There are times when life takes us on a long detour and we find ourselves in a dry valley that we’ve not known before…or maybe we have been in that valley too many times. Have you ever found yourself there and wondered why this is happening to you? I have so many times. In fact, I’ve been in a dry foreign valley for a while.
I’ve thought often about David, as he laments to God. His cries, like mine, come from deep within where sorrow consumes and emptiness is vast like that dry and foreign valley. David cried out in Psalm 102,
“For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth. My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed, I forget to eat my bread. Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh.” (Psalms 102:3-5)
Where David says that his days are consumed, the Hebrew word used for this is,
kâlâh כָּלָה (pronounced kaw-law’), which is destroy (utterly). David is not being overly dramatic here. It is his spirit that makes these groanings to God. This type of groaning is mentioned in the New Testament as well. Jesus said,
“Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:38)
Jesus understood that this next part was going to be hard. He understood it so well that He grieved it to the point of death. Gethsemane means “olive press” and Jesus was pressed so hard that His sweat was like drops of blood. Can you or I say that we’ve ever been in that valley? I cannot. However, that is not to diminish the very agony we face in the valleys we sojourn.
Suffering and valleys are a reality for us all. Our journeys in the valley may be completely different, but they are valleys of sorrow nonetheless. We are not immune to them and will not be until we have completed our sojourn on this earth.
But, God’s Word gives us the very sustenance we need to make those valleys a bit sweeter. We need not go any further back than to David when he said,
“You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me”. (Psalms 56:8-9) And, “Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.” (Psalms 56:12-13)
David understood that which we always forget and that is the God who sees him takes account of his wanderings. We might feel so very lost in the valley, oh but He knows exactly where we are and teaches us that we can cry out to Him in all of our pain and wanderings.
Would that I could see God when I am wandering. Yet, David saw it once he had stopped lamenting his pain. Once his lamenting (or complaining) was over, he would praise the Lord. I cannot help but think how much joy there must have been in those moments of praise. I researched synonyms for joy in the planning of this simple blog. One synonym jumped out at me quite boldly and it was “crow.” What does crowing have to do with joy?? As I pondered that thought, I remembered the Crows that hang out in a tree near my home. There must be more than a hundred in that old White Oak Tree. They have found refuge there during the hot and humid Florida summers.
Every now and again something prompts all of them, at the same time, out of that tree. When that happens you hear their lovely, crowing voices. They are loud and all in unison. What in the world do they have to crow about all of a sudden? So, I thought that it might just be that their crows are exalted joy to their Creator.
Oh, that it would be me in the valley when I realize that God sees my wanderings and that I can find refuge in Him. Oh, that I would crow my praises loudly to Him and about Him. Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) If I were to translate that verse, it would read, “Crow in the Lord always; again I will say, crow!”
Dear friend — take refuge in Him when the valley is destitute and unforgiving. Take refuge in that He sees your wanderings. Take refuge in Him and crow loudly in praise to Him. You will then find that you can now rest in His refuge much like those Crows do in that old White Oak Tree. Crow loudly and often.
Soli Deo Gloria
Azalea Trees and Tea Rooms 