Valley Of B. A. C. A.

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