A Valley We Can All Cross
The pain of earthly separation.
The man Job was a good man. He was ‘blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil’. In fact, he was one of the greatest men alive at the time. He was everything we'd like to be and maybe a little bit more - rich, successful, God-fearing, humble and hard-working. Of all people he deserved a quiet and unassuming life. And yet one day some his sons and daughters are put to the sword during a home invasion. The remainder of his children are later killed when a house collapses on them. And even more incredibly, Job loses all his assets - his sheep and servants are destroyed by fire.
The pain of losing someone you love.
In the Bible we also read about an enormously close friendship between David and Jonathan - they were the best of mates. The story says that Jonathan loved David ‘as he loved himself’ (1 Sam 20:17). But soon after, Jonathan is killed while fighting a war. David is torn to bits. He mourns, ‘I grieve for you Jonathan, my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!’
Job knew the anguish of losing family. David confronted the death of his best mate and he was so moved by the intrusion of death that he turned his face toward the Lord and he wrote that familiar psalm—the psalm which begins with these words, ‘The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want’. David goes onto talk about the Lord as the one who guides him through the valley of the shadow of death. The assurance that comes through trusting in the Lord, ‘I will fear no evil for you are with me’. The protective hand of the Lord, ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies’. The hope that comes when ‘the Lord’ is ‘my Lord’—‘I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever’.
The words in Psalm 23 are one hundred and fifteen of the most profound words ever written—seven sentences that have given more hope to more people than any other seven sentences ever written. Seven sentences that have lasted thousands of years. Seven sentences that in the time of Jesus were part of the ancient Scriptures. ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want…..even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’. We often hear these words at funerals. We know them. But I wonder if you can actually say Psalm 23 as though you mean it?
We need to realise that the writer is talking about GOD HERE. It is God who shepherds his people—it is God who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. It is God who guides us along the path of righteousness for his name's sake.
I'd like to tell you about something that happened a long ago on the side of a hill. There's a huge crowd of people sitting there and Jesus is looking at them because he felt sad for them. He was sad because they looked like SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD. And so Jesus got the people together and he made them sit down on the GREEN PASTURE around him. And then Jesus set a table before them - it's a story you may even remember from Sunday School. Five loaves and two fishes. And then Jesus dished out food, and more food, and more food until everyone had had more than enough to eat. Their BASKETS OVERFLOWED with food. Jesus met their needs abundantly.
It's a familiar story that helps us understand Psalm 23. Jesus is saying, ‘Here I am - I am the good shepherd who lies down in green pastures with you. I am the good shepherd who sets a table before you. I am the good shepherd who can provide everything you need’. Jesus is making the point that he the one we are speaking about when we say in Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want’. Jesus is saying that he is Lord - he is King and that in him his people shall not want—even in the face of death.
Jesus is the one who can lead you and I through the valley of the shadow of death. Death is not like a railway line—you come to the end of line and there’s no where to go. Like the psalm says—death is better pictured as a valley—a valley that people cross to go from one place to another. Jesus was the first one to successfully cross the valley of death and rise again to new life. Jesus defeated death by rising to a glorious life with God where there is no more WARS, hurricanes, cancer, or car accidents – where there is no more broken families, no more crime, no more injustices, no more terrorism.
History tells us that Jesus didn't just DIE like the rest of us. He died and he rose from the grave. History tells us that three days later Jesus came back from the cemetery. Jesus passed through the valley of the shadow of death and he lived to tell the tale. I don't know where you pin YOUR hopes at a time like today. Houdini said that if at all possible he’d escape the grave. I’m still waiting. You need to ask someone whose been convincingly dead and come back from the grave. Religion has nothing to do with it. Either the tomb that Jesus lay in was empty after three days or it was not. You can’t have it both ways. By all means investigate the story—the historical fact is that the tomb was empty and then Jesus appeared to his disciples and to many other people afterwards.
Be comforted. Jesus is the one who says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me, though he was dead, yet shall he live; and whoever lives and trusts in me shall never die’. And he can say that because he's ‘been there, done that’. Jesus is the good shepherd who leads the way through the valley of the shadow of death. But we must choose to follow him. Ask yourself whether you should trust Jesus with your life so that you can honestly say, ‘THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT’. And when it’s your turn for a day such as today, then with confidence you will be able to follow Jesus through the valley of the shadow of death. Amen.