Psalm 23. When we read the 23rd Psalm,
I think sometimes of something I've often seen, and I know others
of you have seen it, a poster on the wall with Psalm 23 printed
out, and it's given the title, The Shepherd's Psalm. But really it's not. It's really
the sheep's psalm. Because in it, David pours his
heart out, not as a shepherd, but as one of the Lord's feeble
sheep. The psalm is often read at funerals,
memorial services. And I've thought about this, but it's not really to be read
for the departing one, departing saint. He or she is not in any dark
valley, but it's for those standing around
the graveside. They're the ones passing through
the dark valley. those of us left here. As we
approach this 23rd Psalm this morning, known and loved by us
all, I would begin by reading something from Spurgeon's outstanding work of exposition
on the Psalms entitled, The Treasury of David. I highly recommend
it. Here's what he said. The 23rd
Psalm. He said, this is a pilgrim. He
refers to the Psalm as a pilgrim. God has sent to speak in every
language on the globe. It has charmed more griefs to
rest than all the philosophy of the world. It has ordered to their dungeon
more felon thoughts, more black doubts, more thieving sorrows
than there are sands on the seashore. It has comforted the noble host
of the poor. It has sunk courage to the army
of the disappointed. It has poured balm and consolation
into the heart of the sick. Of captives in dungeons, of widows
in their pinching griefs, of orphans in their loneliness.
Dying soldiers have died easier as it was read to them. Ghastly
hospitals have been illuminated. It has visited the prisoner and
broken his chains. And like Peter's angel, led him
forth in imagination and sung him back to his home again. It
has made the dying Christian slave freer than his master. Nor is its work done. It will
go on singing to your children and my children and to their
children through all the generations of time. Nor will it fold its
wings till the last pilgrim is safe and time ended. And then it shall fly back to
the bosom of God whence it issued, and sound on, mingled with all
those sounds of celestial joy, which make heaven musical forever."
What a tremendous thoughts on the 23rd Psalm. Taking our thought
this morning from verse 4, as we'll look some at other parts
of the Psalm, Beginning here in verse 4. 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. The little three-letter word
which begins the verse, yea, Y-E-A. It means yes. It's a little word used to express
definite affirmation. It's a definite yes. Yea. Christ our Lord said, let your
communication be yea and nay. Yes or no. Don't straddle the
fence. So the psalmist says here, yea,
or yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. And so this is our message today,
saying yes to the valley. Saying yes to the valley. They tell me there really is
a place in Palestine called the Valley of Shadows, or the Valley
of the Shadow of Death. And of course, I've read so many
fellers that's wrote about it, and I have so many different
stories, until I don't usually go into all the descriptiveness,
but it's a place the shepherds pass through with their flocks,
face all the difficulties and dangers and the darkness, that's
in that valley. But in saying yes to the valley,
as David does here, I refer not to any literal valley, geographical
location, but rather to the tight places, to the troublesome places,
to the fearful and dangerous places, the dark and dreaded
places of our lives. And some of us have much concern
about the same things, but at the same time you have your own
personal valleys, places that God has appointed for you to
walk through, and burdens for you to bear, and loads for you
to carry as an individual or as in a family. God knows. But this is our thought saying
yes to the valley. Yea. Now in our Christian experience,
we all prefer the mountaintops when all is well with us, things
are going good, people are pleased with us, and we have no troubles
to speak of. We so desire and we so delight
in those mountaintop experiences. But anywhere there's mountains,
there has to be valleys between those mountains. Low places,
lonely places, dark places, dreaded places. On the mountaintop, you
may be able to see for miles. And we like that, to be able
to see nothing fearful on the horizon. We like to be able to
see. And on some of these mountaintops
around our part of the country, you may be able to see for miles.
But in the valley, in the underbrush, vision is very limited. Sometimes
can't see more than a step or two in front of you. And valleys in our Christian
experience are the undesirable, the dreaded, and that which we
do everything in our power to avoid while we enjoy the downhill direction
coming off the mountain. The law of gravity works in our
favor coming off of the mountain. works smoothly, so easy and pleasant. You just put one foot in front
of the other and come on downhill. But there comes a point when
you reach the valley and it's no longer downhill.
If you're going to continue, it's uphill and you fear and you doubt as
to whether you'll ever be able to make the climb again, as to
whether you'll ever see another mountaintop. I promise you there's
one called our adversary the devil that will tell you, no,
you'll never get out of this valley. You'll never see the
sunshine again. You'll never stand on the mountaintop
again. Oh, this frame of mind and heart is appropriately described as
being in the valley. I think we can learn from David
here who is able to say yes to the valley. Yea, yea. Now, I would just give us this
morning Ten things the Lord has shown me here, things I believe
essential to our being able to say yes to any valley. Number one is there must be the
firm conviction that God is. Hebrews 11, 6, He that cometh
to God must believe that He is. You can have nothing to do with
God unless you really believe that He is. That's how the psalmist
begins here, the Lord is. The Lord is. In our lifetime, you know and
I know, there has been a great atheistic thrust and a great
evolutionist thrust. But I am so glad to report to
you this morning that in my heart there has been a great God thrust. He has made Himself known to
me. He has made Himself real to me. And I can say with the psalmist
in my heart, the Lord is. The Lord is. In the book of Daniel
chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a dream and it
disturbed him. It tore him up. He began to call
in all of his magicians and astrologers and advisors and demanding some
answers, demanding some interpretation to this dream he had had. And he had the whole palace in
an uproar. consulting with everybody and
demanding of his wise men. And they tried to tell him, there's
no man on earth can help you in this matter. And finally,
the king's right-hand man said to him, we found the man of the
captives of Judah. And so they brought Daniel in
before King Nebuchadnezzar. And do you know where Daniel
started? Listen to this. He opened his mouth and said,
there is a God in heaven. That's the place to start. That's
where you've got to start. I've heard people say, if there
is a God, I will say to you, they'll never be able to say
yes to the valley. There must be this firm conviction
in your heart there is a God. The Lord is. That's where David
started. The second thing, saying yes
to the valley, would include not only the firm conviction
that God is, but there must needs be a personal faith in Him. He's not just there for no reason. He's there for His people. He
cares for me. He would help me. I know it's
pretty easy to think of God as being some people's God. We know
He's good people's God. We know he's faithful people's
God. We know he's spiritual people's
God. But is he my God? That's the
question. One of the most thrilling titles
that I find in all the scriptures that our God gives to himself,
most thrilling to my heart is this. He said, I am the God of
Jacob. Matter of fact, he said, I am
the God of Jacob more times than he said, I'm the God of Abraham.
He said, I am the God of Jacob more times than he said he was
the God of any other man. Jacob, Jacob. Well, now that
thrills me. Why? Because I can hardly identify
myself with faithful Abraham. I can hardly identify myself
with obedient Isaac. But I can surely identify myself
with messed up Jacob. Messed up Jacob. And my God said
I am the God of Jacob. Note the personal emphasis that
David expresses throughout this psalm. Look for the personal
pronouns. The Lord is my shepherd. He maketh me to lie down. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. The whole business is addressed
to me. He leadeth me. Yea, though I
walk, not they, but I, I will fear no evil, for thou art with
me Thy rod and thy staff comfort me. This is all for me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head. My cup
runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me. Me? Yes, me. And I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Oh, to believe this morning the
Lord is my shepherd, my shepherd. How needful this is and how blessed
this is, how comforting this is to bring us to say yes to the
valley. A third thing, number three,
It is only with a certain confidence of His presence with me that
I am able to say yes to the valley. Many things happen along life's
way, whether it's your fault or whether it's not, whether
it's physical, family, financial, whatever area of life it's in.
Many things happen and the devil say, well, I guess God left you. I guess He's finally given you
what you deserve. Oh, that's the devil's big line. But no, we have a confidence of His presence. Verses 1 through 3, The psalmist
speaks about the shepherd. It's he maketh me to lie down.
He leadeth me. He restores my soul. He's talking
about the shepherd. But notice in verse 4, he is
no longer talking about the shepherd, and he starts talking to the
shepherd. For thou art with me. He's not running around town
talking to everybody else about, I hope the Lord is with you. No, he's talking to the Lord
Himself. As you need to do and I need
to do. And how this assurance, and only He can give you this
assurance, that He's with us. Thou art with me. Acknowledging the Lord's presence
here. He's no longer speaking about
Him. He is speaking to him. And in this verse we read, I
will fear no evil. Why? Is it because there is no
evil in the valley? Oh no. The valley is full of
evil. The evil one himself likes to
show himself in the valley. David says, I will fear no evil
in the valley. Why? For thou art with me. This thing of God's presence
with His child through thick and thin, up and down, wartime and peacetime, the presence
of the Lord means everything to God's child. Isaiah 41.10,
He said, Fear thou not. Why? For I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. I thank God for His presence
with me day and night. Day and night. 43, 2, When thou passest through the
waters, not if, but when, when, when thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. There it is. I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. These are not physical promises,
but spiritual. Some of these things might happen
to you physically. They might cut our head off someday,
but they cannot separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. I am with Thee. I will be with
Thee. And so the psalmist says, Thou
art with me. We can say yes to the valley
because our Great Shepherd has promised never, never, never
to leave us nor forsake us. We have His promise and we have
His presence for all time. A fourth thing, saying yes to
the valley requires a full surrender and submission to the all-wise
providential discipline and guidance of our God. Verse 2 says, He
maketh me to lie down. need rest. Sheep need quiet time. Sheep need to trust the shepherd's
judgment. And the psalmist has got it right
here for every one of us. He's got it right. You see, it
takes more than the Lord inviting me to lay down and rest. I'll refuse the invitation. I
insist on standing on my own two feet. And so do you. But know the word He is. He maketh
me to lie down. This is His discipline in our
lives. And He maketh us to lie down,
not in the mud and in the mire. He'd never make His sheep lie
down there. But it's in green pasture. It's in green pastures. When our God says to us, be quiet,
shut up, sit down, lie down, be still, rest in me. Why? Why does He do that? It's because He don't need me
fighting the wolves. He don't need you fighting the
wolves. The sheep don't fight the wolves.
The shepherd does that. He's doing that. We submit to his discipline. Number five, saying yes to the
valley must also include a childlike trust. in His ability to lead, to know
where He's going, to do what's best for us. David said here,
He leadeth me in paths of righteousness. When we go our own way, it can
be called anything but paths of righteousness. But he leadeth me in paths of
righteousness. You know it takes a messed up
sheep to want the shepherd to follow him. It takes a messed up sheep to
try and dictate to the shepherd which way we need to go today. There is in this psalmist Words
here, the strong conviction that things are going to go the shepherd's
way. He's the leader. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness. You'll never be able to say yes
to the valley until that's settled in your heart. Things are going
to go the shepherd's way. It's not I lead Him, but it's
He leadeth me. He leadeth me. Number six, saying
yes to the valley, includes the clear understanding
that I belong to the Lord forever. I am His child. I am not His
employee. I am not His slave. I am His
child. And I'm not on probation. He
is not a foster parent to me. I am His child. And I'm His forever. I'm in Christ
forever. And He will do for me, not always
what I want, but always what I need. in my inability, in my insufficiency,
in my falling, in my failing, He restoreth my soul. Why? Because I'm His. He restoreth my soul. He came to the slave market of
sin. the slave market of sin's victims,
you and I were among them. And he purchased me, not to trade me off again for
profit, just to play the market, no. And he purchased me not to put
me in his slave house of bondage and labor and fear, But He purchased
me to put me in His own house as His child to be taught continuously,
loved continuously, encouraged, restored. Restored in my faith,
restored in my confidence, restored in my commitment to Him. He restoreth. Note the tense
of the verb here in verse 3. Christ hadn't just restored my
soul, past tense. He's done that many, many times.
It is not just that He will restore my soul, future tense, but He
will. But it's present tense. He restoreth my soul all the
time. His restoring work is a continual
work, a vital work, a vital part of my fellowship
with Him. As He whispers to my heart constantly,
Son, I'm not against you, I'm for you. I'm not here to hurt you, I'm
here to help you. This is not something I need
annually, monthly, weekly, or even daily. But moment by moment,
He restoreth my soul. He's on the job when I'm not
even thinking about Him. I've failed before, He's restored
me. I'll fail again, He'll restore
me. But I'm a failure right now.
Every breath, every move, He is the faithful Restorer. 24-7, for all of His children,
He restoreth my soul. God lifted his hand. How long do you think it would
take the devil to get the best of you? About one second. But he restoreth my soul. Number seven, to say yes to the
valley. I acknowledge that in the wisdom
of my shepherd there is a certain progression a certain progress
being made. Now I can't see it. All I can
see a lot of the time is a standstill. And of course the devil will
certainly try to point out that standstill. That your life has
come to a halt. Satan says it's over. There's
nothing moving. There's nothing ever going to
move again. But I can say yes to the valley,
because I acknowledge the great wisdom of the shepherd. Moving forward in a certain progression, I don't see it You may not see
it. His ways are so much higher than
our ways. And Isaiah said, His thoughts
so much higher than our thoughts. But we do see it beautifully
in this fourth verse. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, walking with him in the valley,
affords a certain calmness. Note the word walk. It's not run. It's not rush. It's walk through this dark,
dangerous valley. When I was a kid, there were
certain places in our community It wasn't like it is now. We
kids would walk for miles to play with friends and all, didn't
think a thing about it. But if you stayed too long and
it was getting on up around dark on the way home, there were certain
places that was a little spooky. And guess what? You walked everywhere
else, but you kind of held the energy to pick up the pace a
little bit through there. You might run, You at least rush,
but know, note the calmness here. Yea, though I walk, walk through
the valley. Now to walk somewhere will get
you there. It may not be as quickly as you'd
prefer, and it's usually not. It takes more time and patience
than we have usually, but walking will get you there. Saying yes to the valley involves
trusting Him with it all and in it all, including His timing. It may be slow, But you know all of our man-made
speed vehicles are faulty. At some point, they all break
down. And the Lord says, time's not an issue here. I've
got all the time there is to get there. I'd prefer you just
walk with me. Walk with me. He affords us a
calmness. Then He affords us a calmness
in this valley. All this is progression. He affords
us a confidence. Note in verse 4 the word through. Yea, though I walk through the
valley. It's not yea, though I walk into
the valley, but it's Though I walk through the valley, there is
the confidence. I'm going all the way through. Big as the problem may be, I'm going through. I'll walk
through, all the way through. Then he makes a confession here
also. There's no mention of death.
It's a valley of shadows in which we fear might result in death. And as I said earlier, this is
read sometimes at funerals and things like that. But death is
not the issue here. It's fear, it's valleys, it's
troubles in life. So it's not death, it's the valley
of the shadow of death. Mr. Spurgeon said, the shadow
of a dog cannot bite anyone. The shadow of a sword cannot
slay anyone. The shadow of death cannot kill
anyone. So with a divinely given calmness,
we walk. With a divinely given confidence,
we walk through. And divinely enlightened, we
see and confess. It's only a shadow. It's only
a shadow. Number eight, saying yes to the
valley, includes the realization of an abundance of provisions
in the secrecy of my own heart. Verse 5, Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over. I used to think of this as a
literal table spread and all my enemies looking on while
I sat there and eat. No, this is a very personal and
very private experience in one's own heart. And what is meant
by this? Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. It means that while the wolves
howl in the not so far distance, while the hounds of hell are
on my heels, smelling my blood, one last lunge away from devouring
my soul, my shepherd feeds me. He prepares a table, sets a table,
and feeds me, strengthens me, anoints my head with oil, refreshes
me to keep on going. Number nine, saying yes to the
valley requires a childlike faith in a Father's love. Childlike faith. in Father's
love. You know, it takes a fool in
this world to say, I can handle this, or I can handle that, or
I can handle anything. Our Lord said in John 15, 5,
without me, you can do nothing. He wasn't just mumbling words.
He was speaking to those weak feeble disciples who were just
like us. And he said, boys, I need to
tell you something now. I want you to listen. Listen to me, boys.
Without me, you can do nothing. He'd say that to each of us today. And he asked us to just look
to him in a childlike trust and faith. Because without Him, we're sunk
anytime and every time. But this childlike faith in the
Father's love, we not only look back and testify, He's been there
for me, and we testify of the future,
He'll be there to see me through. Verse 6, Not maybe, but surely, goodness
and mercy shall, not might, but shall follow
me all the days of my life. The devil says, but what are
you going to do when? Well, you just answer him, same
thing I did back yonder when. Leave it with my Lord. He can handle it. It's not that danger is not real
or near. It's very real and very near
all the time for all of us. It's not in our ability to survive.
We don't have it. It's not in our ability to fight
our own battles. We can't. Solve our own problems. We can't. help our own families, we can't. It's in my father's love. It is he who does the work. It is he who
is able to reach to our north this morning, pick up Mount Mitchell
and throw it to the Gulf of Mexico. if that's what it takes to care
for His children, that's who He is. Don't accuse our Father
of being a bad father. Surely His goodness and surely
His mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And number
10, saying yes to the valley requires a firm confidence that
our Father will get all the children home. Look at the last line,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Where is the house of the Lord?
Not the church house, but the house of the Lord. Where is it? Well, when God, who is a spirit,
whom no man has seen at any time, He who, Paul said, has a glory
that no man can approach unto. When our God became Emmanuel,
meaning God with us, He was made flesh. John 1.14 says He dwelt
among us. He tabernacled among us. He became a house of refuge among
us. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily among us. He is the true house of the Lord. And it's in Him, in Christ, that
we ever dwell in the house of the Lord. David's not talking
about some boring drudgery of going to church from now on.
Uh-uh. He's talking about dwelling in Christ forever. I'll dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. And the Father will never rest
till all the children are home. When I was growing up, several
teenagers in our house at once, and we'd come in late at night,
various times, one by one, My parents were already in bed,
but yet when I'd come in, I'd sense
a certain restlessness. Sometimes mother would say, are
you all right, son? And I'd say, yeah, I'm OK, Mama. They never really rested till
we all got home. Judah and I were the same way
with our two. All you parents are. Oh, you might doze a little,
but there's no rest till they're home. Well, I'm trusting this morning in my Father's love. He who will
not slumber or sleep till all the children are home. And so this morning, not because
of me, but because of Him, I can say yes to the valley. And so
can you. I don't welcome it. I don't enjoy
it. But by God's grace, we can say
yes to the valley. This same writer, David, he experienced
so many valleys. On one occasion, Psalm 55, he
was so low, he said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove, a bird
that's free to spread its wings and go, run away from trouble. He said, for then would I fly
away and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off
and remain in the wilderness. David's not the only one that's
ever seen that valley. Christ our Lord, who experienced
the deepest and darkest of all valleys, was so rejected, so
humiliated, so despised, He said this of Himself in Psalm 22.6,
I am a worm. What's a worm worth? Who cares
about a worm? Stomp it and find another one,
and another one, and another one. Stomp a million worms and
find another one. What's a worm worth? Who cares? Our Redeemer said, I am a worm. He endured the deepest and darkest
of all valleys, that you and I might say yes to any valley
we're ever called upon to walk through. And then He'll not send
us into it. He'll go with us. He's with us. When we do come to the end of
life's journey, for every child of God, That'll not be a valley at all.
That's the end of valleys. That's to be forever with Him. Forever. I know our time's gone. I read
this about a distinguished astronomer who wrote this epitaph upon his
wife's death. They had been close in the study
of astronomy. Here's the epitaph he wrote.
He said, too often have we studied the stars together to have any
fear of the night. I wonder in our experience with
God, with his fellowship, through the darkness of this world, all
the valleys, the many dangers, toils and snares, can we say
with that epitaph, too often we've sat alone with Him in the
darkness. Too often we've studied the stars
together to have any fear of the night. Whatever it is, He'll
be there. And it's all right. I'm not through,
but we're stopping. Stand to your feet, please. Thank
you.