Valleys of Darkness

Shepherd Psalm

Valleys of Darkness

 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”

 

Last time we looked at the last part of verse three which reads: “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” And we reminded ourselves that our Shepherd leads us on paths of righteousness because it is ONLY those paths lead to an abundant life in the here and now – an abundance not of material gain, but of intangible benefits of peace of heart that passes understanding, and the blessings of loving relationships and so much more.

 

That’s why ‘repentance’ is such a critical step in our relationship with our Shepherd – not only during this season of Lent – but around the calendar and day after day. Without ongoing repentance, we have no biblical reason to hope to be led in the paths of righteousness – and we must never forget that truth, or minimize it, or rationalize it away. Our natural human trajectory will always and inevitably lead us to ever increasing degrees and frequencies of sin. That simply is our natural bent as fallen creatures.

 

But sometimes – as the Psalmist notes here in the text – sometimes the paths of righteousness lead to the valley of the shadow of death. The Hebrew word David used in this verse is also translated, “the valley of deep darkness.” Such a place is a dreadful place, a lonely place, a desolate place, a dangerous place. And it is to this point that I want to speak for a while this afternoon.

 

Many of us in America have grown very accustomed to our comforts. Even as followers of Jesus, we try to avoid “the desert.” We don’t like when life gets hard, or barren, or lonely. The wilderness can be financial, or physical, or emotional. But whatever our wilderness experiences, we feel isolated – sometimes even from God. And don’t think for a moment that the devil will not whisper subtle lies into your mind during your wilderness experience that God has turned away from you.

 

Please remember our Lord’s trial in His own wilderness. Satan used a similar tact with Jesus, trying to seduce Him into doubting His own relationship with the Father. He said to Jesus: “IF you are the Son of God . . . .”  turn these stones into bread. “IF you are the Son of God . . . .”, cast yourself down from this cliff.

 

And Satan will whisper similar lies to you in your own wilderness of sadness, or illness, or loneliness, or whatever may be your trial. “If God loved you, if God was protecting you, if God cared for you – why are you going through this?”

 

But Christians need to always remember that the same God who created majestic fields of grain also created the empty wilderness. So, there will be times of beauty and tranquility, and there will be times of trial and pressure. And yes, we should expect it because He TOLD us to expect it: Our faith will be tested. But our God promises to meet us even in the wilderness.

 

Maybe we need to also remind ourselves what the Lord told His audience in Mark 8:34 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me”?

 

But listen also to St Paul tell us about the wilderness: (2 Corinthians 4:7-11) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

 

It is helpful, I think, to look back at verse 7 of this Corinthian text in which the Holy Spirit explains through Paul at least one reason for our valleys of deep darkness: So that we recognize “that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is trying to teach us that it is only the power of God that give us the power to overcome the dark valleys.

 

Listen to St John’s words in the first chapter of his gospel: “The light [of Christ] still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out.” (John 1:5, JB Phillips)

 

Listen also to Isaiah (Isaiah 9:2, 6) “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them . . . For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

 

Are you in a dark place? Are you struggling with ongoing and chronic physical pain that limits your quality of life? Well, THAT certainly qualifies as darkness. But I think the worst kind of darkness is emotional, the kind brought on by fractured relationships and fed by a sense of poor self-worth and hopelessness. Those kinds of wilderness experiences can eat like a cancer at our very souls.

 

But if we will only believe in our ‘heart of hearts’ God's promises to us who believe and obey Jesus, we will know we are not alone in our emotionally dark wildernesses. We are never alone in our emotionally dark wilderness.

 

Have you ever thought how the Lord Jesus felt as He hung on that cross? The mob mocked Him as He suffered. With the exception of John and some of the women, all of His closest friends had left Him. And then came His agonized cry: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

 

I could spend yet more time talking about the wilderness and cite numerous examples of those in Biblical AND Church history who not only endured but overcame the darkness of their wilderness trials. But let me instead talk about some of the spiritual lessons we might learn as we walk WITH Christ in our valleys of deep darkness.

 

First, while valleys of deep darkness are often terribly unpleasant parts of our faith journey, those valleys prove to be necessary parts of our faith journey. Listen to Peter explain it: (1 Peter 1:3-7) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

 

Next, notice David’s confidence in that next clause: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil FOR THOU ART WITH ME.

 

Some of you know the name, Andrae Crouch. He died in 2015 at the age of 72. He was an American gospel singer, songwriter, and pastor. He’s often referred to as "the father of modern gospel music” by many contemporary gospel musicians. One of the songs he wrote – Through it All – encourages the faithful with these words of truth as we journey through our dark valleys:

 

“I thank God for the mountains/And I thank Him for the valleys/And I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through/For if I'd never had a problem
I'd never know that God could solve them/I'd never know what faith in God could do.

 

“Through it all, Through it all/I've learned to trust in Jesus/I've learned to trust in God/Through it all, Through it all/I've learned to depend upon His Word.”

 

Do we believe what GOD has promised His beloved children throughout His infallible Scriptures to be true, or do we believe what WE think is true? When God told Abraham that his wife, Sarah, was going to have their child, Abraham could have defaulted to how things LOOKED to him. He was old. Sarah was old. But he chose to believe what God said – and God counted his faith as righteousness. You’ll find that in Genesis 15:6.

 

Dozens of Scriptures from Genesis through Revelation illustrate how dark valleys ALWAYS lead to spiritual maturity for the Christian who chooses to believe God, who chooses to walk by faith and not by sight. And many of you can also quote the same passages. Whatever the dark valley – chronic illness, loneliness, financial stressors, or whatever: Through it all “Immanuel” walks with us.

 

Many of you are familiar with the poem, Footprints in the Sand. Listen to it again: “One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: One belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

"Lord, You said that once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed you most, you would leave me."

The Lord replied, My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints – it was then that I carried You."

 

Christian, please hear me. Sometimes the paths of righteousness lead us through the valley of the shadow of death, through the wilderness of deep darkness. Don’t be surprised when they occur. And as difficult as it often is to patiently walk through those valleys, perhaps the words of Paul – who knew of those valleys from personal experience – perhaps his words of encouragement to his readers in the first century will also encourage you:

 

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

 

Christian, listen – the God who is sovereign over all of nature, who stills the wind and the waves, who controls all of the affairs of nations and of individuals . . . The God who delivered His only Son to rescue you from ETERNAL darkness – this God is your Father and He is in absolute control of your life circumstances, including your journeys through life’s valleys of deep darkness.

 

I’m out of time this afternoon, so we will stop here. We'll continue next week with this powerful psalm of encouragement and hope.