From the valley of the shadow of death to the valley of praise

[Bible Verses]

II Chronicles 20

v1. After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat.

v2. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi).

v18. Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.

v19. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.

v20. Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful."

v21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
"Give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures forever."

v22. As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

v23. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

v24. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.

v25. So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.

v26. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day.

[My reflections]

In the book "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan, there is a place called the Valley of the Shadow of Death that the character named Christian must pass through. This is not a place that Christian could circumvent or go around. Our Lord, who leads us to the still waters and green pastures, does not let us avoid the valley of the shadow of death, but stays with us as we pass through the valley (Psalm 23:4). In the valley, His rod and staff comfort us.

When encountering difficulties and troubles, our forefathers in faith opted to lift up praises to the Lord! In the verses above, Judah was invaded by an alliance of three nations, Moab, Ammon and Edom. King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah felt powerless against the enemy armies, but they trusted the Lord and appointed a choir to sing the splendor of the Lord's holiness and march ahead of the army of Israel. The enemy armies ended up killing one another and all that the Israelites had to do was to plunder afterwards. The people of Judah then assembled in the Valley of Beracah or Valley of Praise to sing praises to the Lord.

Likewise, after Job lost all his possessions and was abandoned even by his wife, he continued to praise the Lord, who gives and takes away (Job 1:21). Paul and Silas, who were unjustly flogged and imprisoned in Philippi, continued to pray and sing hymns (Acts 16:25). And, of course, our Lord Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion, before he went to Gethsemane to pray, He sang a hymn (Matthew 26:30).

To be able to praise in the face of difficulties, troubles, and sufferings, we must acknowledge and trust the Lord completely. Our praise is evidence of faith in the saving works of the Lord. Our Lord is sufficiently strong to protect us from anything (Romans 8:38,39) and will give us the ultimate victory. Then the Valley of the Shadow of Death will turn to the Valley of Beracah or the Valley of Praise for us.