A Bible scholar was in Palestine in the 1800s and he noticed
that the shepherds were more rugged than we tend to think. ‘They looked more like warriors marching to
the battlefield—a long gun slung from the shoulder; a dagger and heavy pistols
in the belt, a light battle-axe or iron-headed club in hand. Such were the equipment; and their fierce
flashing eyes and scowling countanences showed but too plainly that they were
prepared to use their weapons at any moment’ (from The Treasury of David).
There is no one more compassionate than our good shepherd,
Jesus. He is the most kind and loving person
that there ever has been. But this lamb
of God is also the lion of Judah. He has
broad shoulders to carry his lost sheep home.
He has defeated our foes of death and the devil. No one can snatch us from his mighty hand.
The structure of this Psalm is x-shaped (Hebrew chi). In such Hebrew poems the main point is made
in the centre of the x. If we include
the title for this psalm then the central words are ‘you are with me.’ This is the Immanuel Psalm—God with us!
The valley is one of
the right paths
Before we enter the valley (verse 4), we are told that the
good shepherd leads us in the right paths.
Dark valleys are a part of Jesus’ plan for our lives. We might not understand why Jesus leads us
there, but he promises to be with us. The
Bible scholar, Don Carson, explains that suffering is inevitable in life, if
you are not suffering now, cheer up it is only a matter of time. Don’t think that it is a sign that God has
let you down simply because your circumstances are hard.
J. I. Packer writes, ‘If you have been resigning yourself to
the thought that God has left you high and dry, seek the grace to be ashamed of
yourself. Such unbelieving pessimism
deeply dishonours our great God and Saviour’ (Knowing God).
The valley is hard
The valley of the shadow of death/darkness includes death,
but I think it includes more than death.
Dark valleys were everything that the sheep feared—bandits, unstable
footing, flash floods, snakes and wild animals.
In the valley we fear evil.
But the Hebrew word for evil (ra) means more than just moral evil. It is a word that can be translated ‘disaster’
or ‘chaos’. I think we can use this of
depression, family strife, grief, loneliness and doubt. I think that Jesus can bring us into a valley
where he lovingly shows us our sins and where we need to change.
God is not only with us in the valley, he is in control of
all that takes place there. In the book
of Job, Job responds to his wife, asking, ‘shall we accept good from God and
not evil (ra)?’ (Job 2:10). Amos asks, ‘Does
disaster (ra) come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?’ (3:6).
The fact that God is in charge even over the chaos we face
in life may leave us with hard questions.
We may wonder what he is at. But
I would much rather to be in the hands of a strong God who has proven his love and
faithfulness to be through the life and death of his Son than be the subject of
mindless chaos.
The valley is not our
destination
In the valley the psalmist talks about walking. I don’t know about you, but when I am afraid I
want to either run or I freeze. But when
we stay close to the shepherd we can walk.
We walk ‘through’ the valley. The valley is not our destination. I have talked to a number people about the topic
of depression. They assure me that the
very hardest moments of depression do not last.
We can say to those in the darkest places that ‘this too will pass.’ Sometimes there are parts of the shadow that
do not lift in this life, but we are heading to a place where God himself will
wipe away every tear from our eyes.
I was speaking at the funeral of a man who died by
suicide. I admitted that the shadow of
his death would probably be somewhere in the background for his adult children
all their lives. But that they must let
it be the defining feature of their lives.
They must keep walking. The dark
valley is not where we are to settle. We
walk as we seek the help of our Christian brothers and sisters. We walk even as we seek professional
help. We walk as we pray.
Jesus is especially
with us in the valley
Ray Ortland wrote a lovely book on a verse that tells us
that God is with us in our brokenness.
The verse is Isaiah 57:15: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also
with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit’.
Ortland explains that the lowly in spirit are devastated people who have
hit rock bottom.
The psalmist says that, ‘The LORD is near the broken-hearted
and lifts up those who are crushed in spirit’ (34:18).
Notice that as the psalmist goes into the valley he stops
talking about the shepherd and starts talking to the shepherd—from ‘my’ to ‘you’. ‘The deeper the cloud the closer the Lord’
(Motyer). One person looked back on a
time of pain and admitted, ‘I miss how close I was to God then.’
Ask the good shepherd
to keep you on track
When we are in pain we are faced with a fork in the
road. We can either lean in closer to
our shepherd or we become bitter.
Your rod and staff they comfort me.
The rod was a two and a half mace with iron inserted into
its head. Anyone who threatened the
sheep was likely to have the living daylights beaten out of them. Our great enemy the devil has been defeated
and death has lost its sting.
The staff was used to hook sheep out of the ditch, and also
to give them a whack when they were going off path. God disciplines those he loves, and no
discipline is pleasant at the time (Hebrews 12). A friend of mine pointed out that when she
starts to ignore God, he gives her a ‘kick up the butt’. It might be the gentle wounds of a friend,
circumstances that make you realize your need of him or an increased inner restlessness. Thank God that he will do what it takes to
bring you back on path!
The valley is darkness
and death
The valley isn’t just about death, but it does include
death.
In the last church I served there was a man who had a nagging
fear of death. That is not
uncommon. Jesus came to deal with that
fear. He came ‘to free those who were
held in slavery all their lives to the fear of death’ (Hebrews 2:15). Of course, we doubt and at times fear. But Jesus wants us free from that fear.
I only got to Kinfire one day, but I heard the speaker, Glen
Scrivener, give a good illustration. He
said that death is like a shroud and Jesus is like a needle. We are the thread that Jesus bring through
the death shroud.
Remember that ‘precious in the sight of the LORD is the
death of his saints’ (Psalm 116:15).
In his book, Fear No Evil, David Watson wrote about his terminal
illness. ‘The actual moment of dying is
still surrounded by mystery, but as I keep my eyes on Jesus I am not afraid. Jesus has already been through death, and he
will be with us as we walk through ourselves.’
Conclusion
David Gibson says that the whole of the Bible is summed up
in the words, ‘you are with me.’
When Jesus brings us into the valley with all its chaos, ‘you
are with me’.
When we have every reason to fear, ‘you are with me’.
When our past comes to haunt us, our shepherd comes to our
defence. ‘You are with me.’
When the going is hard.
‘You are with me.’
When it is hard to stand up for our faith. ‘You are with me.’
When God’s time comes for us to leave this life, ‘you are
with me.’
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