Psalm 23:4a “Even Though I Walk Through the Valley…” Psalm 23:4a

Week 7 - Psalm 23:4a “Even Though I Walk Through the Valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;”

In A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 chapter 7, I learned that shepherds routinely change the location for sheep depending on the season. In summer, they leave the ranch and travel up the mountains to distant meadows where there is fresh grazing land. As the seasons turn cool, shepherds lead the sheep back to the ranch, which serves as the landing place. Phillip Keller calls the second half of Psalm 23 the “home ranch” of the psalm. 

I imagine when the sheep are at their home ranch, they feel the most familiar ground. It is both out in the trekking across the mountains/valleys and in familiar ground that we need guidance from the Shepherd. He is the one who is with us in the scary places, He is the one who declares we can live without fear, and He is the one who points us to eternal life with Him.

Keller writes, “When Samuel was sent of God to anoint [David] king over Israel, [David] was not at home with his brothers on the ‘home’ ranch. Instead he was high up on the hills tending his father’s flock. They had to send for him to come home. It is no wonder he could write so clearly and concisely of the relationship between a sheep and its owner.”

As we delve into these next verses, remember that David was uniquely qualified to write of trusting the Shepherd because of his own experience. 

DARK, SCARY, LONELY PLACES

I love Sally Lloyd Jones’ version of Psalm 23:4 in her children’s book, Found, when she says, “Even when I walk through the dark, scary, lonely places, I won’t be afraid, because the Shepherd knows where I am.” When thinking of a dark journey, a scary traumatic event, a lonely season, all of those are filled with heaviness that can lead to anxiety and fear.

But the Shepherd knows where I am.

He’s never left my side.

He promises His presence, always.

What does one need to hear in the midst of a valley? I often say, “I pray you feel the Lord so near.” That encouragement proclaims upon them the truth that God is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18).

For sheep, danger consists of predators, storms, flash floods, rock slides or avalanches – all realistic triggers for fear. Yet the shepherd is the one leading them to higher ground and safely home. He never leaves them when the storms come.

What deep valley have you walked or are you walking? What is the dark, scary, lonely place you imagine in your deepest fears? Do you trust that He is with you in the midst of it?

My personal deepest valley was when my husband and I stood on the threshold of life and death with our daughter in the NICU. Multiple times, we were told there was nothing more man could do. But God.

In the midst of some questions I’ll never have fully answered this side of heaven, I point to our Savior who is the God of all compassion and comfort in those deepest moments of ache.

Oh God, why this valley? What truth can I proclaim upon my anxiety and fear in the midst of this?

Last week, we mentioned remembering the pursuit of  “holiness” in mind as Believers. Holiness isn’t a band-aid for anxiety and fear; yet we can seek holiness to cover and protect as the armor of God. Because of this broken world, our “...struggle is  not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

In the valley we can renew our minds and cover our hearts with protection as we thank God for:

-the belt of truth buckled around your waist

-the breastplate of righteousness in place

-for your feet to be fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace

-the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one

-the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

In our hardest moments with our daughter, my prayer with each breath was, “Peace, Lord. Peace, Lord. Peace, Lord,” over and over when the threshold between life and death seemed so thin. Nothing else mattered in those moments but the name of Jesus and His power as we trusted in His sovereignty and will for her life. We know that truth rings true for every single day – and our lens is eternally different. It has forever shifted our lens as we lean on the Lord for peace in the midst of fear.

FEAR NOT

“Fear not” is repeated over and over in Scripture. When angels appeared to bring the good news of Jesus’ birth to the world and declared, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy…” those shepherds were in the middle of their night shift, likely already on edge as they watched for predators. First of all, how detail oriented that the Lord allowed shepherds to be the first to hear of His birth. Once again, a woven thread pointing to the significance of sheep and shepherds!

Secondly, how surreal it must have been for the shepherds to be actively protecting their sheep and then be startled by the news of the Shepherd! As they were on alert for anticipated dangers, the angels came out of nowhere, and the shepherds were awestruck. How relatable that they were “filled with great fear” by the angels yet the shepherds were also committed to fighting off all sorts of scary predators from their flock (Luke 2:8-10). 

Do we allow our level of faith in fear to shift in accordance with whether we think we have control or not? 

Believers often reference the phrase “faith over fear” in difficult circumstances. To me, that means choosing to see our fears through the lens of our faith and God’s promises.

David’s confidence in the Lord shines when he proclaims, “Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Keller references how we can receive this verse’s truth in “every situation, in every dark trial, in every dismal disappointment, in every distressing dilemma.” Yet he reminds us that, “Too many of us are shaken up, frightened, and panicked by the storms of life. We claim to have confidence in Christ, but when the first dark shadows sweep over us and the path we tread looks gloomy, we go into a deep slump of despair.”

Daily dependence on the Shepherd leads to deeper confidence in Him, even when we don’t understand the “why”.  It’s trusting God’s words that He will be with you wherever you go like He promised in Joshua 1:9. 

Keller encourages us, “There is, even in the dark valley, a source of strength and courage to be found in God. It is when he can look back over life and see how the Shepherd’s hand has guided and sustained him in the darkest hours that renewed faith is [developed].”

When can you point to God’s sustaining light in the midst of your darkest times? In that season, did your life shout confidence in the Lord or were you solely crippeled by anxiety and fear?

Ellie Holcomb has a song titled Fear Not in reference to Isaiah 43:1, singing, “Fear not for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are Mine.” It’s a precious kid-friendly song that declares the anthem of all Believers: “Fear not.” In one of my favorite lines, she says “If you feel the earth shaking, I’m your solid ground.”

We must preach the gospel to ourselves daily to set a firm foundation in our hearts. We must “fear not” by gripping our gospel hope as the lyrics In Christ Alone declare:

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song

This cornerstone, this solid ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease

My comforter, my all in all

Here in the love of Christ I stand

Why can we “fear not”? Because we know the end of the story. The end of the story is life.

LIFE OR LIFE

As we stood on the threshold of life and death, we knew our daughter’s road ahead of her led to either life here on this earth or LIFE in Heaven. Keller encourages us, writing, “For the child of God, death is not an end but merely the door into a higher and more exalted life of intimate contact with Christ.”

I encourage you to consider your life right now. As a teacher Paige Brown recently asked, “Do our lives demonstrate that we’ve encountered the living God?” If we’ve encountered the living God, our intimacy with Him reflects in our speech and actions, and our lens on fear changes as we know the story continues.

Keller encourages us, “For those of us who remain on earth, there is still a life to live here and now. There are still valleys to walk through during our remaining days. These need not be ‘dead end’ streets. The disappointments, the frustrations, the discouragements, the dilemmas, the dark, difficult days, though they be shadowed valleys, need not be disasters. They can be the road to higher ground in our walk with God.”

Higher ground.

One of my favorite lines from this whole chapter is this: “As Christians we will sooner or later discover that it is in the valleys of our lives that we find refreshment from God Himself.”

In reference to a flock of sheep, Keller says, “One only gains higher ground by climbing up through the valleys…Sheep are [so thankful] for the frequent watering places along the valley route where they can be refreshed…this is generally where the richest feed and best forage is to be found along the route…He can lead us to find our refreshment in Him right there in the midst of our difficulty.”

So when in a valley, we have the opportunity to receive the rich nutrients and flowing water sources there; in the same breath, we are forced to “look up” to the hills for our help in the end. “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).

We’re called to look back at His faithfulness in how He carried us through each moment of the valley – and even when we don’t have it all figured out, our daily dependence leads us to the firm foundation.

The eternal weight of glory gives us a gaze of hope as we see a valley; we can proclaim, “Fear not,” because LIFE and higher ground is to come.

REFERENCES

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller

Found: Psalm 23 by Sally Lloyd Jones