In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

The main ideas from this information are: - Psalm 23 is a well-known chapter in the Bible, and verse 4 is a comforting scripture that is often quoted and read at funerals. - The phrase "valley of the shadow of death" refers to the difficult and dark situations we face in life, not just death itself. - Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd who takes care of, guides, and comforts us through these dark times. - The valley of the shadow of death is an actual place in Palestine called the Wadi Qelt, which Jesus Christ walked through. - As sheep, we can trust in our Good Shepherd to lead us through the dark times and protect us from dangers. - We should not fear evil or the troubles of life, but trust in God's presence and protection. - The rod and staff of the shepherd provide comfort and guidance to the sheep, helping them stay on the right path and rescuing them from dangerous situations. - Ultimately, our hope is in Today we're going to continue our study in Psalm 23, we are up to chapter 2, verse 4. And it's a very well-known chapter, you know, chapter 23 is probably one of the best-known chapters in the Bible. In the world they quote it a lot. But verse 4 is probably the one scripture that they remember very well. And we'll just read it here, it says, And it certainly is a comfort when we know that Jesus Christ is there as our Good Shepherd to take care of, and watch us, and guide us, and lead us, and comfort us. So it's one of the most often quoted verses, and it's read at funerals. And in the mind of many people, chapter 4 pictures death. But that's not entirely correct. The actual phrase, while it does refer to death somewhat, does not entirely or directly refer to death. But rather the difficulties and the dark situations that all of us find ourselves in from time to time, as we go through life's journey. As we walk this path, once we've been called, we seem to have a little bit more than the world in some areas. But that's all for our training, and for our perfection, and bringing us to be developing a wholly righteous character, as God wants us to do. So the word shadow of death, the word shadow of death, in the Hebrew it's one word. It is salmahwet. That's phonetically set, and it means the valley of the deepest darkness. So there are some trials we go through that are light. This is referring to the really deep, dark situations that we find ourselves in. And as the opening prayer was mentioning, we certainly do have that. Yesterday, I had to make a decision on my time. It's been a very busy week, and I was working on this sermon. I had to make a decision as to, I got a call from a member in the Muncie area, that her husband has been moved from intensive care into hospice, and they aren't giving him much time. So I had to make a decision. What do I do with my time? Well, I went up there, and God always takes care of things. So I went up there and spent some time with her and the family. But they're going through a valley of deepest darkness. Others have called this valley a valley of deep gloom. And if you don't have the hope, we talked about this. If you don't have the hope that we have, it is deep, it is dark, and it is gloom. And it is gloom. It seems that despair sits in depression. And you look at going down the inner stair, you go into a mall, and you sit and look. People are just plagued with this. They're plagued with this lack of hope. And that's what Jesus Christ is going to bring to this world. And we are part of that. So Psalm 23 has a lot to do with our walk personally as sons and daughters of God. So this is an actual valley in Palestine. It's called the Wadi Qelt. Wadi Qelt. Wadi refers to ravine. The Wadi Musa is the river or the ravine of Moses. And then the spring, it fills up with water. And these wadis run with water. They become rivers. They are streams. So the Wadi Qelt, the valley of the shadow of death, is an actual place. It leads from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea quite a long way. It's near Bethlehem on one end and Jericho on the other. It's a very narrow and dangerous path. And it goes through the mountain ranges. Very rough path with predators. There's shadows in it. You know, the sun, there's certain points. You hit down in the bottom of this valley and there's a shadow that's cast. And predators lurk in the bushes and wait. And robbers and thieves are in there. And this was an actual path that Jesus Christ took on the last week to get to Jerusalem. He came through the valley of the shadow of death. So Christ went through that as well, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. This is a path Christ took. It's interesting that he walked that before us as we walked through it too. He's already been there. So he knows the way. Again, the shepherds would travel through the hills and valleys of the areas of Palestine on their yearly circular track that they took with the sheep. And they would travel there with the sheep from Judea to the hills of Galilee and through canyons, deep and narrow trails. Again, infested with dangers by robbers and predators that lurk there. The shepherd had to be on guard. But the sheep trusted that shepherd because he knew his way. And so they followed him. Again, there were many dangers in these areas for the sheep. Many dangers. The shepherd was there with them. The valley of the shadow of death is not a dead end. It's not a cul-de-sac. It has a beginning and an end, just like our trials do. There's a beginning and an end, and we walk through it. But the sheep are not afraid because the shepherd is there. They don't walk through it by themselves. But he goes in front of them, and they follow him as he walks through the valley of the shadow of death. Again, while it doesn't mean death, it doesn't exclude death. That is another deep, dark situation we find ourselves in. It's appointed to all men once to die and then the judgment. So everyone has a time stamp on them. And we talked about that yesterday in the hospital. So she has a lot of hope. And even though we're grieving, we grieve when we lose someone. We, as Christians, as sons and daughters of God, we know the hope, the light at the end of the tunnel, the light at the end of the valley of the shadow of death is very bright for us. So let's start at the beginning here in verse 4. Yea. It starts out with yea. Why would it start out with yea? What does that mean? It means yes. And what it is is a transition between the three verses before and now this darkness, this dark area. The transition from the light into the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death that they're about to enter. You know, in the movies you hear, you know, in Jaws, you know, I think the three notes, you know, you hear it. It's just as if the shark is coming. Everything's bright and cheery and then you have this deep music that comes. Well, they're getting ready to go into the shadow of death. Prior to that, the first three verses, we had a tranquil and peaceful picture of a shepherd caring for his sheep daily. Christ is a good shepherd, caring for the sheep, providing for all their needs. The still crystal waters that the sheep go to, he takes them to a cool, not rushing water, protecting them, caring for them. Gives them green grass, not briars and thickets and things that will harm them. And food at the appropriate time too, the right food. And then they go and they lay down. He forces them to lay down. And he restores the sheep physically and emotionally and gives the sheep rest. He rejuvenates and restores their soul. He restores them, allows them to rest, just like Christ does for us. He leads the sheep in the paths of righteousness, right and safe paths, just like our shepherd does for us. Now, in verse 4, the psalmist is trying to, the statement, I believe, is transitioning the scene to a more sober and serious event. Life's dark times, trials, and difficulties. But he's reassuring us that the good shepherd is still with us, even in these difficult times, as we walk in the valley of the shadow of death. Notice this verse is also in the middle of Psalm 23. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we're going to come out of that. And we'll see that. And I'm going to have to do this and then a couple other sermons, but we'll go out of the shadow of death. So it is a throughfare, thoroughfare. We go through. And so there is light at the end of the tunnel. You know, again, we have these in life. We have ups and downs. We have the dark times, the gloomy times. Sometimes we don't understand why. I'll refer you to the note of encouragement that CBCG set out. Read that over and over and over again. When you find yourself entering into a dark time, it can be anything. But that's a very good basic encouragement that we have, that we hope and we hang on to. So as we go through it, we don't get stuck in it, right? There is a way out. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's a path that we walk through just as the shepherd and the sheep daily in their yearly journey throughout their circular journey through the year. Yea, though I walk through. Again, the through indicates moving on, passing through. To a more positive and brighter place, to abundant life, to living an abundant life, eternal life. And Christ is the way, the truth, and the life as a good shepherd. He leads us through. The eventual end is eternal life in the kingdom of God. That's what we're shooting for. And know that that is there as we go through the valley of the shadow of death. These situations that we find ourselves in are temporary. The grief is temporary. Sometimes what it does, it teaches us, as Christ did, he suffered to learn obedience and perfection, and we do the same. We become, therefore, perfect through suffering, and following the example of Christ as our good shepherd. So we rely on God to get us through. He's been there before. So next we read, I will fear no evil. I will fear no evil. Why? For you are with me. So let's look at the word evil. What are we not to fear? We can go into a big, long discussion about fear, doubt, worry. Those are the tools that Satan uses to drag us down, to bring us back into the darkness. There is no fear with the spirit of God and with knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. But the word evil is rah, R-A-H. It's more than just the moral evil that we read about, the things that are listed in Galatians 5. It's more than that. It's distress, despair, depression, misery, calamity, and, in general, trouble. That's what the word evil, rah, refers to. But in Psalm 23, the whole point is that it removes our fear, knowing that we have a good shepherd that has gone through this before. And also, later on, we'll see that he has a rod and a staff that comforts us. So we live under the shadow. What do we live under? We don't live under fear. We live under the shadow of the Almighty, right? And he's the protector. He's under the wings, under that shadow and the wings and the protection, like a mother hen takes her chicks and brings them under their wing. In Psalm 91, we're going to read all the way through Psalm 91 because I think understanding this, we refer to it as the protection chapter, but we need to think about it in the light, if you will, of the shadow of death. And think about it in that respect when we are in those. So let's start in Psalm 91. Let's start in verse 1. It says, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. When we're with God, when we're close to God and we have that relationship, we're under his care. And he casts the shadow on us of protection and care and love and all the things that we need. Verse 2 says, I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God, and whom I will trust. And that's what the sheep do with the shepherd. They just trust him because he's capable and he's been there before and they have experience with him providing all these things. And they know he's going to take care of them in these dark times. Then verse 3 says, I've watered some of those dark times. I will deliver you from the fowler's trap and from the destroying pestilence. In the last couple of years, we certainly know what that is, what that can do. And I think we're going to see some more of it. So know that he can deliver us. He shall cover you with his feathers and under his wings you shall take refuge. In these times, trust in God, go to God, seek him out. You should be doing that daily. It's called supplication with a fervent prayer. Again, read the note of encouragement. You shall not be afraid. This is what it does. It removes fear, knowingness. Don't be afraid of the terror by night. In the darkness, you can't see what's coming. It causes terror. Well, don't worry about it. Don't be fearful. God is right there. Nor the arrow that flies by day. Now, you can see that, right? So you have two different types of darkness, trouble. Nor the plague that walks in darkness. Isn't that interesting? Walks in darkness. Nor for the destruction laying waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side and 10,000 at your right hand. And it shall not come near you. You know, what can man do to you? God is not going to leave you nor forsake you. It's not going to come near you. Only with your eyes you shall behold and see the recompense of the wicked. Because, see, we also will see on the sea of glass the viles poured out. It's a revenge. You know, he says revenge is not for you to take, it's for me. We're not going to want to see that, but we're going to be there to see that. So it says you will behold the recompense of the wicked. Also, Beck, I want to make a comment, too, about not coming. It says, let's see, let's go back up to, it shall not come near you. That is, if it's God's will, there are things that will happen to us. Because God wants that to happen for our development, for our character development, for us to understand the things that Christ went through. So some of these things will happen to us. God has got us in his hand. It's for our perfection and our development. We don't understand that at the time, but that is what happens. We wonder sometimes why. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the most high, your habitation. And in John 17, it talks about we'll be one with God the Father and Jesus Christ. And they'll come and live in us. We will be their habitation. They will be our habitation. They'll live in us, in us through the Holy Spirit. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels. We have an angel. Each one of us has an angel to protect us. Can handle 186,000 Assyrians. One angel. He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And that's a reference to the temptation of Christ. What did Satan say to him? You shall tread upon the lion and the ass, the young lion and the jackal you shall trample underfoot. Because he has set his love upon you. Therefore, I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. And that's the hope that we have. And we will be set on high. He shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, in the valley of the shadow of death. I will deliver him. That's what the Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures. Deliverance. And honor him. We will be humbly and contritely honored someday for living the righteous life. As Michael Heist said last night. Staying out of the evil and the wicked way. 16 says with long life. Think about that. With long life. And a lot of us are living a lot longer than 3, 4 and 10. Psalm 90, 10 says we live 70 years at the ballpark. But here it says with long life I will satisfy him. And show him my salvation. So Satan is the accuser. He is the destroyer. He's the accuser. And wants to take us back into captivity. And back into sin. And into darkness. That's a sermon in itself. Light and darkness. Back into the valley of the shadow of death. He wants to make it a dead end for us. And not let us get out. 2 Corinthians 4 talks about he's blinded the entire world. They're in darkness. But one day they will be in light. They will see the light at the end of the valley of the shadow of death. A couple of examples. Christ sent Paul to the Gentiles. Acts 6, 26, 18 says to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light. And from the authority of Satan to God. So that they may receive remission of sins. And an inheritance among those who have been sanctified through faith in me. That's a wonderful promise. Christ as our good shepherd gave his life. So that when we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death. We have a way out. Colossians 1, 3 talks about that. Colossians 1, 13 I'm sorry. It says who has personally rescued us from the power of darkness. And has transferred us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Yay. It says yay. He has transferred us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Now we're not. We haven't received the kingdom as it says in Hebrews 11. But God calls things what they will be. Because we have. In his mind we have. If we stay the course. Psalm 103 verse 4 talks about it again. He redeems. It says who redeems your life from destruction. Out of the valley of the shadow of death. Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. He's a God of comfort and mercy. And we go through that so we can comfort others. And be merciful to others. So it's the growth. It's the holy righteous character that we're developing of Christ. To measure the fullness of the stature of our good shepherd. The sheep do not have fear. They don't have a concept of death. Now they're wary of darkness. But not when the shepherd's with them. They only have to trust the good shepherd. So next another thing that gives them comfort. Is the rod and the staff. It says your rod and your staff. They comfort me. Now the staff you've seen it. It's a long pole maybe seven, eight feet tall. With a hook. With a crook on it. On the end. It can be referred to in several places in the Old Testament. It talks about, you know, the walking stick. Or a crutch. Or some kind of support. You know if the shepherd is standing and he's. He's leaning on the staff. For support. And vice versa. We can lean on the staff for support as well. We can lean on Christ. Put our burdens on Christ. And he'll accept it. He'll take it. He'll make it easy for us. And he leans on that. The shepherd uses the staff as something, again, to lean on. Have you seen the guys on the construction on the road? You know, there's eight guys standing outside the ditch. And one's down in there digging. And all the guys are leaning on the shovels. It's kind of that picture. Or the farmer who's leaning on the rake. You know, he's trying to catch his breath and wiping his brow. But he's looking for support. Something to rest on. You know, and there remains a rest. Therefore, a rest for the children of God. Hebrews 4 and 9 talks about the Sabbath. That eternal life, family, is a Sabbath picture. It's a rest for mankind. So the staff is to rescue just as the shepherd used the staff to rescue the sheep from dangerous and difficult situations. He uses it to rescue the sheep with that crook. When they get off the path and they slip down the hill into the bushes or on a ledge where there's a precipice where it could fall, he reaches down with that crook and pulls the sheep back to safety with the curled end of the staff. He puts them back on the path of righteousness when we get off. The staff is also a guide. It helps guide the sheep along the rocky paths and the hillsides, making sure they stay on the track. And Romans 8, 14 tells us that, you know, the staff is like it will guide us today like the Holy Spirit. 14, 8, 14 says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. In darkness of the valley of the shadow of death, God is the light for us to see and lead us and guide us so that we don't stumble and fall. I remember a time when I was younger going into Mammoth Cave down in, I think it's down in Kentucky. I can remember we all walked way down into the cave and it got so dark. But the ranger had a light and we followed him. You know, he showed us the path so we didn't stumble. But he told us he was going to turn the light off. He said, I want you all to be real quiet. I'm going to turn this light off for a few minutes. And he turned the light off and the darkness was so eerie. It was so solid. You couldn't feel the darkness. It was like a pressure. And you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. It was so dark. And there was a lack of sound. It was deafening. The sound sort of had a sound to it, you know. And I can remember the sounds of darkness that Simon and Garfunkel sing about. I always wondered what that was. But you go in the Mammoth Cave and you'll see. Those are sort of like the times, the deepest darkness and the gloom that we run into sometimes in life when we're faced with certain things. But then he turned the light on. And there he was. And we could see the path again. And that's what Christ does. Psalm 119, well five, says that Christ, you know, Christ is the word. He's the truth. It says your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The light comes on and we follow him. Second, 1 Peter 2, 9 also talks about, it says, but you are a chosen race. We know this scripture. You're a chosen race. We're called a royal priesthood to be kings and priests in the kingdom on the earth. A holy nation with God with us, God in us. Spiritual Israel, a people for his own possession bought with the blood, right, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We're called out of this world into the light. Eventually we went out of Mammoth Cave back up into the light. And it took a while for your eyes to adjust. When the Father calls us, he calls us out of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ, our good shepherd, doesn't he? And our lives change. We are given into his loving hands to be cared for, protected, guided by a loyal, loving, gentle, good shepherd. And Psalm 107, 14 talks about it again. It says, he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death to break their bonds and their bands in asunder. That's why. Isaiah 61, 1, it tells us what Christ came to do. He said he read this, and the very first thing he read in the synagogue when he began his ministry, his purpose this time, the time that he came on the earth, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. That's the good news of the kingdom, to the poor. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Now, isn't that coming out of the darkness, coming out of the valley, the shadow of death, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. All of us need that. From time to time we all mourn. That's one of the things that we do and is part of the human experience. To point to those who mourn in Zion, giving them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness, so that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and ye might be glorified. That's what we are referring to as. We're planted by the riverside, by the water, and we're green, and God takes care of us and we grow in that. Luke 1, verse 79 says, Luke 1, verse 79, that's one of the reasons why Christ came, was to give light to them that sit in darkness, in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. In John 14, verse 27, he says, He says, my peace I leave with you. He guides our feet in the way of peace. He is the light unto our path. David knew that there was a light at the end of the darkest day. Psalm 27, one through four, says, a Psalm of David, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? No one. There's nothing man can do to you. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? It's a beautiful Psalm. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? So, again, the staff leads us back to previous verses we think about, one, two, and three. It says, He leads me besides still waters. He leads me in the path of righteousness for his namesake. The staff leads us into peace and restoration. He restores my soul during dark times in our lives. That's what the staff does. Development of holy righteous character is dependent on God's staff to lead us gently. He doesn't push us. He draws us and leads us and shows us the way and the way we should go. Again, He's the way, the truth, and the light. Now, the rod, the rod, as we read in Psalm 91, is for protection. Many think of, you know, we used to, here, spare the rod and spoil the child. They used it to justify spanking and beating the kid. Of course, that's not what it's for. It's not what it's used for here. It's a tool of protection and also a symbol of God's love for us. The rod is for, again, for our protection, to defend the sheep against predators. The rod makes a weapon. Remember where David said, I killed the lion and the bear? I'm sure he was thinking of the rod that he had. It makes a weapon against those that would harm the sheep. God goes before us to defend us from the enemies, from Satan and the demons, the things that come at us. Now, sometimes we get ourselves in the valley of death and shadow and death by ourselves. But He uses a crook at the end of the stack to pull us out, doesn't He? The rod was used as a method of counting the sheep as well, to touch them on the head as they passed under. God is lovingly acknowledging each one of us as He does that. He counts us as His own and part of His family when we pass under the rod. It talks about sparrows. You're much more than sparrows. He has every hair of your head counted. He knows you and made you personally. He knows you intimately. He's counting you. He's watching you. He's taking care of you with that rod. We're in His loving hands. And that entire Psalm 23 shows that we are in His loving care, even in the valley of the shadow of death. The rod and the staff are in His hands to remind us of that and that He is faithful and He pays attention to us. He listens. He hears us when we cry. He's always with us, always protecting us, always guiding us, always offering us peace and rest. It's there. We just have to turn and obey and submit and yield, love Him, build a relationship with Him. And all that is there for us. Now this world will know also that in darkness will know light at the end of the tunnel. That light will break the bands of the wickedness that holds them in bondage. The entire world at one time in the future, of course it is now, but He'll bring the entire world in. All will be His sheep. All will be with Him. Sometime probably in the near future, don't know. And we will be there to assist Him on that ground floor. In Isaiah 9 it talks about, let's just read that. Put it in here, but let's just go ahead and read that. See if I can find it real quickly. Okay. It talks about the government of God coming in the future and how of the increase of this government there'll be no end. Isaiah 9 too right before that talks about the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. And this is future, right? When Christ comes and establishes the kingdom, they've seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, that's what this world is. Upon them has the light shined. Awesome. What an awesome Psalm 23 encouragement. And verse 4, verse 4 right in the middle of the psalm looks like it's a downer. It's not. It's positive. Because we're going to go through those times, but it's there. The shepherd is there to bring us out of it. He's always with us. And when we come out on the other end, we come out better. We come out closer to the character of God. So Psalm 23 is about a shepherd. Christ our good shepherd leading the sheep, us, to good water, to rest, care, bring grass, comfort, protection, caring for every need as a good shepherd would do and is doing for us, for the sheep that he loves. Occasionally life will have difficulties, as I saw yesterday, and we've gone through them, and all of us are going through them. We send the prayer requests out. Those are probably not even close to the number of things that are going on. So it happens. We're in the middle of that. Some of them are dark. Some of them are gloomy and dreary, aren't they? They seem like life is ending that it doesn't. Where is God? He's there with us. When you're in the cave, you can't see your hand in front of you, but you know the ranger is over there with the light. When they do happen, and they will, the shepherd leads us through the dark places in our lives and into the light. The valleys and the ravines in life are navigable when we are in Christ, Christ's hands, and we're close to him in his shadow and trusting him during life's deepest and darkest moments. Remember, he is there. He's always there with us. So that's the, we can read, you know, he went through this before us. He knows the way. Isaiah 53, we can talk about if you look up Matthew 27. Anyway, it talks about the day that Christ died. Everything went black. It went dark from 12 to 3. He was in the valley of the shadow of death during that time. He's called a man of sorrows in Isaiah 53. A man of sorrows that can lead his sheep through this darkness that he went through because he went through everything for our benefit. He suffered for us. He's familiar with the dark places in the valley of the shadow of death. But he doesn't stay. He didn't stay in that, did he? So he was resurrected. He went before God and came back. And he went back to the father. Now he's there as our high priest and our advocate and our intercessor and our mediator for us. All we have to do is think, pray, and just a thought away. That's all he is, just a thought away. And he's there to help us to come to the holy of holies, to crawl up on our father's lap and talk to him. The darkness never gets the last word. He leads us through the valley. And wherever that is in the darkest moment, maybe death, maybe pre-death, maybe situations that seem so bad, those moments, we know that Christ has been there already. And he's ready and he's defeated. He says, Satan has nothing in me. And he led captivity captive. And he did it in our place so that we can follow him. No matter how low we get, remember that he was there before us. So next time we'll do verse 5, and I hope you're enjoying this. It's a great psalm that we should all read and know and look to. So have a good Sabbath. We'll see you next time.