THE VALLEY OF B. A. C. A.
Ps 84
How lovely is Your tabernacle,O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD;My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,And the swallow a nest for herself,Where she may lay her young--Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,My King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;They will still be praising You.Selah
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!Selah 9 O God, behold our shield,And look upon the face of Your anointed.
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;The LORD will give grace and glory;No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts,Blessed is the man who trusts in You! NKJV
BACA
BA’CA (ba’ka; "balsam tree" or "weeping"). An unidentified valley in Palestine (Ps 84:6). It was possibly an imaginary poetical name, not intended to describe an actual location but to stand for any experience of drought (cf. Arab. baka’a, "to be sparsely watered") in contrast to a well-watered experience ( "who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well," KJV, italics added); or it may refer to an experience of "weeping" with a play upon the Heb. word baka ( "to weep"). If it actually refers to a place, it was likely so named from the balsam trees in it, which exude a tearlike gum (cf. the valley of Rephaim, 2 Sam 5:22-23, where such trees were found).
(From The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)
BACA
As the valley of Baca represents a valley of drought spiritually and dejection, where the only water is that of "tears," so the pilgrim’s "making it a well" (by having "his strength in Jehovah") symbolizes ever flowing comfort and salvation...
John 4:13-14
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
NKJV
David, to whom Ps 84 refers, passed through such a valley of drought and tears when, fleeing from Absalom, he went up mount Olivet weeping as he went.
(from Fausset’s Bible Dictionary, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1998 by Biblesoft)
BACA
A picturesque expression for the experiences of those whose strength is in Yahweh, and who through His grace find their sorrows changed into blessings.
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)
This Psalm begins with the LONGING for God’s house. How he loves to be in God’s House! His heart, soul, and flesh cries our for the Living Lord.
Mark 12:30
30’And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. NKJV
How happy are those who love to stay/go to the House of the Lord. Is that how you felt when you thought about coming to Church today? How we need the Lord! How desperate are we for more of the Living God?
How blessed we are when our strength is in the Lord.
Ps 18:1-2
I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; NKJV
Ps 19:14
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. NKJV
Ps 73:26
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. NKJV
Ps 118:14
14 The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation. NKJV
Isa 40:31
1 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. NKJV
2 Cor 12:8-10
9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. NKJV
TO BE STRONG - TO PREVAIL - TO HAVE COURAGE
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring. The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength...
It is those times when you FEEL, UNDERGO, SUFFER, EXPERIENCE...
What is it that we encounter in this VALLEY OF BACA?
BARRENNESS - AFFLICTION - CONFUSION
- desolate, discouraged, depressed
- un productive or unfruitful
- lonely, deserted, hopeless
- empty, worried, distressed
- puzzled, perplexed, bewildered
When you’re walking in the desert or wilderness of life’s trials...
- hardships
- burdens
- anxieties
- pains
- troubles
Pilgrims Progress...
Well, on Saturday, about midnight they began to pray, and continued in prayer till almost break of day.
Now, a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed, brake out into this passionate speech: What a fool, quoth he, am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my bosom, called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle. Then said Hopeful, That is good news; good brother, pluck it out of thy bosom, and try.
Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom, and began to try at the dungeon-door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out. Then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle-yard, and with his key opened that door also. After he went to the iron gate, for that must be opened too; but that lock went desperately hard, yet the key did open it. They then thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed; but that gate, as it opened, made such a creaking, that it waked Giant Despair, who hastily rising to pursue his prisoners, felt his limbs to fail, for his fits took him again, so that he could by no means go after them. Then they went on, and came to the King’s highway, and so were safe, because they were out of his jurisdiction.
They make it a spring. The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength.
What can you experience from the VALLEY OF BACA?
ABUNDANT BLESSINGS
2 Peter 1:1-11
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. NKJV
Wonderful Burden
One morning R. C. Chapman, a devout Christian, was asked how he was feeling. "I’m burdened this morning!" was his reply. But his happy countenance contradicted his words. So the questioner exclaimed in surprise, "Are you really burdened, Mr. Chapman?" "Yes, but it’s a wonderful burden,it’s an overabundance of blessings for which I cannot find enough time or words to express my gratitude!" Seeing the puzzled look on the face of his friend, Chapman added with a smile, "I am referring to Psalm 68:19, which fully describes my condition. In that verse the Father in heaven reminds us that He ’daily loads us with benefits.’" F. E. Marsh has enumerated some of these blessings:
An acceptance that can never be questioned. (Eph. 1:6).
An inheritance that can never be lost (I Peter 1:3-5).
A deliverance that can never be excelled (2 Cor. 1:10).
A grace that can never be limited (2 Cor. 12:9).
A hope that can never be disappointed. (Heb. 6:18, 19).
A bounty that can never be withdrawn. (1 Col. 3:21-23).
A joy that need never be diminished (John 15:11).
A nearness to God that can never be reversed (Eph. 2:13).
A peace that can never be disturbed (John 14:27).
A righteousness that can never be tarnished (2 Cor. 5:21).
A salvation that can never be canceled (Heb. 5:9).
BARRENNESS
AFFLICTION
CONFUSION
ABUNDANT BLESSINGS
