Gospel Song – Peace in the Valley
Gospel Song – Peace in the Valley.
Gospel genius Thomas Dorsey wrote this song in 1937 for his friend, Mahalia Jackson. Dorsey was riding in a train after he heard about Hitler making his presence felt in western Europe, and he pondered about why mankind just couldn’t ever seem to be at peace. He thought about heaven, and this song is the result. Mahalia immediately recorded it, and history was made with what has been called one of the most beautiful gospel songs ever written. It has been covered by everyone from Elvis Presley to Sam Cooke, from Solomon Burke to Little Richard, from Johnny Cash to Dolly Parton. The amazing quality to this and many other gospel songs written by Thomas Dorsey is that the songs are so adaptable to different genres and musical interpretations. I have included an original gospel version by Mahalia Jackson, an R & B with the Drifters, an a capella jazz version by Take 6, and a soul version with Lou Rawls. For a bio sketch of Mahalia Jackson, refer to the blog post “Soon will be done” in the Gospel Songs section. For more on Thomas Dorsey, refer to “Come, let us go back to God.”
LYRICS – Peace in the Valley
I am tired and weary but I must toil on, till the Lord come to call me away,
Where the morning is bright and the Lamb is the light, and the night is fair as the day.
Refrain: There’ll be peace in the valley for me some day, there’ll be peace in the valley for me.
I pray no more sorrow and sadness or trouble I’ll see. There’ll be peace in the valley for me.
There the flowers will be blooming, the grass will be green, and the skies will be clear and serene.
The sun ever shining, giving one endless beam, and the clouds there will ever be seen.
Refrain
There the bear will be gentle, the wolf will be tame, and the lion will lay down by the lamb.
The host from the wild will be led by a child, I’ll be changed from the creature I am.
Refrain
No headaches or heartaches or misunderstands, no confusion or trouble I’ll see.
No frowns to defile, just a big endless smile, there’ll be peace and contentment for me.
Refrain
Peace is one of the greatest gifts that God can give us, a peace from Christ, the Prince of Peace. “Peace in the Valley” paints a picture of the kind of peace that heaven offers to believers. Peace in the sense of shalom, a powerful Hebrew word in Scripture. Shalom means a lot of things: well-being; flourishing; completeness; wholeness; tranquility; harmony; reconciliation; healing of divisions; freedom from disquiet and disorder. That is a full picture of heavenly peace in the new Kingdom. Shalom is a full banquet of peace. But we are given by Jesus a taste of that peace now, an hors d’oeuvre before the full meal, because peace is something promised to us this side of the wedding banquet. God offers to give us a measure of peace now: reconciliation with God; flourishing in mind and spirit; an inner harmony that personally heals us and braids together our inner loose ends; an outer harmony that can go far in resolving conflicts with others; a tranquil heart of contentment and trust; an inner assurance that all is well.
This earthly peace is all a taste of the soul-satisfying peace awaiting us, a nibble of the eternal fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is the peace that goes so deep it is beyond human understanding. (Phil. 4:7). “I leave the gift of peace with you – My peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace.” (John 14:27). “Everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you, and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must cheer up and be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33, TPT). In heaven, there will be peace in the valley, a valley no longer in the shadow of death, but shining in the light of life.