By: Dr. Steven K. Parker
Reflection on the week:
· What has been the scariest part of this year for you?
· How has God’s presence been a comfort to you?
Approaching God’s word:
Spend a few moments in silent prayer and meditation, asking God to reveal His presence to you.
Reading the text:
If you missed this week’s message, you can access it here. Spend some time today meditating on the beautiful words of this prayerful song. Focus on the words, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” as you read.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
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.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. (Psalm 23)
Reflection on the passage:
What are some Death Valley circumstances we face in life?
How can our faith in the Good Shepherd strengthen us for times like that?
Pastoral Thoughts:
If this Psalm ended before we got to today’s focal verse, we might jump to some wrong conclusions about life. If the LORD is our Shepherd, we have everything we need, He nourishes us, and leads us in the right paths, then we could reason that life with God must be a stroll down easy street. You can fill huge church buildings with people who love the “name-it-and-claim-it” message that flows from that train of thought, but the turn that this psalm takes in vs. 4 steers us away from that false teaching. From green pastures and still waters, suddenly the shepherd’s path leads us down “the valley of the shadow of death.” It’s pretty easy to have faith when resting in lush pastures and being nourished by still waters; it’s much more difficult to walk in faith when the Good Shepherd leads down a path full of dark twists, harsh turns, deep ravines, and threatening predators.
This image of “the valley of the shadow of death” is one with danger on the right and peril to the left, but the sheep continue to follow the shepherd, even through Death Valley, because they have placed their trust in him and he has proven himself, time and again, to be faithful. They have experienced the shepherd’s loving care and they follow him, believing that he’s going to take care of them today just like he’s taken care of them in the past. Like sheep following the shepherd, we face dark, scary, dangerous times. The road Jesus leads us down is one that is narrow and difficult (Matthew 7:14). The great trump card of faith is that whatever the future brings, God will be there with us. We can walk by faith and not by sight, because the Good Shepherd walks before us. No matter what twists, turns, and scary paths lie ahead, we can walk with Death Valley Faith that says, “The Shepherd’s up there, so one way or another I’m going to be ok.” Even when all we can see is danger to the right and peril to the left, when we follow close behind the Good Shepherd, we can walk with the confidence of faith.
That kind of confidence grows as our faith becomes personal. In today’s verse the pronouns that refer to God move from the 3rd person to the 2nd person. In the opening verses the Psalmist sings about God: “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” These are beautiful words about God, but in Death Valley the Psalmist stops singing about God and starts singing to God: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me…” In the Death Valley moments of life, all our pretense melts away and our theology had better be personal or it’s of no use to us. In those Death Valley times we really can cry out to the God who knows our name and has counted the hairs on our head and invites us to know Him in a personal way.
Further Reflection:
· Why is a faith that is personal so important when the path we are called to walk down is dark and scary?
· Spend a few moments in prayer, asking God to strengthen you through this Death Valley season.
Praying together:
Lord Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd in green pastures and beside still waters. You are still the Good Shepherd in Death Valley. Help us to remember that. Amen.
Looking ahead:
We hope you’ll join us for worship on Sunday as we continue this study on the 23rd Psalm titled: Following the Good Shepherd in Tumultuous Times, considering what role God’s rod and staff play in our journey of faith. Please pray for our church’s leadership as we make decisions regarding the timing of our re-launch of in-person services. If you are feeling the need for face-to-face contact and want to be a part of our pre-re-launch services, please call the church office at 956-968-9585 and we will do our best to accommodate you.