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I came to tell somebody that no matter how dark it is in your life—whether in your health, in your body, in your relationship—you and I still serve a God that is able to carry you through.
We're looking at Psalm 23, the shepherd psalm. The book of Psalms is the red hymnal of the people of Israel, the songs and poems and prayers they would recite on their way to worship. While several writers penned the Psalms, the most popular was David—that shepherd boy turned worship leader and king of Israel, the one who knocked down Goliath with just one stone and a sling because when the Lord is on your side, you don't need much to knock the devil down.
We don't know exactly when David wrote Psalm 23 during his reign, but we know he was in a dark place, having to encourage himself and talk himself back up. He reminds himself that just as he was a good shepherd to his father's sheep, the Lord has been a good shepherd to him.
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
From verse 4, I want to lift three things that will give us a better understanding of the God that will carry us through.
David is dealing with dark times, but he has the spirit to say, "I ain't never scared cuz I know who's walking with me." Not only does he have a good shepherd walking with him, but that shepherd has tools that will protect him in this season.
His rod was standard equipment for shepherds of that time—a heavy club used to fight off predators that would attack the sheep. It was used much like the bat behind a father's door or that thing you keep in your purse that we're not supposed to know you brought into the sanctuary. It was used to defend the sheep against threats they could not defeat themselves.
There are some fights your fists aren't sufficient to win for you. Every now and again, the right diagnosis comes. Every now and again, the right drama breaks out on the job or in your relationship. But David says, "I love the Lord because when I came up against an enemy and threats to my life and threats to my family that I could not fight myself, his rod—he started swinging for me and protecting me when I couldn't protect myself."
There were some fights you didn't even have to fight. Some rumors you didn't even have to chase down. Some issues you couldn't handle on your own, but God's rod protected you. He will carry you through.
Beyond the rod of protection, David speaks of the staff—the shepherd's crook. It was standard equipment for shepherds: six feet tall with a pointed bottom and a hooked curve on the top.
The pointed bottom was used as the shepherd walked through grassy areas to pick out where the snakes and scorpions were that would jump up and bite the sheep they didn't know were there. The Lord has had to walk us through valleys where there were snakes in our camp, snakes in the group chat, snakes on the email thread that we didn't know were there. But every now and again, God has a way of exposing things before the venom takes your victory.
The primary function of the staff was the hook. Every now and again, when sheep wandered off in their own creativity, their own amusement, their own curiosity, they would move towards the edge of ravines, mountain tops, and cliffs that they couldn't pull themselves out of. But the shepherd would throw out the staff and hook them back in before they destroyed themselves.
Every now and again, you wandered off too. Some of the stuff you found yourself in—the devil didn't take you there, you walked your way there. You slid in the DM to get there. You slept your way there. But before it took your life, before it took your witness, before it took your family, before it took your health, the Lord threw out his shepherd's crook and pulled you back in.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
David has shown us the tools by which God protects and prevents disaster. But then he throws us a biblical clue: "the valley of the shadow of death." The shadow of death.
Scholars suggest that David likely spent time in the Judean desert, where he literally walked his sheep through ravines with predators at every corner. He may have literally walked through the valley of the shadow of death, where death was close enough to cast a shadow but not close enough to consume his life.
Let me tell you what I learned about shadows. Shadows are the light that cannot pass through an object. If you ever find yourself in a dark place that is a shadow, that means there is light somewhere. There's a bright side somewhere—don't stop until you find it.
But here's what's juicy: the proximity of the light determines the size of the shadow. If you see a small shadow, it means you are far away from the source of the light. But if you see a large shadow—a shadow large enough to fill a whole valley—it means that the light is right up on you, and you are closer than you think.
Somebody's walking through seasons of shadows, and I want you to know He's closer to you than you think.
Walk in the light, pure people light. Come where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright all around us by day and by night. See us the light of the world, and he will carry you through.
He'll carry you through the depression. He'll carry you through the anxiety. He'll carry you through the diagnosis. He'll carry you through dialysis. He'll carry you through your overload. He will carry you through.
Just ask the Savior to help you, comfort, strengthen, and keep you. He is willing to aid you, and He will carry you through.
Do you know it? Do you believe it?
Be not dismayed whatever betide. God will take care of thee beneath his wings of love abide. God will take care.
It won't always be like this. The Lord will perfect that concerning you, and sooner or later it's going to turn. It's going to turn in your favor.
