I recently uploaded a video by Pastor Matthew Everhard on The Valley of Vision.
I have owned a copy for a decade or so and I began reading again from it this morning. I have come to understand most of this first prayer in the past 16 years during my Christian walk; however, I do not yet have such experiential understanding. I wanted to share it because the thoughts are so wonderful:
LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision,
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty
thy glory in my valley.
The valley would seem to be that place one is in after sinning / while repenting; it can be a place of vision if one is examining himself, to discover his motives for sinning and thinking / praying for right values, God’s grace to do better….
For more on such things, see the category, Jonathan Edwards, the posts about a glimpse into his spiritual life. Those posts look at his journal to see how he dealt with his sin, what he journaled about to work through the process….
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