This week we are continuing our journey through the 23rd Psalm and looking at Psalm 23:4a-c, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me.” Let’s look now just as the first phrase…
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” We can see several things in this, but first I want to point out that although the 23rd Psalm and this portion in particular, is often recited at funerals, that in reality, the entire Psalm speaks much more to life than it does to death. In fact, I looked up all occurrences of the Hebrew words for “shadow of death” in the Old Testament, and all but one very obviously referred not to death, but a difficult place or circumstance. And even the one that may have referred to death physical death could have just as easily referred to a difficult place in life. So while this could apply to physical death as well, we should not primarily look at this verse in that way. It is a Psalm to live by.
Now there are several other things I would like to point out in this verse. The first is that there will be seasons when we must walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
In past lessons, we have seen that a shepherd leads his sheep to various pastures. In the Middle East and in parts of the American west, there are seasons during which the shepherd leads the flock into the mountains, up to higher ground. Do you know that old hymn, Higher Ground? Higher ground is something we all want to get to….for by higher ground, we mean that we will be closer to God and less affected by earthly cares. But when we sing that song or pray for God to take us to higher spiritual ground, perhaps we don’t realize completely what we are praying. Perhaps we think that God is going to just magically lift us up to higher ground. And no doubt, sometimes He does. Sometimes a certain scripture or thought of God can lift us to a higher place, but more often, it isn’t that easy. More often, we must walk through the valley of the shadow of death to reach higher ground. I know that doesn’t sound like much fun but very few things that are worthwhile in life are easy to obtain. Haven’t you found that to be true? Children are wonderful, but childbirth isn’t! Getting a personally rewarding and well paying job is wonderful, but the education you must go through in order to get it is expensive in money, time and energy. Good things always cost something --- except salvation. But often, even when people accept Christ, they have to make a decision to give up other things. It is only after they make the decision that they realize those things they gave up weren’t worth having anyway! Or as they say in exercise, no pain, no gain! The fact is, if the Shepherd wants to get the sheep to higher ground where the good pasture is, he must lead them up the mountain, past shadowy valleys.
Now, some of you know that I grew up in Kansas. Have you ever driven across Kansas? DON’T! Let me tell you, the landscape there is about as flat as landscape can ever get. In fact, until I was 17, the only mountains I’d ever seen were in photographs and paintings or from the air. When you look at them in a picture, the view is almost always from a distance, and sides look pretty smooth. But when I saw them for up close and for real for the first time, to my surprise, that the sides aren’t smooth at all. They are filled with ravines and valleys and pits. You come upon precipices long before you get to the top. Yet…if you want to get to the top, the best and even the safest way is not to scale the cliffs but to go along the valleys and ravines to the top.
And so it is with sheep – both literal sheep and spiritual sheep like us. There are seasons in which in order to get to the high ground where the good pasture is, the Shepherd must make us climb. And we sometimes must climb past some scary and challenging places. It isn’t always fun, but it is the only way to get to higher ground.
The second thing I’d like to point out is that the Psalmist wrote, “…though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” The valley of the shadow of death is not a permanent habitat…it is a place you walk through in order to get somewhere else – somewhere wonderful. It doesn’t last forever.
1Pe 5:10 also tells us the same thing when it says, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
Sometimes, it may seem like the journey to the top is taking forever! But keep your eye on the Shepherd and keep looking up where He is leading you! You will get there.
This brings us to the third point which is that when the shepherd leads the sheep up onto the mountains, they are alone together. The sheep are completely dependent upon him even more so than down on the plain. There is nothing to distract them…just the sheep, the mountain and the shepherd. In the same way,when you are going through a difficult time, other things and other people just fall away. It always becomes just you, the mountain and the Shepherd.
Now, at this point, I’d like to point out something else very special that I hadn’t realized the full impact of until I studied for this lesson. Notice, that until now, the Psalmist has spoken of the Shepherd as “He.” He leadeth me, He maketh me, etc. Now, suddenly in this verse, there is a change; the Psalmist starts talking to the Shepherd in the first person, using “Thou” or “You”, (depending upon the translation). I believe this is quite significant.
You remember the story of Job, of how he had horrendous things happen to him…financial reversal, poor health, loss of children and more. Yet, after he went through those deep valleys in the shadow of death, and after he heard what God had to say about it all, this was his response:
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; " Job 42:5&6
I love that verse because I don’t want to just know about God just by the hearing of the ear – I want to really, really know Him! I want to see Him, spiritually speaking.
Would you like for God to be more real to you? Do you want to do more than just read about Him? Do you want to experience true intimacy with Him?
Going through the mountain valleys are a way to do that. After a mountain valley experience, you can truly say, “But now my eyes see You.” So, strangely enough, we can be thankful even for the difficult valleys of life…for they can lead us to this greater intimacy with God!
The fourth thing I’d like to point out in this portion of the verse is the word “death” itself. Understanding what death may signify in the life of a Christian can help us. Several months ago, I prayed that God would help me to better understand the cross and the effect it should have in my life. Now it seems like, I can’t read a scripture without seeing the cross in it! Perhaps you are wondering what the cross has to do this the 23rd Psalm.
(Luk 14:27) "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
2Co 4:11) For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Sometimes, God must lead us to through the valley of the shadow of death so that we are in a place where He is our only help and we can have an opportunity to die to our own desires, to our fears, to our own selves. In fact, while we often think of a trial as something outward that is happening to us, like financial reversal, people hurting us, and sickness, in reality, the real trial is always learning to die to our own desires in any given situation. These times should not be viewed as a punishment, however, but as an invitation to walk with Him alone and to die so that His life can be lived through us. It is easy to say, “Oh, God, I want to be pleasing to You” in church on Sunday morning after a wonderful praise service and an inspiring sermon. And I’m not saying that people who say such things under those circumstances are insincere. They are not. I say things like that myself in church and I mean them. But I have found that although positionally, I am pleasing to God and although I have a desire to be pleasing to God, that holiness is something that must be worked out in my life. As Paul said, I must die daily. I say to God, “I want to be pleasing to You,” so He gives me circumstances in which I can be pleasing! Through these circumstance, which is often involve a trip through the valley of the shadow of death, my holiness and my relationship with Him become more than positional and more than just a desire…they become a fact. I could talk about this for ages…I hope to create an entire bible series on the crucified life, as I learn to live it more and more, but we must go on to the last part of today’s verse. But I do recommend that you pray the prayer I prayed, “Help me understand the cross more, Lord,” because dying with Christ and being resurrected with Him is the key to godliness.
The next part of the verse says, “I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”
Remember I said I’d never been to the mountains until I was 17? The first time I went, I spent time in the Colorado Rockies. Now I tell you honestly that I hate heights. It was bad enough to be on some of those narrow mountain roads in the car with a sheer drop-off on one side! But finally, we reached our campsite, and settled in. The next day, everyone wanted to hike. I started out with them on that hike, but I didn’t make it very far. We came to a place where the trail was narrow and there was an outcrop of rock, around which I would have to creep on a narrow ledge. I looked down, and far below, there was a swift stream running over the rocks. I told my friends, “Surely you jest! No way! I’m going back!” And I did. It just looked too dangerous to me. I could imagine myself falling and landing in the rocky stream far below.
Has the Shepherd ever led you to places like that? Are there times when the going is really, really rough and you feel like you might fall into oblivion when you took your next step?
What does the Psalmist say in this situation?
“I will not fear for Thou art with me.”
Now, when I was in the Colorado Rockies, I was with friends, all of whom were flatlanders, like me. Even though they said, “Oh, come on…you can make it,” I just didn’t trust their opinion. I knew what a total klutz I was. I mean, how could they know that I wouldn’t fall?! And what could they do if I did? Nothing at all! True, I wanted to see what was up ahead, but not enough to risk being dashed on the rocks below! So I turned back.
There have been a few times in my spiritual life when I had similar feelings.
“God, I can’t take anymore! This is too hard! I’m not up to this, God! I’m going to fall!”
But my Shepherd isn’t just any old flatlander. He knows the mountain paths intimately. He knows every valley, every shadow, every rock and every pit. He also knows where every stream and every patch of pasture is for me to partake of during the journey. If I slip, He is able to catch me. So, I truly need not fear.
There is a wonderful scripture in Habakkuk 3:19: “The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.”
A hind is a type of female deer that inhabits the mountain slopes. It can climb on the most dangerous-looking places - places where there doesn’t even appear to be a path and places that are quite rocky and steep. These deer are so sure-footed that if need be, they can jump from one small rock on a precipice to another, yet they never stumble. They are as at home on the rugged, craggy mountainsides as a fish is in water.
God wants to give you that kind of sure-footedness, that kind of mobility in difficult places so that you can reach the high ground where the best pasture is. And you can trust Him to do that. He will not only give you those hind’s feet but to go with you in intimate fellowship all the way.
Wonderful, isn’t He?
