This may be harder for some of us here this morning than others, but I’d like to ask all of you to think back to when you were a child. Remember what is was like when you went to bed and the lights were turned off and there you were lying in the dark? It probably didn’t take much to scare you – perhaps nothing more than the sound of the wind blowing something up against your window or an unfamiliar shadow or a summer thunderstorm. In most cases, there was really nothing to fear, but you were scared nonetheless.
And when that happened, where did you go with those fears? I think most of us sought comfort by calling out for our parents. And most of the time our fears would be soothed merely by their presence. Whether that meant ending up in bed with mom and dad or just knowing that they were present in the house, it was our confidence in our parents that proved to be the best antidote to our fears.
As we get older, we’re still not immune to fears. Some of those fears, like some of the ones we experienced as a child, are only imaginary. But many of them are quite real:
• If you’re a student in school and you’re struggling with your schoolwork or you’re being bullied, you have a legitimate reason to be afraid.
• If your car is making a funny noise and you know you don’t have enough money in your checking account to pay for the needed repairs, your fear is very reasonable.
• If you go to the doctor and he or she tells you that you have cancer, your fears are certainly justified.
• If you come into work one morning and your boss calls you aside and tells you that you’ve been fired or laid off, it’s only natural to have some fears.
And when those and other fears come into our lives, we can try to find our security in all kinds of different places. Some turn to drugs or alcohol or gambling or sex or some other kind of addictive behavior. Some try to find their security in another person, perhaps a parent or a spouse or a good friend. Some try to find their security in a weapon or a home security system or by moving out into the boonies somewhere.
Once again, let me be clear this morning that sometimes we do need to enlist the help of other people and sometimes we do need to take prudent actions to protect ourselves. But ultimately none of those things can guarantee the kind of security that we’re looking for to overcome our fears.
But as we come to the 4th verse in Psalm 23, we find God’s antidote to our fears and we discover that:
True security is not found in the absence of dangers
but rather in the presence of the Shepherd
That is David’s message to us in verse 4:
Even 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.
(Psalm 23:4 ESV)
David certainly knew what it meant to walk through dark valleys in his life. It’s quite likely that this Psalm was written during one of them. But as David looked back on those valleys, he recognized that the reason he had been able to walk through those valleys without fear is because his Shepherd had always been present with him.
This morning, rather than spending a lot of time looking at the details of this verse first and then focusing on how to apply it to our lives, let’s jump right into the application and at the appropriate points along the way, we’ll dig into relevant portions of this verse in more detail.
HOW TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S PRESENCE IN MY VALLEYS:
1. Don’t be too eager to avoid valleys
If the truth be told, most of us would like to avoid valleys altogether. We would prefer that life was just a series of mountaintop experiences where we were taken from peak to peak by helicopter without ever having to go through the valleys. But that is just not how life works in reality.
In his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller describes how in late spring the shepherds in Palestine would take their sheep from their winter pastures in the lower elevations to the high mountain meadows where they would feed during the summer. The shepherds always led their sheep to that high country through the valleys. Not only did that route provide a much gentler grade for the journey than trying to go over the hills, but that is also where the rivers and streams that provided water and food for the sheep on their journey flowed.
So there was no other practical way for the sheep to get to the mountaintop other than to go through those valleys. I think that’s why David wrote “Even though I walk through the valley…” The clear implication there is that valleys are to be expected in our lives.
Last week we talked about how the Shepherd leads us in paths of righteousness and what we see here in verse 4 is that often those paths go right through the valleys. But sometimes I think that we have been wrongly led to believe that if Jesus is our Shepherd, it is somehow possible to avoid all those valleys. But throughout the Bible we see that God never promised that. In fact, just the opposite is true. The Bible is clear over and over that we ought to expect valleys in our lives.
The inevitability of valleys was certainly understood by the prophet Isaiah:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
(Isaiah 43:2 ESV)
In this passage, Isaiah is writing to those who were God’s people and you’ll notice that he uses the word “when” and not “if” when writing about the trials that they are going to face.
Jesus certainly communicated that truth to His disciples:
…In the world you will have tribulation…
(John 16:33 ESV)
And James also confirms this idea:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
(James 1:2 ESV)
Note the word “when” again in that passage. And James even takes it one step further. He tells us to count it all joy when we go through those valleys. I’ll talk more in a moment about why and how we can do that.
But for now, let me just remind all of us that in spite of the difficulties and the dangers, the valleys that God brings into our lives are often the best and the fastest way for us to get to where God wants us to be.
This last week, Pam and Derek and their kids went up to the White Mountains with several other families. The most direct route there from Tucson requires going through a rather large valley called the Salt River Canyon. But one of the families that was going with them wanted to take a different route that would avoid that canyon. But the problem is that it took them nearly 2 hours longer to get to their destination.
I think a lot of us think a lot like that spiritually. We want so desperately to avoid going through any valleys in our lives that we choose a route around those valleys and the result is that it takes us so much longer to get to where God desires for us to be.
I also want to call your attention to the fact that David writes that he “walks through” the valleys. There are two important truths that he communicates with those words. First, you’ll notice that valleys are only temporary – we go through them. The sheep journeying through the valleys don’t stay there because that is not their final destination and because it would be too dangerous for them to remain there.
The second thing we see is that David walked, not ran through the valleys. He wasn’t in a hurry to get through the valley faster than he needed to.
Those words teach us that we need to avoid two extremes when it comes to going through valleys. On one hand we shouldn’t just stay there and linger longer than we need to. All of us probably know people who enjoy wallowing in these valleys rather than walking through them. Much of the time it seems that they actually do that intentionally because they enjoy the attention and sympathy they receive from others. This also means that if we get into a valley because of our own stupidity or our own sin that we don’t have to just stay there if there are steps we can take to remove ourselves from those situations.
On the other hand, we shouldn’t be in such a rush to get through the valleys that we miss what God wants to do in our lives in those valleys. When we do that, we often slip and fall right back into those same valleys and have to go through them all over again.
True security is not found in the absence of dangers
but rather in the presence of the Shepherd
And experiencing God’s presence in my valleys requires that I not be too eager to avoid those valleys.
2. Understand that every valley is a path to something better
As disciples of Jesus I think it is natural for us to ask why the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for His sheep, would ever lead those same sheep into a valley filled with danger and threats. And there is really only one possible answer: to lead us to a better place.
For the sheep, the valley was a dangerous place. The sheep in the bottom of the valley were exposed to the predators that roamed the surrounding hilltops. And while there was adequate food and water within those valleys to sustain the sheep during their journey, there wasn’t adequate pasture for the sheep to just remain there.
So the sheep were just passing through the valley to get to the high mountain meadows that offered both abundant food and open areas that did not provide so much cover for the predators that stalked them.
The same thing is true for our lives. Sometimes in order to get us to the mountaintops that he has prepared for us the Shepherd needs to lead us through some valleys where we face danger, discouragement, and difficulties. And often while we’re in those dark valleys we not only can’t see the better places ahead, but we can’t even see our way out of the valley. But the good news is that we have a Shepherd who knows the way. And the Shepherd is wise enough to know just how long to keep us in those valleys in order for Him to do whatever work He needs to do in our lives to prepare us to live in the better place He has already prepared for us.
The apostle Paul described this same idea with these familiar words.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28 ESV)
Many of us here this morning are going through valleys right now. And each of those valleys, as well as the mountaintops that we are travelling toward are unique to each one of us. Those valleys vary in their nature and their length. But the one thing that they all have in common is that the Shepherd is leading us through them because He is leading us on a path to something better.
I consider being the pastor of this church to be one of those mountaintop experiences – at least most of the time. But as I look back on my life, I’m thankful that Jesus led me through some valleys on the way to this destination and that He didn’t just pick me up in a helicopter and drop me here. That’s because it was during my journey through those valleys that I developed the confidence in God that I have today.
I’m not going to bore you with all the details, but let me just say that about the time God began to call me to be a pastor, he took Mary and me and our family through a long valley of financial challenges. I didn’t see it at the time, but as I look back now, I can see how God was using that time to test us to see if we would really trust in Him in several areas of our life.
He tested us to see if we would stick to the commitment we had made for Mary to stay home and raise the kids while they were young, rather than going back to work at a time when we sure could have used the income.
He tested us to see if we would still invest a portion of our meager income in His kingdom by giving regularly even when we barely had enough to live on.
And guess what? Through that valley we learned that we could trust God 100%. We never missed a house payment or went without food. We always had a vehicle, even if it was an old beat up burnt orange Datsun B-210 we affectionately called “the great pumpkin”.
I’m reluctant to even share this with you because you might think I’m trying to draw attention to Mary and me. But what I hope you’ll see is how great God is and also be encouraged, like we have been, to have complete confidence in Him. Sometimes the only way for us to develop that kind of confidence in our Shepherd is to go through those valleys with Him and discover that when we emerge from the valley, He had indeed led us to something even better than we ever could have imagined.
True security is not found in the absence of dangers
but rather in the presence of the Shepherd
And experiencing God’s presence in my valleys requires me to remember that every valley is a path to something better.
3. Focus on the Shepherd’s power, not my problems
In David’s day, a shepherd had very few tools available to care for and protect the sheep, especially as he travelled away from home through the valleys on the way to the high places. Other than a few personal supplies, the shepherd had only his rod and staff.
The rod was a club-like weapon that was about 2 feet long, carved from hard wood. It had a knob on one end that often had thorns or nails embedded in it. While it was occasionally used on the sheep, it’s primary use was as a weapon against the predators who threatened the sheep. A skilled shepherd could accurately throw his rod quite some distance in order to kill or wound a predator and protect his sheep. So it’s not surprising that in the Bible the rod is often used as a picture of God’s power, particularly when it describes Him striking the enemies of His people.
The second piece of equipment David mentions in the staff. Most of you are probably familiar with a shepherd’s staff, which is a long pole with a curved crook at one end. The shepherd primarily used the staff to rescue the sheep when they either got into trouble or were about to. If a sheep started to wander off or got too near the edge of a cliff the shepherd could use his staff to pull them back to safety. He could also use it to rescue sheep who had fallen into a ditch.
As we’ve already talked about several time in this series, sheep are prone to wander off and get themselves into trouble. And they are also very skittish and easily spooked. That is especially a problem as the sheep travel through the valleys on their way to higher ground. So it is in the valleys that the presence of the shepherd is most need to bring comfort to the sheep. Their comfort comes from the fact that they don’t have to spend all their time looking around for the dangers that surround them. As they look upon the shepherd, they are comforted by seeing that he is protecting them and guiding them with his rod and his staff.
Earlier I shared with you just a portion of John 16:33, where Jesus warned His disciples that they would have tribulation in this world. But now let’s look at that entire verse:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33 ESV)
It is true that we will have tribulation in this world. But the good news is that our Shepherd, Jesus, is more powerful than whatever problem you are facing. And He is certainly better equipped than we are to deal with the dangers and difficulties that we face as we go through those valleys. But the problem we often have is that we get so focused on our problems that we take our eyes of the Shepherd and His power and we try to rely on our own resources in order to get through the valleys in our lives. But the more that we do that the deeper of a hole we dig for ourselves.
When Mary and I went through our financial struggles, at first we tended to focus on our checkbook balance and tried to figure out how we were going to fix our problems. But the more we did that, the more frustrated we became. But once we made the decision to trust God and rely upon Him to get us through that valley, we immediately had more peace and comfort in our lives.
That obviously doesn’t mean that we just sat back and did nothing. We certainly took prudent steps to reduce our expenses and increase our income. But even though I have a degree in accounting, I still can’t explain to you to this day with debits and credits exactly how we came through that valley. All I can tell you for sure is that God was capable of handling our needs and once we got our eyes off the problem and on to Him, He guided us through the valley.
True security is not found in the absence of dangers
but rather in the presence of the Shepherd
And experiencing the Shepherd’s presence in my valleys requires me to keep my focus on the Shepherd’s power and not my problems.
4. Don’t become isolated
I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but you’ll notice a significant shift in the pronouns that David uses beginning here in verse 4. In the first three verses, He writes of God as “he” and “him”. But starting in verse 4, that changes to “you” and “your”.
I don’t think it’s any accident or coincidence that when David writes of going through the valleys, the Psalm takes on a much more intimate and person character in which David talks to God instead of talking about God. It is in the midst of those valleys that David draws closest to his Shepherd.
But unfortunately we have a tendency to do exactly the opposite sometimes. When troubles and difficulties come, because, as we just talked about, we focus too much on the problem itself, and not on the Shepherd, we try to “fix” things on our own and pursue our own solutions and as we do that we get farther and farther away from God. And it’s only when our own solutions don’t get us through the valleys that we draw close to the Shepherd again.
The other tendency in our valleys is to isolate ourselves from God’s people. There are a lot of possible reasons for that, but most of them really come down to pride because we don’t want other people to know that we’re struggling and that we don’t have it all together. But that is exactly the opposite of what we need to do.
Think about it. Wolves and other predators are much more likely to attack the sheep who have strayed from the fold than those who remain in the flock under the watchful care of the shepherd. And the same thing is true for us spiritually. There is a reason for all the “one another” verses in the Bible. God often uses our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to be “Jesus in the flesh” and to walk through those valleys with us.
When the valleys in life come, and they will, that is when you need the Shepherd and that is when you need your brothers in Christ more than ever.
True security is not found in the absence of dangers
but rather in the presence of the Shepherd
And experiencing the Shepherd’s presence in the midst of my valleys means I need avoid my natural tendency to become isolated.
What are you afraid of this morning? What valleys are you going through right now and which ones can you see on the horizon? I want you to think for a moment how the way that you face those fears and those valleys would be different if you had complete confidence that your Shepherd Jesus was with you to lead you through those valleys. I want you to think about how different your life would be if you knew without a doubt that He is protecting you and guiding you through those valleys.
The good news is that you can have that assurance this morning – right now. And in order to help you cement those truths solidly in your mind, I’m going to give all of some time to pray Psalm 23:4 back to God this morning. If you’ve never prayed Scripture back to God before, it’s really very simple. You just take the verse and reword it so that you’re talking to God about it. Let me give you an example to get you started. Let’s take the first phrase of that verse:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
So when you pray that back to God it might sound something like this:
“God you have revealed in your Word that there are going to be valleys in my life. Right now the valley I’m going through in my life is _________________________________. Thank you for bringing that valley into my life because you have promised that you will use it to lead me to a better place.”
You can just go through the verse phrase by phrase like that. More than likely you’re going to want to spend most of your time on the phrase “you are with me” – thanking God for His presence as you go through valleys. You’ll also want to thank Him for His protection and guidance.
