Psalm 23:4
Scripture Reading - Psalms 23:4 KJV
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.
In today’s lesson we will continue looking at the 23rd Psalm historically known as the psalm of “The Good Shepherd”. Of course the Good Shepherd is no doubt the Lord Jesus Christ because in the New Testament according to St. John 10:14 Jesus boldly proclaims, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” In this particular Psalm we must always acknowledge who is The Lord and who is not. Since we know that The Lord is Jesus Christ Himself, or we could generally say God it is important to note that this psalm is being shared from the perspective of a sheep. We notice in verse 4 that the believer will need to walk through the “valley of the shadow of death”. This means we will be involved with life threatening situations on a personal level and/or on a family level. We (ihlcc) love the fact that the psalm continues right after that statement of walk through death threatening experiences to ease our mind with the words, “I will fear no evil:” We read the exact words “the shadow of death” to note the significance of realizing it is only “the shadow of death”, not death himself. As we heard a preacher say some years back, “A shadow never hurt anybody!” This means it is not God’s Will for anyone to die. We started to say, “Any Believer . . .” but paused because the Lord Jesus Christ and our Loving Heavenly Father doesn’t want any person to die at all. We soberly remember that Jesus already experienced death for all humanity so in no way does God even want one sinner to die. No, our gracious Lord would rather for the sinner to be born-again (transformed) to become a new creature in Christ Jesus having eternal life within them to never die spiritually. Of course that is used in the context of understanding that there are three different types of death. The first death being the natural death when your physical body is no longer active. The second death is spiritual separation of God and the third death is the spirit of death that desires to claim anyone and everyone who will listen to his lies and follow his directions to come to the place called hell where the dead all abide in eternal sufferings. We know this is a heavy message but we surely don’t want to shy away from teaching on death when it is mentioned very openly in the Holy Bible. So please realize that when you are involved with life threatening situations if it is personal start by believing and confessing, “I do not and I will not fear death”. Know that the threat of death is a lot different from actually dying, so fear not. Typically, this is what the enemy does, for we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices, the devil will use the “threat of actual physical death” upon your mind whenever you are in “the valley of the shadow of death”. The picture is when you are in a valley the mountains look a lot more bigger and more intimidating. Thus, it could seem that you will never make it back up over the mountain (the problem, the situation, the negative circumstance) but the truth is if you walk with God one step at a time He (The Lord Jesus) will lead you. Yes He will guide you into victory over the mountain and completely out of “the valley of the shadow of death”. One could ask, “What if I am watching someone else wondering if they shall live or die?” If they are a believer the fact is they will never face spiritual death (separation of God) but they do have the freedom to die physically if they will. We say this because we have encounter elders (physically older people) who wanted to die and that is perfectly OK with us and God. For the Apostle Paul himself mentioned in Philippians 1:23, “to depart from this earth and be with Christ is far better” but Paul decided to stay on the earth to help other believers for a longer time. This was a loving choice because so many need help upon the earth and all people in heaven have their helper Jesus surrounding them in that uplifting atmosphere. Remember where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty which means Heaven is full of liberty, healing, prosperity, peace, joy and justice for all its inhabitances. In all honesty when praying for those (believers) who are in “the valley of the shadow of death” we (ihlcc) look for their responses to more accurately know their future fate. This means if they believe they will weather this storm successful by the grace of God we too along with them praise God and shout the victory. However, those (believers) who seem to be weary and speak as if they might be going home to the Lord. We keep our words very strictly lined up with the Word of God focusing on God’s love upon them in their hour of need. Sadly, we must admit “the shadow of death” can be too daunting for some, so we rest in hope that the Lord is always there for them and He will comfort them and keep them in all His love. The third group of unbelievers walking in “the valley of the shadow of death” we usually focus on Jesus and eternal life. Which basically means we try to get them born-again first and once they commit to Jesus we can start ministering God’s Word. However, for those who don’t seem open to God’s Great Plan of Salvation or they believe they are OK with God, we show them God’s love by being there and keep our words few, simply because love listens to others without forcing His (God’s) will. This is consistent with the thought we shall fear no evil because God is with us. Yes, God is always (ever present) with us so we don’t have to fear anything, nor do we have to believe the threat of death from the enemy of our soul. Please notice the last sentence in the verse which states, “thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. This means God’s Word as the rod (not a rod but rather thee rod because there is only one Word of God, the Holy Bible) is always with us to comfort us and speak to us when we are looking inside of God’s Word for both direction and comfort. Also, the staff of God is always with the Good Shepherd because this staff of God is no doubt the Spirit of God. Yes, the Holy Spirit is known as Thee Comforter, so He will definitely comfort you spiritually, mentally and physically by day and by night. Praise God dear protected believer it was this type of confidence that lead people to victory even when the spirit of death was present. A story goes of one individual who sang praises to God all during their execution to the amazement of many unbelievers. Why, because “they feared not death” knowing death has no permanent hold upon them. We are not saying roll over and give up when death threatens you or someone you are close to, what we are saying is, “if death threatens your mind don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you sweat fear.” Remember death is any enemy and any innocent execution or dying from some illness is all apart from God’s perfect will for your life, so resist that threat with the Good Shepherd walking with you one-step at a time but be open to speak out loud that, “I am not afraid of death because God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.” This is our victory, this is what the psalmist is speaking, this is the faith that overcomes the world because greater is He (Our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus) that is in us than he that is in the world. We never rehearse death in our mind or with love ones we simply believe on God’s abundant life and rehearse the victory of long-life in Him with all comfort in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen!