Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Ernest Ayer)

Obituary

In lieu of the customary reading of the obituary, the family here has asked me to communicate a handful of things about Earnest Ayers.

First, he was a man of his routines. He had to go to Storyland, Santa’s Village and Clark’s Trading Post every one of his and Crystal’s anniversary. Efvery Thursday, he would go on day trips to find auctions.

Second, he was a man of his own hands. He and Crystal built their own home together, clearing 4 acres every weekend for years.

Third, he was deeply beloved by all who knew him, including Crystal, Cynthia, Tracy, Michael, John and all of you who have loved him deeply.

As a pastor today I am here for you all. God has put me here for words of comfort and consolation. And so, i would like to spend a few moments today meditating on the promises God has for us in his word, words of comfort and consolation.

So I would like to read today from Psalm 23, and share some thoughts:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

we are in the valley of hte shadow of death this afternoon aren’t we?

but the reality is that we are, on this world, always in the valley of death. It was only a few weeks ago that many of us were gathered to say good bye to Cheryl. How many of us imagined we would be back here today?

I will fear no evil

the word “evil” which the hebrew sometimes uses can also mean disaster, and I suspect that is what this means. It means that even though he walks through the valely of the shadow of deawth, he will have no fear of amny kind of disaster that should overtake them.

Now, how nonsensical does this sound? It seems so irrational. It seems so silly. That is like walking through a minefield and saying, “I will fear no explosions.” How can this be?

For you are with me.

The presence of God, of course.

But is the presence of God really good news? After all, we all, every single last one of us, are pretty sinful people. I have a toddler, and let me tell you, it starts early.

The presence of God is only good news for us, it can only protect us in times of disaster if our sins are covered. If our sins are removed. And of course, this is not something that we can do, it is something that God must do for us.

Scripture will later say that he became sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In otehr words, he put all our disaster, all oure evil, all our punishment on Jesus. So we do not have to fear the presence of God. But rather, we know that even in the Valley of the Shadow of death, his presence is with us.

Application: So today, I want to leave us with three questions.

Are you with God?

Are you with God’s people?