Introduction
Last week we talked about how everyone loves the mountain tops not only the physical mountain tops of our great country but also those spiritual mountain tops we encounter with God. And I wish life were such that we could always stay on the mountain top but unfortunately that does not happen. In the physical world, we have to leave the mountain tops, to get back to work or to get the kids back into school or to take care of some business back at the house. In the spiritual world, we leave the mountain tops because life happens. I get too busy with things I need to do that I don’t read my Bible each day, I find my days flying by and I am too tired to talk with God when I finally have a moment to myself. I, therefore, feel guilty that I am not the Christian I should be, so I don’t want to go to church because I think people down at the church house can see right through me to my soul and it don’t look pretty, so I skip church. What happened? Life happens; and it has taken me off the spiritual mountain top to a place of spiritual emptiness.
And it in those times that instead of being on the mountain top we find ourselves walking through the valley. And this sermon series tries to explore some of those Valleys that we walk through. Last week, we looked at the Valley of Crisis we might have to walk through. And today, we discover that we might need to walk through the Valley of Tears before we can get to the mountain top with God.
So, let’s begin by reading our Scripture found in Psalm 84: 5-8. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Scripture
Psalm 84:5-8 (NKJV)
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob!
Background Information
Three times a year, the Jews were to return to Jerusalem to meet with God- the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. God had commanded this to be done in Deuteronomy 16:16. And so, as the Jews made their way to Jerusalem to meet with God, they had to past through this Valley of Baca, this desert place. And the word “Baca” means tears. This Valley was rough on any traveler going through it on the way to meet with God. They probably traveled long distance and they are tired and there staring them in the face is this desert they have to get through to reach Jerusalem. And by its name, it probably brought tears to the travelers to know that they would have to go through this dry desert place on foot before they get to their destination.
Points
None of us want to go through the Valley of Baca; but we all want to go to the mountain top. Let me let you in on a secret: you are not going to get to the mountaintop to be with God, until you get to the place of brokenness in your life.
Think about those Jewish travelers that made that journey to Jerusalem, three times a year. Each time that they arrived in Jerusalem, they were totally spent. If the long trip on foot did not get to them the last part of the journey going through the Valley of Baca would certainly do them in. So, these Jewish people arrived in Jerusalem on empty (nothing left in their tanks) to meet with God. And that is how you and I are to meet with God: in the spirit of brokenness. I cannot take another step unless God you hold my hand. That’s brokenness.
And so, what I want to answer today, is what does it take to get through my Valley of Tears to meet with God. There are three things, I want us to see.
#1
Verse 5 tells us that these Jewish people set their heart to pilgrimage. In other words, they were not going to settle until they got to Jerusalem to meet with the Lord.
In Genesis 32, there is the great story where Jacob wrestled with God. And Jacob set his mind that He was not going to let God go until God blessed him. In other words, Jacob was not going to settle. He set his mind that he was going to be blessed by God. And God did indeed bless him by changing his name from Jacob to Israel. And Jacob named the place where all this occurred as Peniel because he has seen God face to face and his life was spared.
Think about your life, do you settle way before you meet with God? The Jews could have easily said when they got to the Valley of Baca that this is too hard and settled to turn around and go back home. But instead, they set their hearts to pilgrimage. They were resolved not to stop until they got to Zion.
If you and I turn around before we meet with God, it is because we settled rather than setting our minds that nothing is going to stop me from meeting with God. Some of you may be thinking, I never heard this idea about setting my heart and mind to God. Then you must have brushed over these Scriptures pretty quickly.
Let me tell you what the Scripture tells you: Romans 8:5 (NKJV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV)
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
1 Peter 1:13 (NIV)
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
What happens when you set your heart or mind on something? The devil, the world and the flesh might try to throw you off course, but you are not going to be deterred for long; you going to get right back on it. My dog, Buster, don’t like Mike Hemphill’s dog, Lady. And Buster goes after her. I try to break them up but as soon as Buster can get away from me, he is right back on her. And that is how we ought to be with God. The world might get us off course but as soon I can break free, I am right back on seeking God.
The Jews set their heart to pilgrimage; you and I need to set our heart and mind to be on the mountaintop with God.
#2
Not only do I need to set my heart and mind to reach my destination, but I need to know where I will find help along the way. And vs. 5 clearly tells me that my help comes from the Lord.
Whenever you take a trip, you plan certain things along the way. If it is a long trip, you plan where you want to stop for the night. If it is a shorter trip, you might plan where you will stop along the way to eat.
As I set my heart and mind to reach that mountain top with God, I need to plan where I am going to get the strength to take the next step. And David clearly tells me- God.
Look what it says in Psalm 121:1-2 (NKJV)
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
When I think about the Lord being my strength, I cannot help but think about one of my favorite Scriptures. Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)
31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
And God showed me something when I was preparing this Scripture that I did not know. The word “wait” is the word qawa which means what it says to wait but it also means to be attached to or to be gathered too. It is a picture of the grape vines in that region that needed to be attached to sticks in order to hold them up because they were not able to hold them themselves up. (I am reminded of Jim Stewart’s tomato bushes last summer tied to all those sticks. They couldn’t hold themselves up.) And didn’t Jesus Himself say we are the vines (we need the support), and He is the branches. He is the support.
So, now I know two things to get through my Valley of Tears. I know where I want to end up and I know whom I need to call upon when I need help along the way. And the thing is probably the hardest of them all.
#3
I need to do what my Helper (the Lord) tells me to do even if it sounds absurd so I can reach my destination. So, there is the third element: obedience.
vs. 6 They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.
I get it. God made it a spring. No. It does not say that. As they put their trust in God for their strength, God told them to dig holes in the desert floor. And so, the Jews dug holds in the desert. And you know what the Lord did He brought the rains to turn those holes that the Jews dug into pools of water. And now when they set out on their pilgrimage three times a year the journey was not as bad because the Helper helped them by providing pools of water in the desert.
So, this short passage of Scripture gives me the three keys to reach a mountaintop experience with God. Set my destination, set the Lord as my help along the way and do what He tells me to do.
Conclusion
Verse 7 tells me Each one appears before God in Zion. How many made it to their destination? Each one who started their pilgrimage. And God will do the same for us. Let us pray!
