While The Lord Is Your Shepherd …
(Is The Lord Your Shepherd? (Part IV))
1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Yea, 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. 5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalms 23 KJV)
1The Lord is my shepherd … IS The Lord your Shepherd today? Read Part I.
I shall not want … IF The Lord is your Shepherd. Read Part II.
2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake … When The Lord is your Shepherd. Read Part III.
Which brings us to the interesting aside of King David’s Psalm: “4Yea, 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.“. In our diagram of Psalm 23 I have moved this verse to the far left:
|1The Lord
| |is my shepherd;
| | |I shall not want. (2He)
| |maketh me to lie down in green pastures: (He)
| |leadeth me beside the still waters. (3He)
| |restoreth my soul: (He)
| |leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
| |for his name's sake.
|4Yea, 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. (5Thou)
| |preparest a table before me
| |in the presence of mine enemies: (Thou)
| |anointest my head with oil;
| |my cup runneth over.
| |6Surely goodness and mercy
| |shall follow me
| |all the days of my life:
| |and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The reason we find this verse moved to the far left of the diagram is because this is the point where The Lord is no longer acting on King David’s behalf. King David started out with The Lord and began to tell of all the things The Lord does for us if He is our Shepherd. But then King David says something quite interesting. He says: “Yea, though I walk …”. Not The Lord leadeth me. When King David started out The Lord was meeting his wants [needs]. The Lord made him to lie down in green pastures. The Lord was leading him beside still waters. The Lord had restored his soul. And The Lord was leading him in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
When we last left King David is was in green pastures with still waters following The Lord along the path of righteousness. And today we wake up and find out King David has wandered off. King David has left the green pastures. King David has left the still waters. And King David is no longer on the path of righteousness.
And where has King David gone? King David went to the Valley of the Shadow of Death. The thing we need to realize here is The Lord had no desire to have King David in such an evil place. It was King David who decided to walk there. And when we are not on the paths of righteousness, it is because we decided to leave the lead of The Shepherd and wander off on our own.
When we find ourselves off the paths of righteousness, we should not be throwing a pity party, blaming others, or playing the victim. The only reason we are no longer on the paths of righteousness is because we decided to walk off the path and no longer follow The Shepherd’s lead. Had we been following The Shepherd, we would still be on the correct path and not walking off on our own. And this is a truth because The Shepherd only leads us in the paths of righteousness because it is for His Name’s Sake. Our God is not some cruel, sadistic, overlord who places his subjects in mortal danger so that he may swoop in and save the day. And anyone who believes our God operates in that fashion does not know Jehovah God. And I guarantee they do not know because God leads in the paths of right wise living. He leads by example. The example His Son, Jesus Christ [Yeshua], our Lord, The Shepherd exemplified on the cross. God has nothing to prove to His creation. And when we start misinterpreting God’s actions in our lives, it is because we put Him into a box He does not exist in. The Shepherd leads in the paths of righteousness, not wandering off through the valley.
- King David says “Yea, though I walk through the valley” and King David has no one to blame for that particular journey but himself. But note that King David identifies a particular valley that he has wandered into: The Valley of The Shadow of Death. And I know many of us believe we have been there before. A lot of people today believe they are walking through The Valley of The Shadow of Death. But I believe very, very few people have ever been there. Oh, I understand the appeal of the 23rd Psalm. I understand the pain and anguish we all suffer at points in our lives. And we want to identify with the 23rd Psalm. We want to believe we are in The Valley of The Shadow of Death. But consider what The Valley of The Shadow of Death actually is.
- The Valley of The Shadow of Death is a very scary place. And it is not a pleasant place to be in. When we see the word valley, we might instantly envision rolling hills, wide open spaces, and wonderful meadows. We might even fool ourselves into believing that King David had never really left the green pastures. But this is not the picture King David is painting here. The valley that King David is talking about here, is a canyon. Probably a box canyon. Meaning one way in and one way out. And how do I know that? It comes from the very description that King David uses in the name of this particular valley. The word shadow that King David uses in the Hebrew means “the absence of light“. In its most literal form, it means darkness. And that is what a shadow is. It is a darkness caused by an absence of light. Usually caused by something blocking the source of light. The source of light in a valley is the Sun. And what is blocking the sunlight in the valley is the tall mountains forming the valley. And that is a canyon. A canyon with sides so high, and so narrow, that the Sun’s light cannot reach into its deepest depths. This is the “shadow” being described here. It is total (or almost total) darkness at the floor of the valley. And I would surmise that it is cold in The Valley of The Shadow of Death. Where there is no sunlight, there is most likely no warmth. And if the Sun’s light cannot reach the bottom of the valley, it is most likely cold. It may also be damp. Valleys, especially canyons, tend to collect moisture from rain or streams. And there is nowhere for the water to go. Even if it naturally flows out of the valley, there is most likely residual water left behind. And there is death there. It is the Valley of Death. And we would know that there is death there by the corpses and skeletons laying all over the valley floor. These would be signs of death. And where would these corpses and skeletons have come from? Probably from lost battles. Canyons, and especially box canyons, are not where you want to fight your battles. Once you wander inside the enemy is likely to take up positions high up the canyon walls. They may even send in regiments behind you sealing off your means of escape. The enemy has total control of the battlefield in the Valley of Death. The enemy has the high ground, capable of raining death down upon you. The enemy has the ability to cut off your means of escape. And the enemy hold the defensive position making them all but impossible to attack. And that is exactly why the valley floor, in the shadows, is littered in corpses and skeletons. Because it is the Valley of Death.
- So what King David is describing here is a dark place of no sunlight, that is probably cold and damp, that has dead bodies all over the place, is indefensible from enemy attack high up the canyon walls, a place of fear (sheer terror) and is a place of no escape. Very few people have ever truly wandered into The Valley of The Shadow of Death. Personally, I believe The Valley of The Shadow of Death is seen by very, very few people other than prophets. Prophets, like King David, all though out Holy Scripture have a problem of running away from victory. God handed King David the victory over Goliath when he was just a boy. Before he was even King. Young David was in the green pastures where God wanted him to be. And yet when King Saul sought to take his life, he fled. He wandered off the paths of righteousness, from following The Shepherd. Right into the Valley of Death. And we see prophets do this time and time again.
- You may be in a valley in your life today. I seriously doubt you are in The Valley of The Shadow of Death, but you may be in a valley. Just remember that God did not lead you there. You wandered there of your own free will. You may also be in a trial in your life. And you can be in trials and still on the paths of righteousness. You do not “walk” into life threatening disease. You do not “walk” into tragedy. A car wreck, the loss of a loved one, a flood or a fire that takes your home. Before you start blaming the disease that threatens to take your life, you might ask whether or not you “walked into it“. And just to be clear, we are not talking about disease or tragedy brought upon by unscrupulous behavior. It is possible to leave the paths of righteousness and find yourself suffering the consequences of sin, up to, and including becoming a corpse in the Valley of Death. What we need to assess of ourselves, is whether or not we are still on the paths of righteousness. And that is something we need to judge of ourselves. Job remained on the paths of righteousness even though great and horrible things came into his life. And he stayed there even when his friends and advisors asked what he had done to anger the Lord. I do not believe trials and tribulations in our lives should be confused with valleys. Valleys we walk into of our own free will having left the paths of righteousness. Trials and tribulations are those things we experience while walking in the paths of righteousness. A good measure of determining the difference in your own life is whether or not you have peace in your soul. In the green pastures, beside the still waters, The Shepherd will restore your soul as He leads you in the paths of righteousness. While you are in the valley The Shepherd is unable to restore your soul because you are no longer following His voice. What King David is speaking of here is he himself leaving the paths of righteousness and walking into The Valley of The Shadow of Death. If you remain on the paths of righteousness, which requires your eyes to be on The Shepherd and for you to be following Him, then your soul will be restored even though you face trials along the path.
If you do find yourself in the valley as King David did, there is still good news. And that is God did not abandon you. King David says: “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;”. I do not believe King David is saying that we will abandon all fear in our lives here. If you really do walk into The Valley of The Shadow of Death, you had better be afraid. Like I said, it is a scary place, and therefore a healthy fear is a good thing to have. Rather King David says he will fear no evil. And the evil he is referring to is the evil of the enemy. Satan is the enemy in our lives. And he is the enemy of all the sheep and all the goats.
As an aside here – God, as the Creator of all, loves all people. Satan, who wants to put himself above God, desires to destroy God’s creation and lead us astray. Which camp you end up in is your choice. God loves all people and desires them to be His own. But that only happens when you put your faith in Jesus Christ and follow Him as The Shepherd. At that point you hear His voice, because you cannot follow if you do not hear, and you cannot hear unless you have placed your faith, your full faith, in Jesus Christ. And we need to have a heart for those sheep (or goats) that are not part of the flock of Jesus Christ. Being part of the flock of Jesus Christ does not mean we suddenly forget those that are not there. We should have the mind of The Shepherd that desires ALL to be saved and that none should perish.
What King David is portraying here is that even though he has left the paths of righteousness and left the green pastures by wandering into The Valley, he will still not fear evil (or the evil one). The Christian need fear no evil at any time because God has them securely in His hand. And King David tells us why this is true in his very next phrase: “for thou art with me. They rod and thy staff they comfort me.” This is why Christians do not fear evil in the world. Because even when we wander from the paths of righteousness, The Shepherd is still with us. The Shepherd goes after His own. God is with His sheep wherever they may roam. And Jesus Christ tells us why He is always pursuing His sheep:
“38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:38-40)
In his very next phrase King David tells how The Shepherd acts to ensure he never loses a single lamb that wanders. He says: “thy rod and thy staff they comfort me“. There are many different theological positions on this particular phrase that revolve around the Hebrew words shebet and mish`enah for “rod” and “staff”. Some take the position that God is measuring the worth of the sheep. However, this does not follow King David’s analogy in the narrative. The “rod” in its literal sense represents a stick [more appropriately a scepter] (for punishing, writing, fighting, ruling, walking, etc.) while the “staff” in its literal sense represents a staff, support, prop. The “rod” would be used by The Shepherd for fighting. It is the Rod of Protection here. King David is comforted by the protection from the evil one The Shepherd provides with the scepter that represents His power as The King of Kings. Whereas the “rod” is the Rod of Protection, the “staff” is the Staff of Correction. The Shepherd uses the “staff” to prod the sheep back to the paths of righteousness. The “rod” and the “staff” bring comfort to King David because they protect the sheep from all evil and they correct the sheep back to the green pastures where they belong.
The good news of the 23rd Psalm is that IF you are one of The Shepherd’s sheep He is always with you. Defending you from evil and correcting your paths for His name’s sake. And this means you need not fear evil in the world. The evil one, Satan, who seeks to devour, has no power over you because you are under the protection of The Shepherd who will not lose even one of those the Father has given Him.
Are you under the protection of The Shepherd today? Are you comforted by His rod and staff? If you have placed your faith in Him, Jesus Christ, The Shepherd, then you need fear no evil. He is your protection. He is your [course] correction. And He will bring you back to the paths of righteousness if you follow His voice. If you are not one of The Shepherd’s sheep today, you can be. Place your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Believe that He is the Messiah, the savior of the world, sent by God the Father to die on the cross for the sin of all humanity, and that He was raised from the dead three days later in order for you to have eternal life with Him. These are the historical facts that Satan does not want you to accept. Satan desires to deceive you, to see you spend an eternity separated from The Shepherd [who loves you] in a Hell that has been prepared for him and his followers.
In my next post we will finish Psalms 23. We will see what King David has to say about the eternal life The Shepherd offers to those that believe in Him.
