Psalm 23:4a
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.
Today is Day 5 of a set of meditations from Psalm 23.
Each day we will prayerfully read through the entire psalm, each day focusing on a particular verse or set of phrases.
Yahweh, Holy Shepherd,
Our creator and sustainer
You who compassionately cares for us, provides for us,
Gives us rest, undisturbed rest as we pass through the world.
You who
Restores us both body and soul, even when I am in a wilderness
Always leading us in love and truth
You are trustworthy
You guide me
Having gone ahead of me,
You know my way
You have experienced suffering even as I have
Walked through darkness and came out victorious!
You will never leave me nor forsake me
Even when I cannot see you,
For the darkness is not dark to you and the night is as bright as the day.
In our 20th century context, we simply are not familiar with the literature of ancient peoples. We do not structure our writing the same as they, for we do not use the same line of reasoning or thinking as they did. We have not have the experience of hearing the nuances of their spoken language in order to hear patterns which would have been meaningful to the listener of that day. We forget that people throughout history mostly interacted with Scripture through communal listening, rather than individual reading. As you read and interact with Scripture, I invite you to whisper, to murmur the words to yourself, letting the Word of God flow over your ears. Listen to it, even as our ancestors in the faith did.
To support the context of this portion of the psalm, I would invite you to read Psalm 22, introducing the shepherd to us.. The psalm preceding the “Shepherd Psalm” speaks of the suffering of the coming Messiah, the Shepherd King. Here we enter the valley of the shadow of death with the Shepherd, as He has identified with us in our suffering. He is prepared to lead us into the darkness through which He has already traveled.
“I will fear no evil, for You are with me”
For Each Study, we will be going through six steps:
Relax and Refocus
Read
Reflect
Respond
Rest
Trying it on
Relax and Refocus
Find a spot where you can sit comfortably, away from other distractions as much as possible. Are you thirsty? Even if you are not aware of being so, you may be even a bit dehydrated. Support yourself in being able to be calm and focus by rehydrating. Drink some water with a pinch of salt or electrolyte water.
As you pull aside from all the responsibilities, the many cares, the overwhelming burdens of your day, remember that the Lord loves you and He cares about the matters which weigh you down. He cares for you!
David composed this psalm using a Hebrew literary form, a structure called a chiasm, which was used commonly used in poetry and prose of the ancient world. Unlike our Western context, the author places the main idea in the center of the work, with the first idea and last idea being in parallel, and so forth, working to the apex in the middle. We will discover David’s core message as we examine this portion of Psalm 23.
Listen also for a change of orientation of the writer. He will switch from speaking to His soul about the Shepherd, to directly speaking to the Shepherd.
As we walk with the Shepherd into the valley of the shadow of death, we know that the Shepherd King has already walked through deep this deep darkness. He has experienced this crushingly heavy trials and temptation for our sake.
His compassionate shepherd heart towards us is described in Psalm 22:24:
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Neither has He hidden His face from Him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
As He leads us into suffering, He also goes with us through the valley, and then out, victorious on the other side, even as He was victorious over sin and death and Satan. We may feel a sense of shame as a result of our experience. However, He is not unmoved by our suffering. Rather, He moves towards us in our suffering.
As we walk with the Shepherd into the valley of the shadow of death,
we know that the Shepherd King has already walked through the deep suffering of death.
Read
Psalm 23
1 Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing, for with Him I have everything that I need.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still water.
3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Notes:
valley The valleys of the Judean wilderness are steep, with tall high walls like a gorge. In some areas, the walls are so tall and the path so narrow that sunlight reaches the valley floor only during the peak of the day.
the shadow of death or “death-shadow,” deep darkness, of eyes heavy with weeping from distress, state of extreme danger
evil This Hebrew word appears 663x in the Old Testament, translated as evil, wickedness, wicked, mischief, hurt, bad, trouble, affliction, and other similar terms.
The word appears in the Scriptures in Genesis 2:9 in reference to the two trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Also, consider the Evil One.
Ephesians 6:16 The context here is of defending oneself from the attack of the Evil One, a person, an enemy of Yahweh and an enemy of those who belong to Yahweh.
John 8:44, Jesus describes his character as being “a liar and the father of lies, whose fundamental nature is that of deceiver. Murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth.
Reflect
As you read these verses aloud to yourself, what word or phrase particularly stands out to you? What is the Spirit drawing your attention towards at this moment?
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.
Write out your thoughts, your questions which you want to share with Yahweh. Do you have any emotions bubbling to the surface as a result of anything that you have read or heard so far?
Pause and Pray
Questions to guide you in pondering the passage.
*Does God promise us that we will not ever walk through suffering?
*He promises to guide us in paths of righteousness. Is this incongruous with suffering?
*As He is guiding us, He goes before us on the narrow path. What can we see from our vantage point? What does He see?
*As you walk through a dark place, are you blazing a new trail? Are you truly alone? When we walk through the darkness, where is the Shepherd? Does He ever abandon us?
*Although we cannot see, how can we know how to follow?
We can know how to follow Him, as we have His Word in the Old and New Testaments, through His Word as we interact with it ourselves, as well as through the wisdom of those who walk faithfully with Him, being in His Word and prayer and under solid biblical teaching, who speak His wisdom and demonstrate His character.
*According to the previous verse, where does He ever and ultimately always lead us? Following in the paths of righteousness leads us to walk in a way which demonstrates His glory to a darkened and watching world.
Our shepherd has already walked through the valley of death on our behalf! When we go through suffering, we are following the path which He walked. He is before us, and we follow in His footsteps. Death may be near, or the appearance of death, yet our Shepherd has passed through death and has been raised from the dead! Death may be near, but the Shepherd is even more near even though all seems dark and empty to us.
We may not be facing physical death of ourselves or a loved one, but when our hopes and dreams are not fulfilled, when chronic pain speaks day and night, when separated from a loved one whether through distance or broken relationship, these all feel like death. In a real sense, these experiences are a death, for our lives are forever changed by these experiences of suffering.
Even though we walk through the valley, we can rest assured, that when we are in distress, our Shepherd truly hears our cries! In the process of the journey, we grow all the more deep in our relationship with Him.
We are never separated from His love, and His love is never separated from us.
Listen for what the Holy Spirit speaks to us regarding our Shepherd’s care for us, even in the darkness of our suffering. Consider that as you look up these Scriptures that you read them to yourself. As you read them, record them using the audio messages app on your phone so that you can play these back and remind yourself of the things which are true.
*Are we ever separated from His presence?
Romans 8: 35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? – Neither are we separated from His love and Christ’s love is not separated from us
2 Corinthians 1:5
2 Corinthians 11: 23 – 28
Psalm 27: 4
Psalm 139: 7 – 12
Josh. 1: 5, 9
Further reading:
Gen. 16 Consider the account of Hagar, desperate in the wilderness, and Angel of the Lord who seeks after her.
Read also the account of David’s ancestor, Ruth, and the Lord’s leading and provision/
NOTE: What is the Spirit highlighting for you here about Yahweh’s care for you
*What trial or suffering are you facing? What do you think of Jesus’ care for you through this?
*What are you speaking to your soul? How are your words shaping your emotions? What are you allowing to control the shape of your soul?
*What are you willing to tell the Lord?
Pause and Pray
“I will fear no evil; for you are with me”
This is the core phrase of the psalm, David’s key message to Yahweh, his shepherd. When analyzing the 55 Hebrew words of the Psalm, the words “for you are with me” are found at the very center. This is David’s main point.
Listen again:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;
God’s faithfulness is the anchor for our souls.
“The shepherd with with me; I am safe. This is temporary, as He leads me to the next pasture, the next place of rest. “
When we meditate upon Scripture, we turn it over and over in our minds. We examine the Word, considering it from different perspectives. We also remember that Jesus is the incarnate Word of God. As we turn these sentences over in our consideration, how would they read were we to turn them on their heads.
Isaiah 26:3 Keep reminding yourself of things true in past and present. Creation illustrates His glory
These are the rock solid truth which we can speak to our souls when IN fear.
Repetition is KEY
Phil. 4 : 9 Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.
What if, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death….
I fear evil, because you are not with me.
You are not there to defend nor protect me.
You are not present to comfort me.
Is this what is true about our Shepherd? Is this what our default position might be towards Him when facing difficulties?
≈
*Is this the valley of death or is this the valley of the shadow of death? What is the difference? What is true death?
*What is His experience of walking through the valley of the shadow of death?
*What does Jesus know about the valley of the shadow of death?
His own suffering, torture, death
The 40 days in the wilderness of being directly tempted by Satan, the accuser.
Jesus walked in the paths of righteousness through His trials .
Respond
What do you most want to say to Yahweh as a result of this meditation? What questions do you have for Him?
What kind of an emotional response do you have to considering how Jesus suffered?
Pause and Pray
Rest
What if the opposite of these were what is actually true? How would you then perceive Jesus?
We are defined as being beloved sheep. Our identity is not that of being abandoned in a wilderness.
Take a moment to soak in what has most struck you so far about Jesus as your shepherd. Write down this thought. Perhaps you will find yourself moving into worship or quiet rest in His presence.
Trying It On
Let me first encourage you to daily speak these words to your soul as you wake and as you fall asleep. Be like Mary, Jesus’ mother, who “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2: 19. From the prayer we have of hers, after the angel visitation, we know that she was a Psalm 1 woman, because she could not have prayed what she did apart from being in the practice of meditation upon God’s Word.
Now consider the journey which you have been on throughout your life. You could do the highest highs and lowest lows throughout the arc of your whole life. Or you could focus on a particular season of your life. When I first did this activity, I considered an eighteen month period of time. I was shocked! Even with the very difficult, very painful things, I saw God’s grace in my life!
So, my friend, map it out. Look for how He has shepherded you in the past.
Take a blank sheet of paper. Set it out horizontally in front of you. Starting in the middle along the far left edge, draw a line from edge to edge across the page. The top part represents the highlights of your life. The bottom section represents the lowest points. Doing a 50,000 mile elevation viewpoint, you will map out along the timeline the highest highs and the lowest lows. Start with prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to walk you through this journey of perspective. Rate them in terms of the degree of pain and joy they had. Put a short description next to each one. You don’t have to do everything, because the goal here is not an archaeological journey into suffering. As you note these, ask the Spirit to show you how you were, indeed, shepherded through that season. Ask the Spirit to highlight for you how you were not forgotten by Him, how you were not abandoned. Look at each point and speak honestly to the Shepherd about your experience.
If you are not sure on this, you are very welcome to reach out to me. Give thanks and glorify Him for where you could see Him.
As I walked through this process, I was amazed to see where the Lord had made provision for me, yet not from the direction that I had anticipated. When I was in the darkness, I realized that He was there, even in the silence, even in the pain.
Your Shepherd sees you. He knows you. He has not abandoned you.
My prayers are with you,
Shalom