Joseph Prince - You Will Leave This Valley In Victory (01/21/2026)
Even in the deepest valley of trouble and shadow of death, God promises to turn the Valley of Achor into a door of hope and to set a table before you in the presence of your enemies. Drawing from Psalm 23, Hosea 2:15, and the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane, Pastor Prince shows that Christ already bore our fears, depression, and the curse in the valley so that goodness and mercy would hunt us down all our days. The conclusion is clear: don’t fear, only believe—look for the table and the door of hope right in your valley, because your God is the God of the valleys too.
A Prophetic Word for the Valley
I believe this, today is prophetic for all of you that’s listening right now. It’s a Word from the Lord. God is talking to you right now. See him talking to you, «Today I declare to you I will restore double to you». Double, amen? Today I’m preaching on what to do in the valley. When you’re in the valley, what to do in the valley. When you’re going through your valley experience, listen, the Bible says, notice, he makes me lie down, he leads me, but when it comes to the valley, «Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me».
From «He» to «You» — Talking Directly to God
Now he’s talking to him directly. «Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies». Isn’t that the Lord’s table? And he prepares the table not in the absence of your symptoms, but in the presence of your symptoms. He prepares the table in the presence of your enemies. Whether it’s called cancer, whether it’s called depression, whether it’s called addiction, whatever it is, he prepares the table. And notice, you didn’t prepare. You might bring out the elements, but it’s the Lord preparing it.
Always see the Lord preparing it for you, and you won’t see it as a legalist, something legalistic anymore. But notice, when you’re going through the trial, it’s no more enough, it’s not enough just to tell someone about the Lord. You need to talk to him yourself. «Your rod, your staff, you are with me. I’ll fear no evil, for you are with me. You prepare a table before me. You anoint my head with oil». What’s the result? «Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you».
Goodness and Mercy Will Hunt You Down
And the Hebrew word is hunt you down like an animal. Hunt you down. God’s goodness and mercy will hunt you down all the days of your life. Surely God’s goodness and mercy will hunt you down. You can’t run fast enough. It’s going to hunt you down. What a perspective, to wake up every day to realize God’s goodness, God’s mercy on one side, God’s goodness is hunting you down all the days of your life until you dwell in the house of the Lord forever, hallelujah! Amen! Praise God!
The Valley of Achor Becomes a Door of Hope
There is a story, a very sad story that happened to a man called Achan, where he was stoned in this valley called the Valley of Achan or Achor in Hebrew, but God promised many years after, God sent a prophet called Hosea. Let’s follow the story here. Chapter 2, verse 15, God says, «I’ll give her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope; She will sing there, As in the days of her youth».
Like when she came out of Egypt, says the Lord. God promised to Israel, and God promised to all of us that in your valley of Achor, and Achor means trouble in Hebrew. In your valley of Achor, God has put a door of hope. A door of tikvah. A door of tikvah. God has put a door of hope, literally a door of tikvah. By the way, your door is not found in the mountain. It’s found right there in your valley. Mountain always speaks of good experiences, blessings. So God promised that in the valley.
Mountain vs. Valley Experiences
So when we feel good, it’s all the blessings, and the mountaintop experience, that is mountain experience, amen? But when you come down to the valley, the valley speaks of trial. So today my message is about what to do in your trial. What to expect in your trial, amen? So the devil says you’re down there, you remain there, you’ll stay in the valley. No, you might be going through a valley, but you’re walking through. Through means you are coming out the other side, amen?
So you’re in the valley. God promised in your valley of trouble, look for the door of hope. There’s a door of hope, amen? Open the door by hoping for the best. Open the door because of your God. Hope for the best. Don’t allow the pessimistic thoughts of the situation and the circumstance to wear you down. Don’t listen to all the naysayers, amen? «Don’t bother the master anymore. Your daughter is dead, the situation is dead, the marriage is dead, your son’s rebellion is beyond hope, » listen to what Jesus says. «Don’t be afraid».
Al tirah in Hebrew, don’t be afraid, al tirah. «Believe only, and she shall be well, » the marriage will be well, the situation will work out all right, your son will be well, amen? Your daughter will turn out all right, praise the Lord. Their future is bright, amen. Do not be afraid, only believe. Listen to the Word of Jesus. Don’t allow the pessimistic words of people, okay? All the prisoners of hopelessness to weigh you down, amen? Their words, praise the Lord. So here, God promises us this, and praise God.
Jesus Paid the Price in the Valley
Remember Jesus paid the price. What a heavy price. It was in the valley that this happened. In a valley where the mountain there is called Mount of Olives in a little garden, because man sinned against God in a garden, the Garden of Eden, and all his suffering all started in the garden. Remember the movie, «The Passion of Christ»? It started in the garden, because that’s where it’s all start. And the Bible says Jesus prayed in the garden, and this is what happened. «And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly».
And the word agony here is from the Greek word agonia, which means intense emotional and mental exercises. Like you know, you are being torn, like you’re being pulled apart, like exercise. Even the word gymnastics is there in the Greek for this word agonia, like agonizing. «Being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground».
The Curse Reversed in Gethsemane
Every word has meaning. The Holy Spirit chose the word falling down. The blood fall down to the ground, because in a previous garden, the original garden, the place where everything was provided for man, man only have to pick and eat. He didn’t have to work for it. Everything was prepared for him. All things are now ready. God made man last so that man can enjoy everything that he has created. But man sinned against God, and as a result, the fruit and the food of Egypt, the picture of the world is laborious and backbreaking.
Notice the food of Egypt, melons, leeks, garlics, onions, it’s backbreaking. It’s all food of the ground. You have to bend to take it. But the food of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, God’s land for the people, is food like grapes, vine, olive oil, amen? Pomegranate, amen? Figs, all these are just for your plucking. You don’t have to bend to collect them. It’s a picture to all of us that the life in Canaan land, the land of promise that God has for you is a land of true rest, land where you are provided for, and it’s not laborious pain involved in it. But when Adam sinned against God, three things God said to Adam I want you to pay attention to.
Number one, cursed is the ground for your sake. The ground is cursed. Number two, thorns and thistles it will bring forth. There were no thorns prior to this, but now thorns will come out. And that’s why Jesus wore the crown of thorns. Every time you have a thought that hurts you, that makes you agonize, every time you have a painful thought, every time you are fearful, a fearful thought makes you afraid when you’re lying down in the middle of the night, when you wake up with fearful thoughts and that thorn pricks your mind, and another fearful thought pricks your mind, and that’s the time to remember Jesus bore your crown of thorns so that you don’t have to. He freed you from it.
So God said the ground is cursed, thorns it will bring forth. And then God said to man, «From now on, by the sweat of your face, you will eat bread». It won’t come easy anymore. All this is the result of man’s sin. And here it says Jesus sweat in the garden until his sweat became like drops of blood. It’s a condition that medical field, they call it hematidrosis. Which means under extreme pressure, it has happened before. There are people under extreme pressure, their capillaries, especially around their brow, the capillaries break, and blood comes out as sweat. Sweat and blood is mingled. But there’s something about the blood of Jesus that’s unique.
Number one, there’s no sin in his blood. Number two, he’s fully God and fully man, therefore, it’s divine blood. Number three, the blood of Jesus always cleanses, always restores, always redeems. And the moment he sweat, he agonized, it’s as if he took your agony upon himself in the garden. That’s where it started. He took your agony, and then it was so terrible, the very thought of becoming sin on the cross. He’s not there yet, he’s not even sin yet at the cross, but the very thought of becoming sin shudders him so much.
He Redeemed Us from Human Depression
For you and I, we are used to sin, you know? But we can’t imagine a God, the Son of God who loved the Father so, whose nature is sinless, who has never even tasted sin, who never wants to be near sin even, and to have a holy nature like Jesus. How much he suffered when he thought about even becoming sin and how much more when he became sin on the cross? If the very thought of becoming sin in anticipation caused him to sweat blood, he was bearing your depression, he was bearing your agony upon himself, and he sweat blood. But the moment his blood that redeems met the sweat, he redeemed and bought us out of human depression. Sweat, human sweat, human obsession, human darkness of pessimism, he set us free because he sweat blood.
And notice the Holy Spirit says it fell to the? The blood that saves, the blood that restores, the blood that redeems fell to the ground. The ground was cursed. Now everywhere you walk is blessed.
God Never Leaves You in the Valley
When we go through valley experiences, and some Christians unfortunately believe this, they think that God leave you alone. God will only deal with you when your life is right. You are impeccably holy, you have it all together, then God says, «Hmm, you’ve been doing well. Come up here with me. All right, now I can deal with you, okay? But I can’t deal with you when you are dirty, when you are… you know, when you have done wrong, and you have messed it up, and the trouble you are in now is the trouble of your own making. And now you’ve got lung problems and all that. Doctors diagnosed the disease and all that. But you are still smoking. What’s the problem? You know what? Until you change all that and come up to where I am, where there’s fresh air and all that, I cannot do anything for you».
That’s how the world sees God. They see a God that’s based on merit. You know, it’s true that we have some of the best experiences with the Lord on the mountaintop. It is true that in the Bible, for example, in the Gospel of Matthew alone, there are seven mountains mentioned, and each one has a significance. Jesus preached one of his best sermons that the world knows about even, called the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was transfigured on a mount. We see his glory on the mount. And when we come to church, it’s almost like we are at Mount Zion, worshipping the Lord. It’s true, the mountain is the place where we commune with God, a place of victory, we see his glory.
But you know something? Even David defeated Goliath in a valley, the valley of Elah. God gives the victory where? In the valley. Hallelujah. Our God is not just the God of the mountain, he is the God of the valley as well. Can I have a good amen?
Fresh Revelation: Heaven Comes Down to the Valley
Many years after, and this is a fresh revelation. How many like fresh revelation? As I was preparing this, the Lord spoke to me, and I’ve studied this passage so many times, but I didn’t see it, and the Lord just let the scales fall off my eyes. Look at this Genesis, it says, «Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High».
Did I show you the victory of the 100,000 men killed? I did, right? Okay, now Melchizedek is a picture of Jesus. You all know that. He’s the king of Salem, the old name for Jerusalem. And he brought out what? Bread and wine to Abraham after the battle of the kings. Abram defeated four kings at once. God gave him the victory. And King Melchizedek, King of Jerusalem, brought out bread and wine. We know he’s a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of a sudden, the scales fell off my eyes. I read this so many times. Do you know Jerusalem is on a mountain, Mount Moriah? And it says, as you will see, he came down to the King’s Valley. King’s Valley is the valley of Kidron right below.
In other words, he came down the mountain to the valley where Abraham was with the communion. When you are going through your valley experience, partake of the Lord’s supper. And don’t see yourself bringing to him the bread and the wine, see yourself receiving from him. He’s waiting for you, not you waiting for him. He’s waiting for you to receive his love, amen.
The Valley of Darkness Became the King’s Valley
Wow, when I saw that, by the way, just to show you the context, he came bringing, look at the verse before this. The King of Sodom was there. What an issue. The King of Sodom represents the devil. He went out to meet Abraham at the valley of Shaveh. That is the king’s valley. The Holy Spirit mentioned the valley as the king’s valley. And the Lord said to me, «It became the king’s valley… that valley of darkness became the king’s valley because I came down there».
Now, why is this important? In other words, Melchizedek, Jesus brought bread and wine down the mountain of Jerusalem, Mount Moriah. Came down and gave the bread and wine to Abraham, who was in the valley of darkness. Kidron is known, Kidron is darkness, the valley of Kidron, which is King’s Valley. Many years after, another son of David would betray his own father, and then he would erect a monument, a pillar in this valley, and here it says King’s Valley as well. Absalom in his lifetime set up a pillar, which is in the King’s Valley.
Now, if you go to Israel today, you go to the King’s Valley, you will see this picture. I will show you that right now. That’s the mountain where the city of Salem is there, Jerusalem. Now, Melchizedek came down the mountain to the valley on the left. Can you see the Pillar of Absalom? Now, most likely this is a later creation. They built over, most likely, the original site of the pillar. But it’s still known as Absalom’s Pillar until today. It’s in the King’s Valley.
So we know that the King’s Valley is the Kidron Valley. And the Kidron Valley, meaning Kidron is darkness. The valley of darkness has become, the valley of the shadow of death has become the King’s Valley, because the bread and wine. Receive the bread and wine.
Bread, Wine, and Oil — All in the Valley
I used to think, Lord, you know, God always mentioned these three together, bread, wine, oil. Bread, wine, oil, right? The grain, the vine, the wine, and the oil. Where is the oil here? On the same vicinity of the valley, there is a garden nearby. And many years after, the greatest son of David will be sweating blood in that garden. His blood would drop to the ground. It was in the valley at the foot of a mountain called Mount of Olives. And he would shed his blood in a place called Oil Press, Gethsemane, Gat Shemanim, a place of Oil Press.
So now you have the oil, you have the bread, you have the wine. Of course, my study became, «Heaven came down, And glory filled my soul, When on the cross, My Jesus made me whole». I’m telling you, I love it when I feed you all, I get fed myself. I get fed myself, amen? What a beautiful, beautiful picture.
Look for the Table in the Valley
In closing, let me just share with you this. I just want to… By the way, I showed you just now, right? What’s the verse after, «Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death»?
What’s the next verse? You prepare a table before me. Right in the valley, look for the table. It’s a door of hope. The table is a door of hope, amen? That your future does not have to be like what it is today. God can change it. God is the God of hope.
Now, listen, listen. The devil says God will only love you when you’re on the mountain, when you have your behavior all together, when you have a mountaintop experience with God. No, no, no, even when you fail, God will come down to your valley and love you. In the highest mountain in Israel, Mount Hermon, about 10,000 feet, the Son heard the Father say, «You are my beloved Son. This is my beloved Son».
In the lowest valley in the entire world, the Jordan valley, Jesus was baptized. When he came up, the Father says, «You are my beloved Son. In you I’m well pleased». In the lowest valley in the world, the Jordan Valley. Friend, God is not just the God of the mountain. When you do right, yes, he is with you. But when you fail, all the more, a child in tears belongs in the Father’s arms. He will never leave you, he will never forsake you. He is there in the valley with you. It might be dark like the Kidron Valley. It might seem hopeless like the valley of Achor, full of trouble, one trouble after another.
You are retrenched, you can’t imagine a job that can give you the same kind of pay. But God is saying, «Yes, yes, it may seem these things are against you, but I have a hope and a positive expectation for you, my child. Put your trust in me, because your secure has been, your future is secure, bought by the blood of Jesus».
Put on the Helmet of Hope
So, if that is you, wherever you are right now, just put on the helmet of salvation. From now on, I choose not to be hopeless or helpless. Even in my emotions, I renounce it all in Jesus’s name. Say that right now before the Lord. And I put on, Lord, the helmet of hope, a positive expectation of good. Make me, Father, a prisoner of hope where it becomes a default mode, it becomes a default mode. I’m a hopeful person, because I know it is not based on something of my whim and fancy, but it’s based on the eternal and sure foundation of the Word of God and the blood of Jesus.
Closing Blessing
The Lord bless you and your families this week. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be favorable to you. The favor of God, favor, favor, favor. He will give you double favor this week, amen? Double favor to confirm his Word throughout this week. Double favor coming your way. Double favor. And the Lord opens the door of hope. For all those of you who are bound with a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, God opened the door of hope. And what God opens, no man can shut. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and your families and grant this wonderful gift. Until today in Israel, they pronounce this gift on each other. The Lord bless you and your families with Shalom peace, well-being, wholeness, and health in every part of your spirit, soul, and body throughout this week. In the name of Jesus and the Lord, deliver you, keep you, protect you throughout this week from every danger, from every infection, from all the power of the evil one. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, put you at the right place at the right time, in Jesus’s name, God make all of you slaves of hope. In Jesus’s name, amen.