Contentment through hard times

 

The next two verses of our psalm tell us that we can have contentment as we walk with the Good Shepherd through the hard times. Not just as we pause and receive spiritual food and drink, but in the trials of life, too.

Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:4-5)

Our Good Shepherd doesn't provide contentment by shielding His flock from trials. He doesn't guarantee that we'll have no trials. What He promises is His presence in the midst of trials. (Amen? Amen!)

The scholars point out that in the first three verses, David uses "HE" to refer to the Lord. Third person. In verses four and five, when he speaks about times of trial, David shifts gears and uses the more intimate pronoun "You." He moves from talking about how God cares for him, to talking about being in communion with that caring God. 

In times of fear, trial, and conflict, we need to draw even closer in an intimate relationship with our Good Shepherd . . . not to pull away in hurt or anger ("Why is He allowing this to happen to me?"), but to draw closer and feel His presence and comfort. I kinda think that the change and more personal language has to do with the fact that David has been there. He's done that. He even brought home the tee shirt. . . .some of David's darkest hours have also been the times that he learned to keep his eyes on the Lord. If we are honest with ourselves, we will nod our heads, that is true for us as well. When we are munching on the bright green pasture grass, we talk about God. When trials come, and maybe darkness, too, we talk TO God, and we cling to His hand.

In Phillip Keller's famous book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, he points out that this verse about the "darkest valley" is referring to the route to the best summer feeding pastures.  (Some translations use the words "valley of death" and others use "darkest valley." Surely either way of reading the verse has great meaning for us as believers.)  These summer meadows are high on the hills, but the most gentle route for the sheep to follow is to go through the valley. The valley will have some water sources, too. But there are many dangers there . . . Sudden storms can lead to flash floods or mud-slides. Predators can lurk above and then pounce down onto the sheep. Steep ravines can startle a sheep and they can stumble at the edge and fall. I think there's a verse in Jeremiah that explains what this could look like:

They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,
    who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
    through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
    a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ (Jeremiah 2:6)

A fearful place. A place of extreme danger and darkness. At the bottom of a valley, one can be enveloped in darkness created by overhanging trees and bushes, or by towering boulders carved by wind and rain. The boulders block the sun and then tiny sounds that were imperceptible before are magnified by the imagination. Fearful as we go, we can be overtaken by predators if we stray from the shepherd's side.

We Christians often say that it's our desire to walk on a higher plane of Christian life. We say that we want to experience that close communion with God that David spoke of. But do we often think it should be an easier task to get there? To the mountain-top experience? 

Today's technology has allowed a whole new type of mountaineer to brave the cold and wind of mountain climbing. Hikers today can begin their trek part of the way up their chosen mountain! Helicopters ferry them to points along the path - the trek is not so hard, nor so long, when they've been air-lifted part of the way! As believers, is this what we envision? But wait! God doesn't air-lift His flock to the mountain top . . . the only way to higher ground is to walk with the Good Shepherd through some fearful, even terrifying valleys. We may despair even of life itself. But it's in the valleys of life that we find close communion with our God, and contentment as we walk alongside Him.

There are two things that help us be content as we walk in a valley of fear: the Shepherd's presence and the Shepherd's equipment.

We'll look at those when we study tomorrow.