David in Psalm 23 continues:
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. (Psalms 23:4) I’m reading Tim Keller’s book, Preaching. In it he touches on some of the difficulties in reaching people in our culture. One of the difficulties is the resistance among some to the thought there is real evil. Keller writes: You can quote Andrew Delbanco, a secular scholar at Columbia University, whose book The Death of Satan argues that “a gulf has opened up in our culture between the visibility of evil and the intellectual resources available for coping with it.” He argues that many secular people understandably attribute all human cruelty to psychological deprivation or social conditioning and, in so doing, trivialize the terrible wrongs people are capable of. — Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism We cannot afford to trivialize evil. It hunts the vulnerable. It wants to rise within us. In this psalm David is not afraid of evil even though evil is real. He is not afraid because the LORD is with him. This of course assumes that David is following this Shepherd, not fighting him nor trying to deceive him. Safety in the presence of evil comes from following the Shepherd, not from dabbling in duplicity. So today remember Jesus’ words: Peace be with you. (Luke 24:36) Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:37) David’s Psalm 23 continues:
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. (Psalms 23:4) Wherever there are hills there are valleys. If a shepherd is to lead the flock to the next grazing area, sooner or later there will be a valley to cross. In addition, a valley is more likely to hold water than a hillside. Valleys are inevitable, and sometimes beneficial. There are more shadows in the valley than on the hilltop. The valley gets the sun later in the morning and loses it earlier in the evening. Depending on the climate that can be a good thing or a bad thing. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep, and leads them to green pastures, beside quiet waters, and sometimes into valleys. If the sheep is in a valley because he has simply wandered off from the flock and the care of the shepherd, the shepherd will seek out the sheep. Two things to keep in mind then if we find ourselves in an emotional or spiritual valley: If this is of my own doing, the Good Shepherd is already coming for me! If on the other hand I can’t see how I might have contributed to this sorrow, this difficulty, then perhaps the Shepherd has led us here for awhile and is already nearby. Can you trust the Jesus our Good Shepherd in this valley right now? Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. (Isaiah 55:6) |
Pastor MarkPastor Mark loves his wife and grown children, the Word of God, and words. And coffee, chocolate chip cookies, Apple products, small video projects, and the New England Patriots. Archives
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