THE VALLEY OF AJALON; OR, THE VALLEY OF GOD'S PRESENCE AND POWER. "THE Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Though dark be our way, since GOD is our Guide, Though cisterns be broken, and creatures all fail, ... "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that . . . walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”—Isa. 1. 10. "Lead on, our Captain, we follow, we follow ; Lift up Thy banner, we rally, we rally; Wave high Thy sword, we press on in its gleam." THE VALLEY OF AJALON; OR, The Valley of God's Presence and Power. JOSHUA X. 6-14. "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon."-v. 12. IGHT in the darkness of the valley of Ajalon. Conflict in the valley, but victory by the divine hand. Ajalon means strength - strength given to defeat foes. "Light shall shine upon thy ways." (Job xxii. 28.) "In thy light shall we see light." (Ps. xxxvi. 9.) "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear." (Ps. xlvi. 1, 2.) "Thou hast been a strength to the needy." "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." "I will go in the strength of the Lord." This story is the account of Joshua going to the help of the Gibeonites. It was real hard work. Verse 9. They went up from Gilgal all night, and came upon the enemy suddenly; they fought all day and the following night, which was turned into day, till the enemy was completely routed. In going up from Gilgal they made a forced march of twenty-six miles, which was really about three days' journey, so that they might surprise the enemy. We have had a somewhat similar instance at Telel-Kebir. Our army marched through the night, guided only by the stars, and came suddenly upon the Egyptians, thus winning a great victory with little loss. As soldiers of Christ we must be ready to go on His service both night and day. Look at 2 Sam. ii. 32: "Joab and his men went all night," fighting for their king. And again, Abraham went by night to help Lot, and gained a decisive victory. (Gen. xiv. 14, 15.) Shall we do less for the Captain of our salvation? See what it says of the soldiers of Christ: "They all hold swords, being expert in war." (Song. Sol. iii. 8.) Not only holding them, but able to use them. "Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, because of fear in the night." Armed and ready! The darkness seems to thicken as we look round, but there is a bright gleam from above. "The night is far THE VALLEY OF AFALON. 29 spent (Rom. xiii. 12); "the morning cometh" (Isa. xxi. 11). · And turning again to 2 Sam. ii. 32, "And they came to Hebron" (the king's palace) 66 at break of day.” And we too shall come to the King's palace at break of day. Let us look for the dawning of the resurrection morning, that glorious day which shall know no end. "Here let me wait with patience, Wait till the night is o'er, Wait till I see the morning Break on the golden shore." We see also in this valley a wonderful answer to prayer. God hearkened to man. (vv. 12-14.) What an encouragement to us! We see the effect of God's presence and power in this valley. Never was there a greater display of divine power. We see God's care of His servants. The terrible storm that He sent only came upon the Amorite army. We see also Joshua's unwearied activity and obedience. Read 2 Kings vi. 15-20, God's presence and power with Elisha. "I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy." His power, that He can save and keep; His mercy, that He will do it. Learn in this valley that God can make darkness light. "Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O LORD." God gives strength to His people to |