The Kidron Valley

 

“The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king [David] also crossed the Kidron Valley.”

—2 Samuel 15:23

“When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley.”

—John 18:1

The Kidron Valley, and the brook that flows through it, still holds its place as a renowned location in the area around Jerusalem. King David—in fleeing from his son, Absalom, who had usurped King David’s power and proclaimed himself king—sorrowfully crossed this brook into the desert in order to mourn. David prayed that God would allow him favor to let him again see his beloved city of Jerusalem and the Tabernacle of Jewish worship.

The King of Kings Himself took the same path on His way to the cross. He left, with Peter, James, and John, to spend the night in prayer on the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:33-34 describes Jesus’ spirit:

He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them.

Jesus gives all of His followers a “Brook Kidron” to cross. Sometimes, He give us many such “Brooks.” Just as our Savior had to suffer, He gives us a path of suffering. Philippians 3:10 offers us this testimony of the Apostle Paul:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing His suffering.

As God did with King David, and also with our Lord Jesus, He uses our “Brook Kidrons” to achieve His good and perfect will in us. I like the way that Charles Hadden Spurgeon describes it: ¹

The King of Kings himself was not favored with a more cheerful or royal road. He passed over the filthy ditch of Kidron, through which the filth of Jerusalem flowed. God had one Son without sin, but not a single child without the rod. It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in all points like as we are. What is our Kidron? Is it a faithless friend, a sad bereavement, a slanderous reproach, a dark foreboding? The King has passed over these. Is it bodily pain, poverty persecution, or contempt? Over each of these Kidrons the King has gone before us.

What results did God plan in the face of all these sorrows? David returned in triumph to his city. Christ arose triumphant from the grave. Thus, we have Spurgeon’s encouragement to us: ²

Courage, soldiers of the Cross, the King himself triumphed after going over Kidron, and so shall you.

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1 Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Morning and Evening. McLean Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, Public Domain. p. 304.

2 Ibid.

 

 

With Passion

 

“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

—James 5:11

Christ was full of compassion—“com - passion”: with passion. What a wonderful picture of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, as He faced the cross. How many times does Scripture indicate that Jesus had compassion? So often we find the phrase: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion.” ¹ And, of course, compassion motivated Jesus, along with His love, to die in our place in such a horrifying manner.

In the Old Testament, compassion was symbolized by the Mercy Seat within the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle. Once a year, the High Priest entered this sacred place to offer a sacrifice for the sins of God’s people. The Mercy Seat—the “hilasterion”—indicated to the people of God that He fully sympathized with their sin, their pain, and their sorrows. The New Testament Greek text of Romans 3:25 KJV reads: ²

[Jesus Christ] Whom God set forth to be a propitiation [mercy seat] through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

The moment Jesus took His last breath, Scripture records that the veil in the temple was torn in two, so that we all now have access to the mercy and love of Christ.

When we show compassion to others, we reflect Christ to them. When we take on someone else’s suffering, we put ourselves in their place, just as Christ did for us. When we invite others into our lives, we show the hospitality of Christ.

The mercy of God should flow through His people to others, just as it flowed constantly through Jesus’ earthly life. God the Father has compassion, Jesus the Son has compassion, and through the Holy Spirit, we can have compassion for others.

I am reminded of an old hymn that talks about the mercy seat. The mercy seat being a place of prayer, or a place of congregated believers who show forth Christ’s compassion.³

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish;
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel;
Here bring your wounded hearts,
Here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure,
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot cure.”

Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing,
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above;
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heav’n can remove.

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1 To name just a few: Matthew 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, and 20:34

2 Quoted by Beth Moore in Moore, Beth. A Woman’s Heart. Nashville: LifeWay Press, 1995. p. 181.

3 Moore, Thomas and Hastings, Thomas. Come, Ye Disconsolate. Public Domain.

 

 

Dead Flies

 

“Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor.”

—Ecclesiastes 10:1 NKJV

Something ruined! And, it was something with such an intentional, pleasure-causing purpose as an expensive perfume. Now it’s ruined! And, by what? A stray fly coming through the palace window into the boudoir of a wealthy maiden. The perfume—created with such skill by a talented expert artisan, skilled in the art and science of perfumery—totally spoiled by the ugly presence of a filthy, common fly.

When compared to the witness of a fine Christian, we are reminded that even this witness can be spoiled by the entrance of a foul, habitual sin. I appreciate the way that Charles Haddon Spurgeon describes it:

No matter though the vase be alabaster, and the perfume the most delicate, dead flies would destroy the precious nard, and even so minor faults will spoil a fine character. Rudeness, irritability, levity, parsimony [stinginess], egotism, and a thousand other injurious flies have often turned the exquisite perfume of a Christian’s life into a pestilent odor to those who were around him. ¹

In comparison, the Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, expresses God’s intent for us to live in such a way so that those around us effectively “smell” the sweet aroma of Christ. The Apostle offers this declaration:

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are perishing.

God’s intention for us—to live in such a way that we spread His Presence like a fine perfume—can be ruined by the entrance of our sinful sloppiness, as though we left the lid off the bottle of perfume and flies entered, ruining the liquid. We can only remedy our sin by coming to Him with confession and repentance, so that we may receive His forgiveness and His restoration, thus giving us a new start under the power of His Holy Spirit.

During this time of Lent, let us examine our lives for those “dead flies” that mix in the stench of sin with the life-giving perfume of Christ that He created us to exhibit. May He spread abroad His love through the fragrance of our lives, purified by His precious blood.

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1 Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1964. p. 325.

 

 

Become the Bridge

 

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”

—Psalm 68:19

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

—Galatians 6:2

Did you ever stop to think what our lives would be like without bridges? People who live near rivers, or swamp land, would have a nearly impossible time getting to work or getting to common shopping areas without bridges. We can all be grateful for the continual burdens bridges carry to allow us ease in our daily lives.

Have you ever been a “bridge” for another person? As such, you became their help in traversing a tough spot in life, or helped them move on to the other side of a difficulty? The Simon and Garfunkel lyrics from the 1960’s come to mind:

When you’re weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes, I’ll dry them all (all)
I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough
And friends just can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down. ¹

Certainly, if people without an eye to pleasing our Savior can think that way about their friends, how much more should we—who have the example of a God who bears us through this life, and of a Savior who bridged the gap on the cross for our sins—act as a willing bridge for those who need us to help carry them to wholeness?

Sometimes it even becomes necessary to act as a “covered bridge” for others: protecting them from more winds of adversity and from the cruel and bitter sting of sin and shame. Such people need the hospitality and healing of a safe and guarded place. And, from time to time, God calls us to offer this solace to His hurting children.

Jesus told us in John 15:13:

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

The next time you drive over an expansive bridge, or see a covered bridge, remind yourself that just as we sometimes need bridges to arrive at our next destination, so Christ may have need for us to become a bridge for someone else on their journey through life!

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1 Simon, Paul. “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” ©1969. All Rights Reserved. These lyrics remain the sole property of the copyright owners. Included here under the “Nonprofit Educational Use Provision” of Section 107 (2022 Edition) of the United States Code, 2018 Edition, Supplement 4, Title 17 - COPYRIGHTS.