf.
THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
David, the second ruler of the
united kingdom of Israel, knew
something about mountains and val­
leys, both in the literal and figurative
senses. Before he was called by God
to be a king, he was a shepherd. As a
young man his responsibilities often
took him up on high mountains and
down into deep, dark valleys. Ac­
G. HUNT cording to inscriptions in the book of
Psalms, David wrote seventy-three of
the psalms in that book.In these writ­
did, many of God's people make the ings he bared his soul regarding the
mistake of thinking that God is the most trying and troubling experi­
God of the mountains but not the God ences of life.
of the valleys.I t is one thing for unbe­
It is comforting to note that the
lievers of this world to hold such a
myth, but it is quite another for God's Shepherd will enable us to pass
people to be taken in by such a false "through the valley of the shadow"
(Ps. 23:4). He will not permit us to
Most Christians find it easy to be­ stay there or abide there but will
lieve in a God who is present and bring us safely through.The valley of
available when everything is going the shadow is a valley that all must
right. Regrettably, it is true that the pass through, both the saved and the
faith of many falters when everything unsaved, except for that one genera­
seems to be going wrong. When the tion of Christians who will be alive
sun is shining and no storm clouds on earth when the rapture of the
are on the horizon and we are experi­ church takes place (I Thess. 4:13-17).
encing spiritual victory, we find it It is quite possible there was actu­
easy to believe in the Lord and give ally a place called "the valley of the
Him praise; but what about the bad shadow" (Ps.23:4).I t was no doubt a
times and the sad times? dark, deep, and dangerous place. In
Are we in touch with God only Christian experience the valley of the
when we are experiencing victory in shadow represents those life experi­
our lives? Do we see Him as available ences in which death is very near.
only when we need Him the least, or The experience might involve one's
do we look to Him for help also in the own approaching death, the death of
troublous and trying times of life? Is a loved one or friend, or the death of a
He not the God of the valleys as well precious relationship. Even in this
as the God of the mountains? Of dark valley, we can depend on the
course, He is the God of all times, the great Shepherd of the sheep to be
good and the bad; and He is near with us.
whenever, wherever, and for what­ In Psalm 23 David used some of his
ever reason we may need Him. His experiences as a shepherd to illus­
promise is "I will never leave thee, trat� the �piritual life.He began by as­
nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5). sertmg, . The Lord is my shepherd; I
Multitudes have found the God of shall not want" (vs. 1). David had
the Bible to be the God of the valleys confidence that, regardless of the cir­
as well as the God of the mountains. cumstances of life, the Lord would
Life is not always a mountaintop ex­ protect him and see him through·
perience for any of us. There are bat­ therefore, he could say, "Yea, though
tles to be fought, deserts to cross, I walk through the valley of the
mountains to climb, and burdens to shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
carry; but the Lord has promised to for thou art with me; thy rod and thy
be always present and to make the staff they comfort me" (vs.4).
burden more bearable when we are Interestingly, the personal pro­
yoked with Him (cf. Matt. 11:28-30). �?u�� �hange from the third person
Let us examine some of the valley ( he ) m reference to God in Psalm
experiences of life that are common �3:1-3 to the second person ("thou")
to us all and that assure our hearts m verse 4. This grammatical change
that He is the God of the valleys as brings before us the truth that in
death !h�re is no third person.Rather,
there 1s Just Jesus and you. We also
are reminded of the truth that the
closer we as Christians draw to death
�e nearer we draw to God. By know�
mg the great Shepherd, Christian be­
lievers in Christ have removed the
natural fear of death (cf. Heb. 2:15).
Yes, the God of Scripture is the God
of every valley in the experience of
The origin of the word "Baca" that
occurs in Psalm 84:6 has not been de­
termined with certainty."It was pos­
sibly an imaginary poetical name, not
intended to describe an actual loca­
tion, but to stand for any experience
of drought ...in contrast to a well­
watered experience . .. or it may be a
reference to an experience of 'weep­
ing' with a play upon the Hebrew
word bcikah ('to weep').If it actually
refers to a place, it was likely so
named from the balsam trees in it,
which exude a tear-like gum" (Un­
ger, Unger's Bible Dictionary,
With this background one can
better understand Psalm 84:5-6:
"Blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee; in whose heart are the
ways of them. W ho passing through
the valley of Baca make it a well." I
believe this to be the valley of broken­
heartedness and tears-the place
where all the oases of life dry up and
where life becomes brutal and barren.
We all have been in this valley (or
will be) at some point in our lives.
Again, however, it is encouraging
to note that God does not keep us in
this valley permanently. We pass
through it; and as we do so, the dry
and desolate wilderness all around us
can be transformed into a place of re­
freshment and spiritual renewal. God
can use all the experiences of life,
even the least enjoyable ones, to pro­
duce "streams in the desert" (Isa.
35:6). Even as the cross, Christ's low­
liest and most bitter experience,
loosed the eternal fountains of living
Water, so the experiences of adversity
in our lives can be fashioned by God
into artesian wells of spiritual bless­
Note, however, that it takes a cer­
tain type of person to turn Baca into a
well. This individual's strength must
be in God (Ps. 84:5). This believer
must go "from strength to strength"
(vs. 7) as he walks in His presence.
All God's people experience peri­
ods of spiritual dryness and drabness
when their enthusiasm wanes and
they must do dull and boring work
day after day.Some in extreme cases
pass through inexplicable periods of
disillusionment and depression that
oceans of tears cannot wash away.
The valley of Baca symbolizes every
arid and fruitless period of life and
every crushing and sorrowful season
of time. The experience of Jesus in
the garden of Gethsemane fits into
the symbolism of this valley of heart­
aches and tears.
Through it all. however, God's
faithful servant comes to know that
his Lord is the God of the valleys and
not the God of the mountains only.
THE VALLEY OF ACHOR
God used the Prophet Hosea to
write regarding the restoration of Is­
rael to His good graces. The Lord
promised to bring Israel "into the
wilderness, and speak comfortably
unto her" (Hos.2:14}; then the Lord
said, "And I will give her her vine­
yards from thence, and the valley of
Achor for a door of hope: and she
shall sing there" (vs.15).
The valley of Achor was located
near Jericho.It was the ignominious
place where Achan, driven by greed
and selfishness, betrayed the people
of Israel Uosh.7: 1-26}. Because of the
trespass of Achan, he and his family
were stoned to death.For this reason
the place became known as "The val­
ley of Achor" (vs.26). that is, the val­
ley of trouble.
This particular valley represents
troubles of all kinds that Christians
may face, but more specifically it rep­
resents betrayal by a friend or loved
one.
As the whole house of Israel was
betrayed by the sin of Achan, so
many of us have been betrayed by a
trusted companion or relative. The
betrayer may have been a husband,
wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, or
close friend.The act may have cost us
dearly, as Achan's treasonous act cost
Israel. We may have suffered spiritual
defeat and humiliation, as did Israel.
God, however, can transform such
a valley into "a door of hope" (Hos.
2:15). Hopeless situations are oppor­
tunities for God to demonstrate His
grace and power. Our humiliating ex­
perience can be fashioned by the
Lord's miraculous handiwork, as was
the cross of Jesus (cf. Phil. 2:5-11),
into the vehicle of glorious victory
and eternal hope. Our God can trans­
form our valley of trouble and tur­
moil into a peaceful and serene rest­
ing place (cf.Isa. 65:10).
Yes, the valley of trouble and tribu­
lation can become, by the grace of
God, a tranquil and pleasant place.
There we can learn once again that
He is not only the God of the high
places but the God of the low places
as well.
THE VALLEY OF DECISION
Among the valleys of the Word of
God, there also is included for our ad­
monition and learning one that is
fearful and fateful. The Prophet Joel
referred to a coming day, saying,
"Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest
is ripe: come, get you down; for the
press is full, the fats overflow; for
their wickedness is great" Uoel 3:13).
He then continued, "Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision:
for the day of the Lord is near in the
valley of decision" (vs. 14).
In this valley we come face to face
with God. Here the breath of God is
hot upon us because of our rebellion
and sin. God sees that our wicked­
ness is great. In this valley God con­
fronts us with our wretchedness and
worthlessness. Here God says to us as
He did through Nathan to David,
"Thou art the man" (II Sam. 12:7). In
the valley of decision, "the sun and
the moon shall be darkened, and the
stars shall withdraw their shining"
Uoel 3:15}. This valley is dark and
ominous; but even as "the heavens
and the earth shall shake: . . . the
Lord will be the hope of his people"
(vs. 16).
Of course, this passage from the
Prophet Joel refers literally to a future
day when God's people, endangered
Israel, shall be delivered from their
threatening enemies; but symboli­
cally the reference can be made to
God's work in weaving circum­
stances together in such a way that
we become especially aware of our fi­
niteness and mortality and His limit­
lessness and might.
We see, then, how mistaken
Ben-hadad and his consorts were to
imagine that God was only a god of
the hills and not the God of the val­
leys. We too are foolish if we fail to
see God's presence in the low and
humbling circumstances of life as
much as in the exalting and uplifting
experiences. *
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