We all experience times of suffering and darkness… joblessness, infertility, cancer, grief, depression, and the list goes on.
Dan takes a deeper look at what it means to find comfort in God when we find ourselves walking “through the valley of the shadow of death.”
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hello welcome to Hope Church Harriet’s message of the week if you’d like to connect with us please head over to H harriet. co.uk connect we’d love to hear from [Music] you morning uh yeah so I am Dan as Lisa said and I’m continuing our series on Psalm 23 this morning we’re three weeks into it it’s only a five we Series so we’re halfway through I realize I can’t see the slides at all so I’m hoping that the right slide will be up as I speak I have no idea so um just I don’t know fingers crossed um we are going to read Psalm 23 to begin but just as a quick analytical tool to help you kind of work out how this all fits together I’ve got a slide might have a slide which gives you this sort of um progression of who is talking to who so um David wrote this Psalm and he starts talking about he the Lord doing things to me and then he directs I to you and then it turns around this is what you do to me and finish it off I to him um and you’ll notice there’s a there’s a disproportionate amount to where it’s David to God and God to David there’s much more flow going get from God to David than there is from David to God so just watch out for for that as just another thing to think about as we read through together feel free in fact please do read it with me um I’ve got my actual Bible here not one of those special cards and so I might not have the right version but read it with me um is it up great here we go the Lord is my shepherd I lack nothing he makes me lie down in Green Pastures he leads me beside Still Waters he refreshes my soul he leads me in Paths of righteousness for his name you read it sounds much better when I don’t read it actually um the verse that it flips around so that between the U to I and eye to you bit the verse in the very middle bit is you are with me that’s where it flips that’s the the centerpiece of this whole Psalm it’s um very foundational to why David is able to say any of this about his God and it’s um really the core of of what the whole thing is about the the whole thing that Rachel brought us in the first week about God being the shepherd is that the shepher is always with his sheep and the sheep have everything they need purely because the shepherd is with them you may know this as um the popular version made um by the brilliant Howard Goodall he did a a very famous song to this um made famous by the even more brilliant Vicor of DIY and so you may be having that tune in your head yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death it’s um I’m on worship next week so don’t you worry um and that is that’s the same same Psalm but from the King James version which is just much older and um the Valley of the shadow of death is um has been changed in the NIV latest version to the darkest Valley because there’s nothing particularly deathly about it except the level of Darkness right it’s not there’s nothing he’s not saying I’m about to die he’s just saying this is how dark it is it’s it’s the it’s a death Shadow it’s the actual word in Hebrew is is a death Shadow and so um this death Shadow is not um an abstract concept that we just say even though it could be as dark as as dark as night there are very real situations within our church that we know people have walked through dark dark valleys we heard just a few weeks ago Jonathan was at the front saying how when he received his cancer diagnosis it was like the darkest time but he knew that his God was with him through that that was the most powerful thing in that time many of you that are visitors here will know JN hamish’s story I’m just going to read it out exactly as I wrote it because I’ve checked it with them um their story and many of us in Hope Church will know some of it as well but um this is this is some of their story from the last three years gine HH desperately wanted a child and after some time of trying they started the process of tests and appointments and then more tests and more appointments that you have to go through to hopefully have a child I remember them describing to me the cycle of Hope and disappointment through grief and pain every month as each month passed by I think it’s fair to say that it was a battle at times not to let it consume their entire lives but that battle was won with the same four words from this Psalm that you are with me and the happy ending to this story is Samuel he’s here today we’ve all seen him or met him he was a gift given by the grace of God not because jman he deserve to have a baby not because it’s their right to have a baby but because we have a God who can do all things who acted in Mercy and who listen to their cries that is why he’s called Samuel in Hebrew it’s the name shmuel which means um heard by God or heard of God I’m sure you’ll be using the Hebrew pronunciation um and from Shar which means he listened he heard heard and Al which means god it’s just those two put together and um while we can all celebrate this story we must also celebrate those who have experienced the first half of this story but haven’t seen the same ending yet and those also that that never will those are true heroes of the Christian faith those people who experienced that pain and that loss of something they’ve never had and he still say surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and it’s really right that we honor those people as well there are many other Shadows of death that we can experience and that stories we’ve heard around this church that people are and continue to experience like joblessness and depression and shame and those are all situations which are very real valleys of the shadow of death it’s a word that’s used 18 times in the Old Testament we’ve found one of them in Psalms that 10 of those 18 are used in The Book of Job job what he experienced was that um all his possessions in the form of of animals were all stolen all his servants who were looking after those animals were all killed and as each messenger comes to him and says job all your animals have been killed and your servants have been murdered and I was the only one who escaped to come and tell you the very final servant that comes to him says job all your children were all in one house eating and drinking together and a storm came blew down the house I was the only one who escaped to tell you this is Job’s Valley of the shadow of death and it’s probably about as dark as you can imagine a situation his friend’s advice to him was well you must be punished for something what did you do not a helpful advice if you ever are trying to comfort someone in that situation but even in the darkest Valley David says I know your comfort and not fear so how is it that even in the darkest Valley we can know that Comfort to one other use of the word of the shadow of death appears in Isaiah chapter 9 it’s a chapter that will be very familiar with you if you were around a church anytime about a month ago you would have heard this likely read out should be on a slide I hope and it goes like this the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who dwelt in a Land of deep Darkness on them has shined a light has shined that deep Darkness there is the same word that we have been reading it goes on you have multiplied the nation you’ve increased its Joy they Rejoice before you as with joy at the Harvest as they are glad when the they divide the spoil for the Yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on the day of Midian for every boot of the trampling warrior in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire and here’s why he can celebrate the end of all wars and a light in the dark places he says for us to to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name Shall be Called wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace and of the increase of his government and of Peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with Justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever more this was talking about a future child who would come who would be a light on those in the dark places Isaiah has quite a few things to say about this child that will come he also says in chapter 40 verse 11 that he will tend his flock Like a Shepherd and he will gather the Lambs in his arms this future person to come would be like a Shepherd to his people and he would be like a light on those who walk in darkness he also says in verse chapter 7 verse4 14 therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel it’s the same child it’s the same person Emmanuel you probably know means God With Us in Psalm 23 it says you are with me that was the uh foundational verse in Hebrew with me immani with us would be immanu then just like Samuel the L of the bit that means god Emmanuel so it’s the same with us that we see in Psalm 23 as well I have no doubt that Isaiah spent many years meditating on Psalm 23 and his knowledge of that um picture of God as the Good Shepherd with us is infused in everything that he wrote and saw about that child who was to come hundreds of years after Isaiah said these things a child was born to a virgin and when he grew up he said things like I am the light of the world whoever follows me will not walk in darkness and he said I am the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and this child that’s exactly what he did he laid down his life for his people he willingly suffered a criminal’s death and as he hung on the cross he shouted out my God my God why have you forsaken me a direct quote from Psalm 22 which is just the heart cry of someone who is in the Valley of the shadow of death Jesus suffered the valley of the shadow of death Psalm 22 so that we can live Psalm 23 the light shining on the people the Good Shepherd who provides everything who gives us Comfort instead of fear if you are in the Valley of the shadow of death if you’re experiencing cancer or infertility or any other things that I named or anything else that you have going on in your life Comfort is on offer today instead of fear sometimes you have to go to the darkest place in order to see that light and so if that’s what it takes to find the light then I just pray that you’d find it and follow it out of the darkness we’ve got loads of time and I’ve not got much more to say so I really just want to give you an opportunity to reflect and massage this message into your own heart um I wonder if we can play that Psalm 23 song Tim and then after we’ve listened to that song If the band could come up as well we’ll sing again afterwards but before three things we’re going to do first thing we’re gonna read Psalm 23 again not this time as an analysis of who’s speaking to who but this time as a prayer as a um devotional as an opportunity to read it not as the Lord is my shepherd this is my truth but as Lord would you be my shepherd because we all need more of that don’t we so if we can have Psalm 23 up again we’ll read it one more time just as as a devotional expression of the truth that we long to see deeper and deeper in our lives then we’ll play the song and then we’ll sing the Lord is my shepherd I lack nothing he makes me right over [Music] [Music] amen