Sep-22-0517-Turning the valley of weeping into springs
517_Turning the valley of weeping into springs Psalm 84 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. 3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early 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 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! 10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. 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 bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! When Fanny Crosby was only six weeks old, she was left blind because of a medical accident. Imagine the crushing weight of that reality for a little child and her family. Many people in such circumstances might have given in to bitterness or despair. But Fanny chose a different path. At the age of eight, she wrote her first poem, expressing not sorrow but joy: “Oh, what a happy soul am I, Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world Contented I will be.” As she grew, she began writing hymns—over 8,000 of them—Blessed Assurance Jesus is mine, To God Be the Glory, Safe in the Arms of Jesus, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, Rescue the Perishing, All the Way My Savior Leads Me, Safe in the Arms of Jesus, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross - to name a few. Her blindness did not stop her; in fact, it became the soil in which her faith grew deep. Instead of making her life a wilderness of self-pity, she turned her valley of weeping into springs. Even today, somewhere in the world, her words are sung in churches, hospitals, prisons, and homes, refreshing weary souls and lifting hearts to God. Her story is a living picture of what Psalm 84 describes—the blessedness of those whose strength is in God, who transform their valleys of sorrow into places of life and refreshment. This psalm was written by the sons of Korah, who carried their own story of mercy. Their father Korah led a rebellion against Moses in the wilderness, and he and his followers were judged by God (Numbers 16). Yet, by God’s