Passing Through the Valley of Weeping

By David Hobbs

Are you in the Valley of Weeping? If I asked that to a crowd of Christians, I’m sure many hands would go up. The struggles of life seem endless at times—health issues, relationship struggles with children, spouse or parents, job crises, financial setbacks, tragic accidents… the list goes on and on. 

 I had 10 years of personal revival in my life, many experiences of which I chronicled in this blog and in my book Walking in the Spirit. But then to my dismay the revival ended, my marriage hit the rocks, my health was staggered… I entered the Valley of Weeping and have been there for the last 3 ½ years. 

 Recently the Holy Spirit gave me a passage that greatly encouraged me—Psalm 84. It’s all good, but verses 5-7 especially lifted me. Verse 5 starts out, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you.” It’s good when you enter the Valley of Weeping to be strong in the Lord. Otherwise it might destroy whatever faith you do have and leave your life shipwrecked. If you’re not in a crisis now, strengthen your faith so you will be ready when they come. 

Hebrews 6:18-19 talks about what the psalmist is referring to here, “that … we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil….” When we enter that desolate valley, we need to have lines of hope anchored to the very throne of God. 

What are we talking about here? What are these lines of hope? The surety of our salvation through Christ’s blood on the cross, the knowledge that He will make all things work together for good to those who love Him, the faithfulness of all His promises, like “Surely I am with you always, even unto the end of the age,” and “He always leads us about in triumph in Christ.” "Though sorrows may last for the night, joy comes in the morning." 

James puts it well (Jas. 1:2-4): “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

But after we enter into that Valley, there is another key many people miss: Ps. 84:5—“Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
 whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” The Valley of weeping is a place we are passing through with our hearts set on pilgrimage. We know we are not stopping here, and we know where we are going. 

 Some people act like the Valley of Weeping is their destiny, and they weep and cry and roll around in the muddy swamp of their misery. Their error? Their hearts were not set on pilgrimage. They came to believe that this valley was their lot in life, that it will always be this way. 

 There was a time I found myself thinking this way. But one day I realized that David, whose many, severe trials we can trace through the Psalms, was brought through and out of every single one by God. Though his trial of fleeing from Saul seemed to go on forever—certainly many years—yet the time came when he passed out of that Valley of Weeping and assumed the throne he had been promised. No trial can last forever! But our faith in God can. So we need to set our hearts on pilgrimage. 

What then is our final destination? Where are we going? Psalm 84 has the answer to this too, which really jumped out at me. Verse 7--“They go from strength to strength,
 till each appears before God in Zion.” That’s our final destination—God Himself. In the Valley of Weeping it is often hard to feel His presence; He seems very far away! But we’re not going to stop until we are in His presence for good! And you can bet there isn’t a trial in existence that can follow us into that presence! 

 We may be in the Valley of Weeping now, but we’re not staying there. Our pilgrimage may take us into many such valleys along the path of life, as it did for David, but God delivered him out of them all. And He will do the same for us. Don’t stop! Don’t falter until you appear before God in Zion. Then your trials, and your journey will be over! “In His presence is fullness of joy; at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”