The Shepherd's Protection (Psalm 23:4)

God as Shepherd

I. The World is a Scary Place

In this country, one person is murdered every 31 minutes.

In this country, one person is raped every 1.9 minutes.

In this country, one person is assaulted every 36.9 seconds.

In this country, one person is killed in an alcohol-related traffic crash every 40.4 minutes.

In this country, one woman is abused every 52 sec's. One man is absued every 3.5 minutes.

In this country, one home is burglarized every 18 seconds.

In this country, one person becomes a victim of identity theft every 4.9 seconds.

The world is a scary place.

Beyond those statistics from the FBI, there are a whole host of others things that can and do produced fear and anxiety in us: global terrorism, financial uncertainty, downsizing, upsizing (in terms of our waistlines), which then goes to medical fears: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers, even new strains of viruses, super viruses, pandemics; automobile accidents; airlines accidents; a house fire, a carbon monoxide leak, a child kidnapped, a sick child.

The world is a scary place.

And what about relational fears, relational worries: Will she forgive me? Will they accept me? Will I ever find love? Will he stay? Will she stay? Why did he say that? Why did she do that? What's wrong with me?

The world is a scary place.

But this morning, God wants to remind us of the hope that Jesus expressed in John 16:33 when he spoke these words to His disciples: "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."

 

II. The Passage: "I Will Fear No Evil" (23:4)

Turn this morning to Psalm 23. We are coming back to this psalm for our third morning of study and consideration. Listen as I read, starting from verse 1, and concluding with verse 4...

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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.

As we return to this passage, the first thing we need to remember from our previous studies is that Psalm 23 is a shepherd's reflection on how well God takes care of His people; and specifically in this psalm, we learn how well God takes care of him, of David the writer.

And so to teach us about the faithfulness and love of God, David, the shepherd king of Israel, uses a shepherd metaphor. God is the faithful shepherd, and David is his well-loved sheep.

Now up to this point in the psalm, David has painted this metaphor with very bright and lush colors. We've learned about "green pastures" and "still waters" and even "paths of righteousness" or "straight paths". But look back at where the psalm goes in the opening words of verse 4.

A. The Valley (23:4a)

David writes: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...

Gone is the quiet, serene, pastoral imagery. Gone are the bright and lush colors. We are now in a valley, and that valley is covered over by a shadow, and that shadow is cast by death itself. Wow! What a transition!

But any shepherd reading these words would not find this transition strange at all. Someone familiar with how to take care of sheep would, in fact, find this transition very normal...even expected.

You see, in most places around the world, including Israel, sheep need to be led to different places in different seasons, in order to find suitable pasturage. When the summer heat begins to burn off the grass in one place, a shepherd will move his flock in order to find another suitable area for grazing. And in and around Bethlehem, where David kept his father's flocks, this meant you either had to go to higher ground, OR down to the Judean wilderness on the west side of the Jordan river valley.

Either way you went, and this is true in most shepherding locations around the world, the seasonal shift to a new pasture typically involves traveling through valleys. Moving sheep through valleys is what a good shepherd does.

But as David understood, valleys can be dangerous places. Not only are there threats like rock and mud slides, and flash floods, and poisonous plants, but there are predators who hide in the craggy rocks (lions, bears, wolves), just waiting for a tasty lamb dinner.

Of course, the danger that David speaks of in this metaphorical valley is death itself. This phrase "shadow of death" is used in three other places in the Psalms. Listen to how the writer of Psalm 107 uses this expression:

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, 11 for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. (Ps. 107:10-12)

This phrase in Hebrew can also be translated as "the valley of deep darkness".

The point is that David is not simply using this metaphor to describe a situation in which a person is on their deathbed or is ready to be executed. It does include such situations, but is not limited to them.

Like the person described in Psalm 107, to be in "the valley of the shadow of death", or in "the valley of deep darkness" is to be in a place where there seems to be no light; a place of uncertainty; a place where we feel closed in; a place of real danger; a place where feel threatened; a place in which our first instinct is toward fear and/or worry and/or despair.

Are you familiar with that kind of terrain? Have you ever traveled in that kind of valley? Are you in that valley this morning? There is a very good chance that if you are not in that valley right now, you will be...soon. How do I know? Because moving sheep through valleys is what a good shepherd does.

Think about that for a minute. The path through the valley is not a detour from the Shepherd's faithful guidance. There is no sense in this Psalm that David is now describing some sort of "worst-case" scenario or some kind of "rescue mission", that somehow this sheep has wandered into this valley and has put himself and the shepherd at risk.

No, look at the language David is using here. Think about where we've been and what we learn here about what's up ahead. Psalm 23 began with a clear emphasis on the Shepherd's provision. "Green pastures". "Still waters". Then the psalm moves to a description of the Shepherd's guidance down "paths of righteousness". God's righteous commands are given for our protection and fulfillment. They are part of His provision to us.

And as we are led down those paths, we are led...now notice the language here...we are led not simply into the valley; it doesn't say we are trapped in the valley; it doesn't say we dwell in the valley...no, it says "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..."

"Walk through". Aren't those comforting words? "Walk through". Not only are these valleys temporary, not only do they come to an end at some point, but when they come to an end, when that valley opens up, when that descending valley spills out, or that ascending valley reaches the higher ground, the Shepherd brings his sheep to a new place of provision.

You see, the path through the valley is not a detour from the Shepherd's faithful guidance. He knows He must take the sheep through the valley in order to bring them to a new place of provision.

Do you believe that about your 'valleys'? About those places where it's so easy to feel trapped? Where pain rises up on one side, and uncertainty on the other? Do you believe this about those places of doubt, and struggle, and fear, and despair? Do you believe God, like a faithful shepherd, is taking you to a new place of provision?

If you have walked with God, through the grace He provides in Jesus Christ, then you know this is exactly what He does. He doesn't promise to take us around or above pain and difficulties and struggles. No, but He does promise to take us through these things in such a way that, at every point, He is always working for His glory and our good.

And so one of the things God wants to do in us as we meditate on this psalm is release us from trying to live in this "around or above" kind of mentality when it comes to pain and difficulties and struggles. Instead, He wants us to embrace a "through" mentality. "O God, you will be bring me through this." "O God, you are leading me through this."

And look at how the rest of this verse helps us understand this "through" perspective.

 

B. No Fear (23:4b)

Look at how David continues in verse 4:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil...

We see here that David affirms the very real dangers that are present in the valley. There are, in fact, "evils" lurking in the craggy cliffs, in the deep darkness. But in spite of these things, David does not walk through the valley trembling. No, he declares triumphantly, "I will fear no evil!" David makes this same declaration throughout the psalms.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

Again in Psalm 56: When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? (Psalm 56:3, 4)

In commenting on Psalm 56, the great English preacher Charles Spurgeon affirmed that...

"[David] feared, but that fear did not fill the whole area of his mind, for he adds, I will trust in thee. It is possible, then, for fear and faith to occupy the mind at the same moment. We are strange beings, and our experience in the divine life is stranger still. We are often in a twilight, where light and darkness are both present, and it is hard to tell which predominates. It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust. Unregenerate fear drives from God, gracious fear drives to him. If I fear man I have only to trust God, and I have the best antidote...Whether the fear arise from without or within, from past, present, or future, from temporals, or spirituals, from men or devils, let us maintain faith, and we shall soon recover courage."

Jesus told His disciples in John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

In "the valley of the shadow of death", in "the valley of deep darkness", we are so often tempted to respond with fear, to run in fear or run to fear. But fear is not a place of refuge. It is not a safe place. Fear is a darkness even deeper than the valley itself.

 

C. You are with Me (23:4b)

How is it possible for David to say, "I will fear no evil"? Because of what the rest of the verse tells us...I will fear no evil...for you are with me...

For you are with me! When it comes to banishing the darkness of fear, there is no greater light than the promise of God's presence. And when the Bible speaks this way about God's presence, when it speaks this way about God being "with" His people, as we've seen from the book of Samuel, it means that regardless of the setting or the circumstances, God is always present and powerful to act for our good.

In the midst of the valley we are not alone. As we walk through our 'valleys', we are not alone. The Shepherd is with us. Through faith in God's word, through the work of God's Spirit, we can be assured of the Shepherd's presence.

Jesus said, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

The author of Hebrews tells us that God has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5, 6)

If God is our Shepherd, and if God is with us, then we know we are always under His faithful guidance.

 

D. Your Rod and Staff (23:4c)

And look at what the end of verse 4 tells us about this faithful guidance:

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.

In most shepherding cultures, whether it be in Asia or Africa or Europe, shepherds have, and in many cases, still do carry these two items: a rod and a staff.

The rod was a short but thick stick kept in the shepherd's belt. It was mainly a weapon. Not only was it used against predators, but it was also used to discipline stubborn, wayward sheep. The staff was a longer, thinner stick. The top of the staff had the familiar hook or crook that many people recognize when they think about a shepherd. The straight, bottom end of the staff was used to guide the sheep, to alert to them to the shepherd's presence. The hooked, top end of the staff was typically used to pull a sheep from danger, from the edge of a cliff or when it got stuck in thick and thorny bushes.

What David is emphasizing here by utilizing these images, what David is emphasizing throughout verse 4, is that God's faithful guidance as our Shepherd always includes God's faithful protection.

David will "fear no evil" because God is with him and God will protect him. God will not allow lasting harm to come to His sheep. He allows trials, but they will not overcome. He allows sorrow, but joy will always win out. He will allow wounds, but His healing is our certain hope. There may be difficulties in the valley, but God will always bring His sheep safely through to eternal life. Isn't that the promise we cling to this morning?

Remember what Jesus said:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 14:27, 28)

Nothing anyone or anything can do to us will ever jeopardize our eternal safety in the Good Shepherd's care.

The world is a scary place, but we don't have to be afraid. Your life might seem like a scary place, your current circumstances might seem like a scary place, your future might seem like a scary place, but you do not need to be afraid. God's power to protect us, God's power to correct us, God's power to direct us, these things should bring us comfort in those scary places.

This is how we get "through" the 'valleys': we turn away from fear and we embrace faith...faith in the promise that God is with us, and that He will protect us.

 

III. Where He Had Already Been

In a section in which he talks about the shepherd moving his sheep to the "summer range", writer, pastor, and former sheep rancher Philip Keller makes this statement: "Never did he [i.e. the shepherd]...never did he take his flock where he had not already been before." Shepherds know where they are going. They don't lead their flock into an unknown valley. They've already scouted the ground. They know what dangers lie ahead.

In John 10, Jesus called himself the "Good Shepherd". In I Peter 5, He is called the "Chief Shepherd". In Hebrews 13 He is called "the great Shepherd of the sheep". And like any good shepherd would do, Jesus went ahead of us...didn't He? He went ahead of us into "the valley of the shadow death". This is how the writer to the Hebrews described it:

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (2:9)

Jesus knows the valleys. He was tempted. He was attacked. He was betrayed. He suffered. He died. He died for us. But His death in "the valley of deep darkness" did not stop Him from passing through to the other side. And because He died, and because He rose from the dead, God's greatest provision is available to anyone who will believe.

Under a section entitled, "My Daily Protection", author Milton Vincent wrote these word in his excellent little book called, "A Gospel Primer"...

"As long as I am inside the gospel, I experience all the protection I need from the powers of evil that rage against me. It is for this reason that the Bible tells me to "take up" and "put on" continually the whole armor of God; and the pieces of armor it tells me to put on are all merely synonyms for the gospel. Translated literally from the Greek, they are: ". . . the salvation . . . the justification . . . truth . . . the gospel of peace . . . the faith . . . [and the] . . . word of God." What are all these expressions but various ways of describing the gospel? Therefore, if I wish to stand victorious in Jesus, I must do as the songwriter suggests and "put on the gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer."

That God would tell me to "take up" and "put on" this gospel alerts me to the fact that I am not automatically protected by the gospel. In fact, these commands imply that I am vulnerable to defeat and injury unless I seize upon the gospel and arm myself with it from head to toe. And what better way is there to do this than to preach the gospel to myself and to make it the obsession of my heart throughout each day?"

The Great Shepherd's provision is the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. The Great Shepherd's protection is the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Only by faith in what Jesus did on the cross, only when we accept that all we can do is believe that Jesus did it all, only then can we know the Shepherd's care, only by grace, through faith can we know how well God takes care of His people.

Three weeks from today, it will be ten years since these words were spoken: "Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me."

The words that were used by a president to reassure a shaken nation in a moment of great uncertainty, are the very words that should give us courage and comfort every single day, as we walk "through" whatever valleys lay on His path.