Following the Shepherd
Ps 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
David wrote this tremendous verse of the Bible drawing from his own experience of being a shepherd. What the shepherd would do for his sheep David realize that the God will also do the same for those who follow Him.
One Shepherd writes:
“Every mountain has it valleys. Deep ravines, gulches, scar its sides but the best way to he top is always through the valleys. Every shepherd familiar wit the high country knows this. He will lead his flock gently, but persistently up the paths that wind through the dark valleys.
Often our good shepherd will do the same with us. Take us to a mountaintop through a dark valley. With each step in the valley, He is always moving us closer to Him.
God said some same to Moses: Ex 33:14.. He said,” My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." NKJV
To Jacob: Gen 28:15… Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,
To Joshua: Josh 1:5…. I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
The good shepherd is with you with every step and because he is, you can clearly say I will fear no evil, your rod and staff they comfort me.
There are several areas of life this powerful verse deals with. Let us take them one ata time:
1) Grief …
The time will always come to deal with grief.
We go through the process of a loved one or friend starting their life in eternity and we are left behind. We think we have dealt with it and we said our goodbyes.
Then as silently as a cloud slips between you and the afternoon sun, memories drift between you and your joy. No warning, no notice, just a certain smell, or a special song, and you are saying goodbye all over again.
Why does this grief continue? Why won’t sorrow leave your alone?
Because, more than a person is absent from your life. Some of “who you are” is missing also. You are dealing with un-lived tomorrows so you battle along with sorrow, disappointment as well. Living in the house with sorrow in anger. Anger at the sickness, the highway, the person, or what ever you see and the primary cause. Mostly people become angry at God. You see this in the questions, Why? Why now? What reason? Why us?
Quote John Donne, “Any mans death diminished me”.
We have to start at the foundation of all we know to deal with grief.
Ps 25:8… Good and upright is the LORD; NKJV
Ps 34:8… Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; NKJV
Our God is Good and will do only what is good. We may never understand all His actions but we must trust his heart.
We must believe: Ps 139:15-16… You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! TLB
Grief must be faced and dealt with. We cannot side step the pain for it will continue to grab our heart.
Ps 23:4..through the valley of the shadow of death, the shepherd will lead and guide and eventually the grief will diminish as the shepherd influence grows.
2) Fear Ps 23:4… I will fear no evil,
What brings fear to your life? Boarding a plane? Driving on the highway? Facing a crowd? Public Speaking? Small rooms? Closed doors? Taking a Job? High places? Darkness? Being alone? The future? The past?
The source of your fear may seem small to other but it freezes you in your tracks. A lump forms in your stomach. Your heart picks up a few beats and the sweat gland start working over time.
Ill Jesus: In the Garden
Luke 22:41-42… And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done NKJV
Luke 22:44… being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. NKJV
Mark 14:35… He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, NKJV
Matt 26:37-38… he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. NKJV
Paint this scene in your mind of Jesus:
• Flat on the ground,
• Face in the grass
• Extended hands digging in the dirt
• His body rising and falling in sobs of anguish
• Knowing the future hold pain and death
• Crying out to the father for a change of plans
• Fear gripping his heart
He as so gripped with fear that he bled.
Note: Medical condition called Hematidrosis = sever anxiety causes the release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in sweat glands. When this occurs, sweat comes out of the body mixed with blood.
How remarkable that Jesus felt such fear and how kind that He told us about it. We try to hide our fears, cover them over and maybe we will not have to face them.
Just as Jesus turned to the father for assistance in dealing with his fears, David has kept his eye on the shepherd in the valley.
Following the shepherd close will help us with our fears.
Phil 4:6-7… Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. NKJV
Jesus understand your fear, your can pass it alone to him and live the verse
I will fear no evil.
3) Loneliness: Your are with me.
Ill : Water Delivery:
Four day a week he carries the large jug 60 feet to the house in the back. The customer was a older woman, just in her 70’s wo lived alone in a dark apartment with little furnishings. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling showing the tarnished wallpaper and pealing paint. The water was deliverd and payment received each week.
Steve, who delivered the water learned the woman had no other source of water. She would relay on his delivery for four days of washing, bathing, drinking, cooking. This was a odd choice for the municipal water was cheaper. Why the more expensive source of water?
The answer was the delivery system. Yes the city water cost less but the city only sent the water; they did not send a person. She preferred to spend more and see a human being than sped less and see no one.
David understood loneliness:
Ps 25:16… Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. NKJV
Ps 35:13-16… When they were ill, I mourned before the Lord in sackcloth, asking him to make them well; I refused to eat; I prayed for them with utmost earnestness, but God did not listen. I went about sadly as though it were my mother, friend, or brother who was sick and nearing death. But now that I am in trouble they are glad; they come together in meetings filled with slander against me-I didn’t even know some of those who were there. 16 For they gather with the worthless fellows of the town and spend their time cursing me. TLB
David was no stranger to loneliness and some of us aren’t either.
You realize that you don’t have to be alone to feel lonely.
Ill: Two thousand years ago 250 million people populated the earth. Now there are more than 5 billion. With more people to be with you would think loneliness would be more scarce. In truth, more people are lonely than ever.
Loneliness in not the absence of faces but the absence of intimacy.
Loneliness does not come from being alone in comes from feeling alone. You face it and wonder does anyone care?
Feeling as though you are:
• Facing death alone
• Facing disease alone
• Facing your marriage alone
• Facing the job alone
• Facing the future alone
• Facing the church alone
Bags of loneliness show up everywhere.
• Litter the floors of boardrooms and corporations
• We drag them into parties and the drag them home again
• You will see them next to the desk of the over worker
• Besides the table of the over eater
• And on the night stand of the one night stand
In truth, we need an intimate relationship with the shepherd to rid our life of loneliness. It starts there and can even find deep meaningful relationships with other sheep.
David said, Ps 23:4…for you are with me;
Acts 17:27… God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
For all who are lonely today, God is right here waiting for you to reach out to Him.
Closing:
• Grief
• Fear
• Loneliness
Are all conquered when we follow the shepherd through the valley.
Find comfort today that for whatever valley you or find yourself in, the shepherd has all ready been there and knows the path to the mention top.
Prayer
