Valley of the Shadow
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Psalm 130:1-2 NASB
Depths – The psalm of the good shepherd assures us that we can walk in the valley of the depths and not fear evil attacks. But what if we bring the evil with us? What then? Then we need the 130th Psalm because then we have nothing but our cries of distress. In Hebrew the word is ma’amaqqim. It is plural. When we sink to this level of despair and turmoil, it’s not just one thing. It’s everything. The enemy we have brought into the valley of the shadow is legion and we are pummeled day and night. In fact, this word is related to the Hebrew word for valley (‘emeq) and is a cognate with words for “sinking down,” “abyss,” and the monster itself, “the deep” in Genesis 1:2. All terrifying. All disastrous.
So how did we get here, in the depths? That question is particularly important given God’s promise to protect us in the valley. The truth is that we probably got to the bottom by choosing tiny little downward steps. We didn’t plunge ourselves into this pit. We didn’t plan to arrive at the point of terror. We actually presumed on God’s goodness when we started this descent by imagining that if we took just a brief moral vacation God would certainly restore us afterward. But we discovered that “afterward” only led to escalating disobedience and soon our secrets were more powerful than our will to repent. We found ourselves alone in the dark. Oh, yes, God was there, but He wasn’t speaking. He was listening – listening for the cries that inevitably come when we recognize that the yetzer ha’ra is playing dice with our souls.
Min-ma’amaqqim reads the text. Min is “out of.” Actually, it is “away from,” “since,” “after,” “because,” and “out of.” Perhaps they all apply. When we reach the point where we realize that we are away from the very person we desire to be, when, like Adam, we find that within us is the terrifying “other” me that is capable of a hidden agenda from myself, then we know that “away from” the depths is the only way out. But by now, we no longer remember where the exit is. “Since” we have finally voiced our terror, since we no longer are comforted by the seductive anesthesia of the yetzer ha’ra, since pain has become a daily dose, we howl for relief. “After” the depths is but a dream, a hope, that somehow once more God will rescue. But we are confronted with our own worst fears – the voice of the inner accuser telling us that this is an old road and we know it so well that we will never be able to change directions. “After” is far too eschatological but without it there is only ma’amaqqim. The rabbis were right. Even the seduction of the yetzer ha’ra is put to God’s own purposes. “Because” sin has its inevitable consequences, “because” the depths squeeze life out of us, “because” we are losing grip on God’s presence, sin drives us with its debilitating prod to the place where there is only the voice of supplication, not even my voice, just the voice of my intentional pleading for deliverance.
The NASB translation suggests that our cry is past. “I have cried.” It was yesterday or the day before or sometime back when I still had my right mind. But the Hebrew is stronger. The verb is Qal perfect. My cry is now, completed now, howling now, pleading now, weeping now. Now I am near chaos and now I have voice to scream for help. Lord, YHWH, my Father, hear me, I beg You!
We who are so familiar with the dark, whose deeds are evil because we did not love the light, are in desperate need of Your ear.
Topical Index: min, ma’amaqqim, depths, out of, Psalm 130:1
Do we only end up here because of our own sins? We can also end up in these depths because of the sins of others. But He sometimes allows it to happen, maybe because He wants to teach us a lesson, so we might hope and trust in Him more and more.
Imagine Job and what he went through! The richest man in the area, honoured and respected in Public. He prayed daily that God forgive any sins his children commit. And in 1 Day he lost it all! Imagine his confusion when it was due to 2 bands of human thieves and 2 natural disasters. How could he figure all that out to understand the mind of God?
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
And the LORD said to Satan, Where are you coming from? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. (much like the people to this very Day)
And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and avoids evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.
And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has will he give for his life.
But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.
And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; but SAVE HIS LIFE.
So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself with; and he sat down among the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, Do you still retain your integrity? curse God, and die.
But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
I hope Skip and others engage here. I feel this story was written for all generations, but especially for our generation, as natural disasters and common and white collar thieves increase amongst us. Severe Austerity is on the way and the people and all they possess will be affected. Will the American people have the same attitude as Job as jobs disappear?
What has always struck me, as I read the KJV, God can draw the line where and when God wants. God consents to Satan tormenting Job, but also commanded Satan to SAVE Job’s Life. I haven’t got it all reasoned out yet, but this imagery must fit in somewhere with the Serpent on the Pole.
I find the same kind of imagery in
And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth
Revelation 11:18
Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
Revelation 12:12
“In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
I have always interpreted this to mean Job did not take out his anger, frustrations, disappointments, and similar emotional disturbances on the other people around him as people do these Days.
He waited patiently on the LORD in Trust.
Ray, I enjoyed your response, (and today is certainly not the first time.)
Indeed, I agree that Job was written for me, for every individual, every generation, –for who is exempt from confusing and seeminly ‘unfair’ troubles?
My take on Job is that fear can only get hold of us and manipulate us when we are not surrendered to God.
(It is written) that Job had a wonderful relationship with God and God blessed/showered him with children, friends, possessions, property, position, and respect.
Satan’s perspective: Job had everything, but these blessings are the ONLY reason he loves/serves God.
God’s perspective: He loved Job and was pleased with him, but saw that Job lacked one thing, and since God loves him (and us), God wanted to give him that very important thing.
This comes out in Ch 3.
“25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. 26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.”
(KJB, yes! stick with the King James Bible)
As you may have guessed by now, lol, God’s peace is not dependent upon external circumstances. Job had to learn to overcome fear before he could be all God wanted him to be. Job had a thankful heart, a kind and giving/sharing attitude, a praising the Lord spirit enveloping, but also this other fearsome thing– “fear itself” was upon him!
Job was blameless in God’s sight before, during, and after his experience, but God removed His hedge in order to DELIVER him of all his fears, not by shielding him totally, but by taking Job THRU the middle of his worst nightmares, and bringing him SAFELY out the other side!
We can apply this to troubles that will likely come upon us, Americans in general, — but all nationality aside — us, those who belong to the Lord.
I am in process of seeing this worked out in my oldest grand daughter’s life right now.
I weep for her, but also rejoice at God’s work in her.
When she was a child, my husband and I kept her most of the time. So in her daily life, I began to noitce a fear that would not let her go. Every tv show we watch or book we read, she seemed to always be thinking about what would be a ‘great’ life’s occupation.
For example, If she saw a deep sea diver, it looked like great adventure, but as she talked about it, she would always find what ‘might go wrong’. ie: He may get stuck, disoriented, run out of air…
and she always subsided into, (unable to voice it, but I could see the final assessment) “No, that job may lead to pain, I will avoid it.”
Last year she turned 25, and for the last 16 months is living her greatest fear. She was in a horrible auto accident on a wonderful sunny day, had other plans, before her plans came to be, she and new baby were being air-lifted to a hospital.
PAIN with all caps has become her life.
She and baby learned to walk at the same time. First for him, second for her. Whenever she’d sit in a chair and leave her walker nearby, baby would crawl over and get it and take himself walking! We all, both laughed and cried, as do most folks i tell the story to. I usually run to catch up with someone walking with a walker and walk beside them and tell them that piece of the story.
But, all that aside, I know God is working His plan in her life, and it obviously needed to go straight thru this horrible valley of pain. I don’t know when, but I know I shall, see them (her and Jesus) starting the climb up the other side now! Soon the sunlight will be lay its beams upon her beautiful hair. Before its over, she will know Him in a whole new way.
Same as anyone who goes thru these unasked for/unexpected/unwanted trials and tribulations.
What Job teaches me: do not fear the battle. Fear is disarmed. The sun still shines after the storm.
God is King and He’s on my side.
Dorothy, adding to your last thoughts in your comment;
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (all can claim the Salvation, but only those who accept will know)
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.
And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.
We love him, because he first loved us.
If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also.
1John4
Wow!!
Raw, vulnerable, powerful.
THANK YOU.
To me this is more a picture of the parable of the father who sits and waits for the prodigal son.
Thanks Skip
Typo: In the paragraph that begins Min …… the sentence starts “But by now, we know……..know should be
“no”. Thanks.
Yes, already fixed and noted by another reader. Thanks
“From the depths I call to you Yahweh”
Hmmm
I tend to think of the “depths” in a more positive light
When we say a person has a big ego, we imply that he/she is superficial
But the Self is Other to the ego, and the Self implies a certain depth of character
The yetzer hara is a selfish desire for the ego, but the yetzer tov is a desire to serve the Other
My soul (Self) longs for the Lord
More than a watchman for the coming of Dawn
Psalm 130
In my view, serving the Other destroys the ego and strengthens the Self
Which is an aspect of God as in “light of Dawn”
~ My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to Your decrees ~ (Psalm 119.71)
~ I have said these things to you, that *in Me* you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart; I have (already) overcome the world ~ (John 16.33)
~ comfort one another with these words ~ (1 Thessalonians 4.18)
~ I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope ~ (Psalm 130.5)
Where to begin? lol! So much to say! So many questions, (and so little time!).
What do we have today that Job did not have with him? – the word of the LORD.
The Valley of the Shadow..-Job went “through it” indeed. The man who lost it all and gained everything.
One of our reigning politicians has quipped, “never waste a good crisis.” And to this, I add my “amen.” It is so. Of course, the question is- Why?
Let us review our history. Think back to a forty year journey, a time of testing for the people of God, which we have come to know as The Exodus. An eleven day journey (as the crow flies) took forty years to accomplish! (Does this cactus look familiar to you?- lol! One more trip around the mountain, y’all! “Oy!”
And of course, during this wilderness adventure, moving a heap of folks from “here to there” was no easy task and “lo, and behold”- “stuff happened.” Trials, tribulations and testings. All of the above. Not to mention the murmuring of the mob, known in Hebrew parlance as “kvetching!” ~ The people murmured against Moses ~ (Exodus 15.24) Gotta blame somebody, – right? (George Bush hadn’t been invented yet!), but the ol’ “finger of blame” was present, even “back in the day!” Must be somehow ingrained in us to carp and to complain.
Shall we review?
Crisis #1. What happened? – God delivered His people.
and?
Crisis #2. What happened? – God delivered His people.
and?
Crisis #3. What happened? – God delivered His people.
and?
Crisis #4. What happened? – God delivered His people.
and?
And how long does it take (oy!) for “we the sheeple” to see (to know, to perceive, to understand) the pattern?
When a crisis “occurs” Who “shows up” to deliver His people? Uhh… God? (Our Deliverer ?) Yes, God. Again and again.. (and again..) He is (are we listening?) ALWAYS FAITHFUL …and? ALWAYS GOOD . .⃪ (never put a question mark where God places a period!) For the LORD *IS* good!!! ~ Believest thou this? ~ Or knowest thou this? Who knows? Those who have walked THROUGH the valley. Those who wear the t-shirt “Been there- done that”- and yes, God delivered me “through it all!”
Through it all
Through it all
I’ve learned! I’ve learned to trust in Jesus. I’ve learned to trust in God!
Through it all
Through it all
I’ve learned! I’ve learned to depend upon His word. “Both” written AND Living.
For He has said, (and I quote!) – *I WILL NEVER (no, not ever) LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.*
Did Job know this? No. Not at the time. But maybe “after” the Valley of the Shadow.
The quality of our life is dependent upon the quality of our hearing. Pain somehow, seems to be attached to our ears. (I heard that!). “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (C S Lewis)
Faith, (that which pleases God) comes by hearing and hearing by? the Word of God.
What did He say? *I WILL NEVER (no, not ever) LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.*
Through the Valley of the Shadow (crisis # 1)
Through the fire (crisis #2)
Through the flood (crisis #3)
Are we really such slow learners? Apparently so. -Oy!!
One more trip around the mountain then, -one more night with the frogs- we are not yet ready to enter into (The Eisodus), the conquest of Canaan, the good land of Goshen and the land that is flowing with milk and honey.
Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.
~ For God is working in you, (and you and you and you) giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him ~ (Philippians 2.13)
Isn’t He wonderful?
~ May ADONAI give strength to His people! May ADONAI bless His people with shalom! ~ (Psalm 29.11)
~ Blessed is the Name of the LORD! ~
There is a Name I love to hear,
I love to sing its worth;
It sounds like music in mine ear,
The sweetest Name on earth.
~ And *AFTER* you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, Who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you ~ (1 Peter 5.10)
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the LORD,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge, to Jesus have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I AM thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My Sovereign, eternal, unchangeable Love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I will never, no never, no never forsake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkk68iD_Xg8