Streams in the Dry Places
Psalm 84 is a beautiful and liberating psalm. One of the glorious themes of his psalm is chat the negatives of human life do not have to be victorious over us because there is a power that can break their depressing hold.
The psalmist speaks about passing through the Valley of Baca, and although no one knows exactly what this refers to, it seems to speak of a place of great dryness. The writer alludes to an experience of extreme difficulty that the presence of sufficient water would solve. We find that the Lord provides refreshing streams and pools of water.
Have you found yourself in a place of great dryness spiritually, emotionally, or even mentally? Do you know that there is One who can break through the dryness in your heart and produce streams in the desert?
The resources of another world can be made available to enable you and me to face the dryness in our lives just as waters were provided to help the psalmist through the Valley of Baca.
We can find comfort in the fact that the psalmist remembered God’s provision of food and water to the Israelites as they passed through the wilderness. God did not desert the Israelites, and he will not forsake us.
The knowledge that there is another world, that there is One in that world who cares about us and is able to provide for us, enables us to see our situation in a new light.
—Dennis F. Kinlaw, This Day with the Master
Life brings us all through dry valleys—seasons where joy feels distant, prayer feels hollow, and our hearts feel barren. Psalm 84 calls this the Valley of Baca, a place of dryness and difficulty. But Dennis Kinlaw reminds us: even there, God provides. What seems like a wilderness can become a place of refreshment—not because we escape it, but because God’s presence meets us in it with streams from another world.
If you find yourself in such a valley—emotionally worn, spiritually thirsty, mentally tired—know this: you are not alone, and you are not forgotten. The same God who provided water for the Israelites in the desert is still with you today. He can break through the dry soil of your soul and bring unexpected hope. There is a source beyond your strength, a world beyond your circumstances—and its goodness is flowing toward you, even now. Hold on. The spring is coming. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics