YOU WILL SURVIVE THE PLACE OF WEEPINGby Carter Conlon

Psalm 126:6: He that goeth forth andweepeth, bearing precious seed, shalldoubtless come again with re j o i c i n g ,bringing his sheaves with him.

■ A SEASON OF TEARS T h e re are times in every person’s lifewhen you have to walk through sea-sons of tears and personal heart a c h e .It would be a delightful thing if youand I could come to Christ and neverhave to go through tough times again.U n f o rt u n a t e l y, that is not the case, andanybody who has been a Christian forany length of time knows this.

The psalmist in Psalm 42, verse 3said: My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continuallysay unto me, Where is thy God? Thepsalmist is going through a difficulttime. The psalm does not tell usexpressly what the elements of thetrial were but he was in a season ofsorrow, common to all of us, day andnight weeping, day and night tearsflowing from his eyes. Then therewere these voices continually saying,“Where is your God in the midst ofthis sorrow? Where is your God in the midst of this trial?” It is in thesetimes of sorrow that you become veryvulnerable to such lies of the enemy,the lies that come in and begin toaccuse, not us, but our Savior. Lies of God somehow not being there,somehow being indifferent to our time of distress.

■ PAUL EXPERIENCES THE COMFORT OF GOD The Scriptures in the New Testamenttell us very clearly that we will haveno ability to comfort anyone else introuble if God has not first comforted

us in our times of distress. Paul said,“He is able to keep that which I havee n t rusted to him against that day. ”Paul knew seasons of sorro w, and he knew seasons of incredible trial,trials that would overwhelm even themost positive and strong among thepeople of his time. However, Paul hada confidence in God, so God was ableto take him through stoning, thro u g hs h i p w reck, through times of famineand hunger, and even imprisonment,loneliness, and sorro w. But Godb rought him through, even thought h e re were innumerable tears. Therew e re times Paul would tell the churc h ,“I don’t want you to be ignorant. InAsia we were pressed so harshly andabove measure that we feared even for our lives. We gave up hope at onetime of even living, so we entru s t e dourselves to God who is able to raisethe dead.” Paul had known pain and sorro w, and because of it, thisi n c redible revelation of Christ wasgiven to him. This revelation of Christwas his meat, his bread, and his daily stre n g t h .

■ D AVID IS WEARIED WITH ALL THEWEEPING OF HIS MANY TRIALSDavid, a great king of Israel said in Psalm 6:6: I am weary with mygroaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch withmy tears. David is not exaggerating in this psalm. He has cried so muchthat his pillow is drenched with tears.

Mine eye, he said in verse 7, is consumed because of grief; it waxethold because of all mine enemies. D a v i dwas speaking of the human conditionthat everyone faces when going thro u g hthe place of weeping; he was saying he

could hardly see any good ahead.He was o v e rwhelmed by the situation,by the sense of sorrow that had comeupon him so that his eyes were waxingold. In other words, there used to be a light in his eyes, an assurance ofknowing where he was going. Here m e m b e red the clarity he had whenas a youth he joyfully ran down intothe valley facing Goliath, but now hewas in this place of weeping and hecan hardly see any good ahead of him.

In Psalm 23:5, David speaks of a tableof abundance—God preparing a placeof provision even in the midst of yourenemies. He speaks about an anoint-ing that comes upon the believer and a cup that God places in our hand thato v e rflows. In Psalm 23:6, he speaksabout this incredible knowledge ofG o d ’s goodness and the security of his promises. He comes out of the d i fficulties in his journey with theL o rd, and says, S u rely goodness andm e rcy shall follow me all the days ofmy life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Before verses 5 and 6 with this i n c redible revelation of God’s pro v i s i o ncomes verse 4 that speaks about aplace called a valley of the shadow ofdeath. Quite often this is the sequenceof the Christian experience. You willalways come through these places

“A GREAT MULTITUDE OF ALL NATIONS AND KINDREDS AND PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES.” REV. 7:9 w w w. t s c n y c . o r gV O L I I / ISSUE 5 / MA Y 06

Paul had known painand sorro w, and becauseof it, there was thisi n c redible revelation ofChrist given to him.

that are seemingly humanly impossi-ble to get through. Once on the otherside, though, you find you not onlysurvived, but you came out of it withan anointing, and provision of God’slife within us.

■ DAVID – BETRAYAL AND DESPAIRIn Psalm 55:12 David says: For it wasnot an enemy that re p roached me; thenI could have borne it: neither was it hethat hated me that did magnify himselfagainst me; then I would have hidmyself from him.

David was betrayed by his closefriend. But it was thou, a man mineequal, my guide, and mine acquain-tance. We took sweet counsel together,and walked unto the house of God…(verses 13 and 14). It was almostinconceivable to David that hisfriend, the one whom he had tru s t e dand taken counsel with, opened theWo rd with, talked with, and seemed to be on the same page with, hadbetrayed him. They had walked in the house of God together and now his hand was raised against David in betrayal.

Consider David in 2 Samuel 18:33.David was a wonderful man of God,but the truth was, he had failed andhe understood his own failure. Hefailed as a father, he failed in hisduty to God, and then he went on to fail morally and ethically. He committed incredible sins against the Lord and against his fellow man.He knew that these sins were theeventual cause of the death of his son,Absalom, and a weeping came uponhim. Joab, returning from the battleagainst Absalom, brought the news

that Absalom was dead, and to theirsurprise David began to weep inheaving sobs, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would GodI had died for thee, O Absalom, myson, my son!

T h e re are no words that can describethe anguish the godly feel when theyrealize that what they have done hash u rt the ones they love the most.David knew it, and it brought him into a season of despair and weeping.

■ THE SEED OF GOD’S PROMISE After Absalom’s death David musthave thought it was all over; he hadruined his future, only to find that the seed of God’s promise was stillwithin him. God raised up a son calledSolomon to sit on the throne after him.David would not be re m e m b e red as af a i l u re in his last days, but would bere m e m b e red as a great king fro mwhose lineage our Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ came.

■ JOSEPH – BETRAYED AND FORGOTTENThe valley of the shadow of death is a place where for a season onemight seem to be in danger of being lost. Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob and one of the twelve founding fathers of the tribes ofIsrael, was given a promise by Godthat one day God would put him in a position that would be consideredsuccessful and victorious. You seethis young Joseph bragging to hisfamily: “You are all going to bowdown to me.” It was a foolish thing to do. When he shared it with hisbrothers he stirred up envy in themand this envy caused them, his ownfamily, to betray him and sell himinto Egypt.

In Genesis 42, verse 2 when the crime of betraying their brother finallycaught up with them, the brotherssay: …we saw the anguish of his soul,when he besought us, and we would not hear… T h e re is a pain in betrayal that can never be underestimated. I

do not know if there is any deeperbetrayal to be found in the world thandisloyalty and duplicity among one’sown family. Even in the house of God,among those who are supposed to be brothers and sisters in the Lord, we can never underestimate this pain of betrayal.

Joseph was 17 when he was betrayed,and for 13 years he was in this placeof weeping. While working in thehouse of Potiphar, a leader in Egypt,he is again betrayed. This time he isfalsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, and placed into prison. In this place of imprisonment where he didn’tbelong, he shows kindness to one of Pharaoh’s servants who is also inprison. Joseph requests that the s e rvant not forget him when he getsout, and the servant promises that hewill not. But the servant is re l e a s e dand immediately forgets Joseph. Thisis another type of betrayal: kindness that is not re c i p rocated when the person has an opportunity to do so.Now you can imagine Joseph is saying at this point, “Oh, God, I would do anything to get out of thisplace.” He is beginning to move in the flesh. He had trusted God in thebeginning, and now was starting to put his own hand to his own deliver-ance. This is why God caused thebaker or the butler to forget him.

■ THE KING CALLSAll Joseph had left after his over-whelming despair was the vision that God had given him years ago, the vision that he was going to ru l eand reign and then supervise incre d i-ble provision. That vision was all he had. But he had no ability to fulfill it or imagine how God would

YOU WILL SURVIVE THE PLACE OF WEEPING www.tscnyc.org

I do not know if there isany deeper betrayal to befound in the world thandisloyalty and duplicityamong one’s own family.

T h e re are no words todescribe the anguish thegodly feel when theyrealize that what theyhave done has hurt theones they love the most.

do it, until suddenly one day a callcame to the prison cell: “Change your clothes; shave your face; getready—the king has called you!” Now you can’t stay in the valley ofweeping, for the king has an appointedtime for you, and when he calls you,he will give you a new robe, a newsong, and a new heart! And when he calls you out, he will put in yourhands the keys of provision, and willgive you wisdom that people of thisworld know nothing about. You willhave a storehouse of supply of God’sknowledge, compassion, and powerwithin you to feed a starving genera-tion in a time of famine.

■ SACRIFICE OF CONVENIENCEIn Psalm 126, the psalmist is sayingthat the time of captivity was over.This psalm is about a people who had been in captivity because of carelessness and a casual attitude in seeking God. In the northernkingdom they set up two altars, onein Bethel and one in Dan. Thesealtars were conveniently placed sothat people didn’t have to go all theway down to Jerusalem to sacrifice. I fear that in this generation, lest webecome Christians who simply serveGod when it’s convenient, that wewill end up doing exactly what thesealtars in Bethel and Dan speak about:no sacrifice, no journey, and no personal inconvenience. It becomes a sacrifice of convenience. Andbecause of these things, the peoplewent into captivity.

■ BABYLON: THE PLACE OF MIXTUREPsalm 137:1-2: By the rivers ofBabylon, there we sat down, yea, wewept, when we remembered Zion. Wehanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. The psalm speaksabout the captivity of the people.Israel was supposed to be “trees ofrighteousness, the planting of the Lordbesides streams of water that comef rom the very throne of God.” But herea re God’s own people, and the watersnow that they are camping beside

a re the waters of Babylon. This was the result of mixture. And the things of mixture had brought them into captivity. Instead of hanging their harps on the olive trees in the Land of Promise, they are now hanging their harps upon the weeping willows, as they’ve come to be known.

■ CAN YOU SING THE LORD’SSONG ON MONDAY?In verse 3 it says, For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth,saying, Sing us one of the songs ofZion. How shall we sing the Lord'ssong in a strange land?

T h e re is the person who has beencasual in their service to God, goingto work on Monday morning, and people in the work place are asking,“What is worship like in your churc h ?What do they sing like? Sing to usone of the songs.” But because theya re camped in a wrong place andhave had a casual walk with God,they are captivated in heart and mind.Now the true Christian experiences a weeping that comes upon thembecause of this; it is an inner sorro wbecause the one within them lovesthem passionately and is not willingto let them stray from him. God in his mercy will not let them be joyfulwhen they are not living in right re l a-tionship with him. But, for all who arein a right relationship with the Lord ,the true song that is in the heart willshow up on Monday morning. Andwhen others at work ask, “How wasc h u rch yesterday? And what kind ofsongs do you sing there?” you will beable to sing one because you are inright standing with God.

■ PRECIOUS SEEDVerse 6: He that goeth forth andweepeth, bearing precious seed, shalldoubtless come again with re j o i c i n g ,bringing his sheaves with him. T h i sverse is quite often misquoted or misapplied. It is about a people who

went into captivity, and they went intocaptivity weeping. The precious seedthey took with them were actually thep romises God had made to them as his people, and that’s all they had left.

They had no power to get out of theirs t ruggle; they had no power to get outof their weeping; they had no poweragainst their captors; and they had no ability even to change themselves,because their own hearts had becomeso cold to the things of God. Theyw e re absolutely powerless. They headed out from the provision of God, and what had been the glory of God. They were a people whoshould’ve been set upon a hill andthey knew it. The only thing they had left were the promises that God had made to them thro u g hAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now the psalmist is saying that those who went forth weeping and had inside of them these pre c i o u sp romises of God, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringingwith them the fruit of those pro m i s e sin their possession.

You may be in a season of weeping or a time of difficulty. But if you aretruly a Christian, if you truly have theHoly Spirit within you, God has madepromises to you, and he is not goingto leave you where you are. All youmay have left in this season of weep-ing is the Word of God and even thatseems no bigger than a mustard seedwithin you. You may just have a littletiny promise left, but Jesus has saidthat if you have faith even as the sizeof a mustard seed, this incredible lifeof God will begin to spring from you.You don’t have to know the wholeBible to get out of weeping; you

YOU WILL SURVIVE THE PLACE OF WEEPINGwww.tscnyc.org

You don’t have to know thewhole Bible to get out ofweeping; you just have tohave one promise of God.

just have to have one promise of God sown in your heart and you will come out with the fruit of thepromises of God in your possession.

■ MAGNIFIED HIS WORD ABOVEHIS NAMEPsalm 138, verses 1-3, 7: I will praisethee with my whole heart: before thegods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple,and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thouhast magnified thy word above all thy name. In the day when I cried thou answered me, and stre n g t h e n e dme with strength in my soul. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch fort hthine hand against the wrath of mineenemies, and thy right hand shall savem e . In verse 2 David says, You havemagnified your Wo rd above your name.

I used to often wonder, What doesthat really mean? God, how do youmagnify your Word above your name?You see, the Lord has an incrediblename, a magnificent name. He says in the Word, “I am a great king.” And as a great king, his name speaks of provision, compassion,mercy, righteousness, justice, andjudgment; in fact, everything of thedivine nature is found in the name of this great king. But now think of the number of times that you have disgraced his name. Think of the many times that you don’trepresent him and are not living a holy life. You do not speak the truth as it ought to be spoken. Youwalk around saying, “The Lord is my God” and yet you disgrace hisname. You have taken his name intoyour lips, but your actions don’tmatch his name. In reality both youand I have completely dishonored his name. But still, in spite of how

we have treated his magnificentname, he has still given us powerfulpromises that reside within us, andthis is how he has chosen to inter-twine himself with you and with me through his Word.

So the psalmist is saying that eventhough you might have disgraced his name, and misunderstood hischaracter; even though you havedoubted or impeached his integrity,and dishonored him before many,even losing heart in the battle, yet he still has upheld his promises toyou. “Lord, truly you have set yourWord above your name. Hallelujah!”

Doesn’t that make your heart comealive? God has given you preciouspromises, and these promises areas true as his Word is true, so even if you have failed and walked thro u g hthis world making a mess of his name,his Wo rd to you and his promises toyou are still magnified above his nameand you will come, bringing the har-vest of a changed life with you.

Carter ConlonMarch 12, 2006©2006 Times Square Church

R E V. CARTER CONLONCarter Conlon is senior pastor atTimes Square Church, where he has been on the pastoral staff since 1994.

T I M E S S Q U A R E C H U R C HTimes Square Church was founded in 1987 by Pastor David Wi l k e r s o n ,author of “The Cross and theSwitchblade.” It is an interdenomina-tional church located in the heart ofNew York City.

Founding PastorRev. David Wilkerson

Senior PastorRev. Carter Conlon

Tel:212-541-6300

Fax: 212-541-6415

Church Location:237 West 51st Street,Between Broadway & Eighth Avenue

Mailing Address: 1657 Broadway, 4th Flr.New York, NY 10019

e-mail: info@timessquarechurch.org

W E E K LY SCHEDULE OF SERV I C E S

S u n d a y 1 0 : 0 0 A M 3 : 0 0 P M 6:00PM

Tu e s d a y 7 : 0 0 P M Church Service

T h u r s d a y 7 : 0 0 P M Intercessory Prayer

F r i d a y 7 : 0 0 P M Church Service

www.tscnyc.org

YOU WILL SURVIVE THE PLACE OF WEEPING

This message is an edited version of a sermon given in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in New York City. Other sermons are available by visiting our website w w w. t s c n y c . o r g or calling 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 8 8 - 0 8 5 4. You can also write to: Times Square Church, TapeMinistry, 1657 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. You are welcome to make additional copies of this sermon for free distribution to friends. H o w e v e r, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission existing copyright laws apply. This sermon cannot be posted on any website or webpage. However, you are free to provide a hyperlink from a website to the Times Square Church website by notifying Times Square Church in writing.