THE SECRET TO A LIFE WELL LIVED

Psalm 23:4b
Bob Bonner
September 17, 2006

Recently, one of our elders shared the following true story with me of a very courageous woman. Her name is Jill Herweyer. Jill and her husband, Darren have faced more deep dark valleys in their lives than most of us will ever experience in a lifetime. Three of their children died, all in infancy. They died from a rare genetic disorder. Less than a year after their third child died, Jill was diagnosed with breast cancer, requiring aggressive treatment.

To read her journal of those days reveals a transparent woman of faith. For through her doubts and questions concerning God’s really knowing what was best for her, she chose to walk by faith in the Lord. In turn, she became a testimony of God’s faithfulness, through her dark valleys. In one entry, she wrote: “The Lord has given to us and He has taken from us and through it we have to choose to continue to praise Him. It’s certainly not easy to stand in front of your child’s coffin and say, ‘Yes, Lord, I praise you.’ It’s not; it’s impossible. But that’s where He comes in. He doesn’t leave you alone to suffer. He offers to walk beside—to give hope to the hopeless and peace where there is no peace to be found... ...when it comes down to it, I know it’s a choice. A choice to praise Him even when life seems like it’s just one terrible thing after another, a choice to praise Him when things are going so well that it seems like we don’t even need Him. It’s a choice—a choice with eternal consequences. A choice that is life changing—not only for yourself but also for those around you.”

One of my old mentors, now in his 70's, Dave Roper, has had years of experience choosing to walk by faith through his own deep valleys as well as coming along side others to encourage them in their valleys. With perspective that only years bring, he writes, “I used to think that life was mostly green pastures with an occasional dark valley along the way, but now I realize it’s the other way around. There are days of surprising joy, but much of life is a vale of tears... When people tell me that life is hard, I reply, “Of course it is.” I find that answer more satisfying than anything else I can say. Every year confirms my belief that life is indeed difficult and demanding. Any other view of life is escapist.”

As evidence of the types of valleys that people normally face these days, he writes, “The desolate places are an inevitable and necessary part of the journey...The valleys bring to mind the day...when your spouse said he or she had no energy left to put into the relationship. Those are the dark days when we lose all perspective, when we say in despair, ‘It’s no use; I can’t go on.’ ...The valleys symbolize those dreary days of deep loneliness when we say with David, ‘No one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life’ (Psalm 142:4); when no one seeks us; no one asks about us; there are no cards or letters; the phone doesn’t ring; no one seems to care. Even God seems aloof and remote; ....We cry out with David, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer” (Psalm 22:1-2).

Although a wealthy, prominent and powerful man, King David faced his own dark valleys, in which he, Julie Link, Dave Roper and others have been forced to travel through. And he too had to make a deliberate choice to walk by faith, trusting in the Lord, when doubts and fears swirled around his head. Many think that David had a blissful childhood with few problems, and that his only real challenges came to him as a young adult. Some think that being the youngest of the family, David lived a carefree life and may have been spoiled, as many last borns are.

However, not all agree with that scenario. I certainly don’t. Some argue, that David was an unwanted child and therefore, a child of neglect. There was a reason David was sent to the fields to shepherd the flocks. That reason being, he was unwelcome at home, and therefore the most likely candidate to take care of the family’s flock. Do you remember when the prophet Samuel was sent by God to Jesse, David’s father, to find the son who would replace King Saul? All the older sons, all sons who presumably had work-related responsibilities, just like David, were there to meet with the prophet. The only one missing was David. The suggested reason for this is that David was either an illegitimate child of Jesse, or did not share the same mother as the rest of the sons. Either way, he was demeaned by the rest of the family and emotionally, deeply scarred. Hence, the reasoning behind David’s statement in Psalm 27:10, “Though my father and mother have forsaken me, the Lord has taken me in.” David, from an early age, understood rejection, loneliness and heartache. He was forced to travel alone through deep, dark valleys of despair, with only his heavenly Father to lean on. Hence, David’s life is also an example of one who made the hard choice to keep on walking by faith, following his Shepherd’s leading, even though he had no idea what lay ahead.

It was only late in life, sometime after he was 60 years old, that with veteran like experience behind him David penned Psalm 23. In verse 4, David prays, “Even though, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.”

Last time, we looked at just the first half of this verse and learned that this metaphorical valley is not what many have come to believe it is, a picture of one facing death, (either their own or someone they love). Instead, it is that valley of deep darkness that all believers enter into more than once in life. It is a valley where sometimes we wonder whether we have been forsaken by God or we feel like God is not there. Once we are in those valleys, we are not sure if we can go on. This valley represents those times when we feel no sense of His presence—a time of emotional and spiritual disconnect. Furthermore, these times have nothing to do with personal sin or rebellion against God. These valleys of uncertain times are experienced by God-fearing, God-worshiping saints.

Allow me to remind you of just one of the lessons we learned last time we were looking at this passage. The lesson actually came from Isaiah 50:10-11. It sets the stage for the new lessons we want to point out this morning from the second half of this verse. This lesson was that when we find ourselves in a deep dark valley, it is important for us to wait for the shepherd to lead us out of it, rather than taking things into our own hands, and either refusing to move, or even worse, making something happen or trying to force our way through it. God warns us in Isaiah that those efforts only lead us to disaster.

An excellent example of why it is important to wait for the Lord’s leading when under pressure, rather than pushing forward just so one can get out from underneath the pressure, can be seen in Genesis 16, in the life of Abraham. Genesis 16 shows the consequences of not waiting on God. Both Sarah and Abraham had been promised by God that they would have a child. After some time of fulfilling their responsibility to have children, they were frustrated that no child had come. As a result, tension built up in their lives as they were walking through the deep valley of “delayed promises of God.” Abraham and Sarah eventually made the mistake of going beyond their responsibility. They took matters into their own hands, leaving all future generations of the world to live with the negative consequences, the on-going Israeli and Arab conflicts. Hence, we walk through the valley, we don’t sit, but we also don’t run ahead of the Lord.

As we continue our examination of verse 4, I draw your attention to a mark of David’s veteran-like experience that comes with having journeyed through many dark valleys, as King of Israel. This mark is hidden in the word “through.” By this one word, David is telling us that it is not God’s intention for us to stay in the deep darkness of the valley. God has never led anyone down into a valley and left him there! David may have wondered a few times, but over his life span of walking with God, he knew that God would never abandon him in the dark valley. He was, by faith, to keep walking and trust that his very steps were being guided through and out the other side of the valley. These valleys are indeed treacherous to travel through, but they are not our permanent destination. Hence, we have no ultimate harm to fear, which is exactly the meaning behind his conclusion of “I will fear no evil.”

In Hebrew, that word for “evil” is literally “harm.” It is a term that, in itself, does not refer to a moral or immoral condition. It is a consequence that does not necessarily happen to us because of some act of wickedness against us. This harm points to something that may make our present condition more painful, discomforting even to the point of death. It is a harm that makes one’s present life or actions seem futile, without purpose and meaningless. The intent here is that David no longer fears that the present events in his life have no purpose and thus make the present circumstances of his life, no matter how dark, without meaning or futile. Hence, when he states that he fears no harm, he means that he no longer fears that the events which could take place in the valley are without purpose and/ or ultimate harm will befall you. In other words, one’s present life and eternal destiny will always have purpose and he will never be in doubt that his eternal destiny lies with the Lord. There may be things that frighten us, as they did David, but they never cause us to fear our ultimate destiny or that God does not have our ultimate good in mind, even though we might experience what the Apostle Paul calls in 2 Corinthians 4, “momentary light affliction.”

It would probably be good to mention that because David, inspired by God to write this psalm, speaks so openly and honestly about fear, that he recognizes that fear is a normal response when you are in the dark valley. But the key here, is that although at times we might worry, be startled or momentarily get frightened, we don’t live in fear of harm because we know that our God is sovereign, loving, purposeful, good, and all-powerful to protect our ultimate destiny and present best interests.

Many, when they read David’s remark “fearing no harm” conclude that the only “harm” David has in mind here is the harm that can be caused to us at the hands of our enemy. Many conclude this to be the full intention of this statement for two reasons: One, is a misunderstanding of this term. They see it as a word that only refers to some form of moral evil, like that which could come from an enemy alone, which is not completely true.

A second reason some conclude that the harm mentioned here could only come from an evil enemy is that, in the context, they see the enemy being spoken of in the next verse. I agree that the enemy is clearly there, and that one intended interpretation of the fear mentioned here is that of what one’s enemy might to do him. David is saying that, by this time in his life, he realizes that God will ultimately protect him from his enemy and he does not have to fear the harm that could come from the enemy. This is clearly one intended meaning of this expression.

However, I believe if we stop with that interpretation we haven’t grasped David’s full intent. For there is more harm that David feared during his life than just the harm that came from his enemies. Allow me to go back to the meaning of the expression itself, “fear no harm.” This term, “harm” is a morally neutral term. In other words, it is used elsewhere to refer not to just the harm that can come from morally evil people, but the harm that can come from, let’s say, an earthquake, flood or another circumstance that God brings across our path, like the sudden loss of someone close to us.

Sometimes we fear God’s working in our lives, and when we see what we consider to be negative circumstances in our lives, we fear that God doesn’t know what He is doing and that what we are going through has no purpose and meaning. This morally good God or this morally neutral event, we fear has no good purpose in the end. Hence, it is properly classified as “harm.”

Like you and I, David faced many such circumstances in his life, circumstances that did not involve enemies, but involved his own choices or events around him over which he had no knowledge. When those events occurred in his life, the fear of harm was raised in his heart. Allow me to highlight just one in David’s life.

There are several times in David’s life where he personally made wrong choices, only afterward, fearing the consequences or the “harm” of those choices. David feared that the discipline of the Lord in his life would not have a positive or good purpose for his life. Take, for instance, David’s sin with Bathsheba. When David sinned against Bathsheba and confessed to God his wrongdoing in Psalm 51, David had a fear of potential harm, or the discipline of God in his life, that might bring serious problems to him in his ability to rule as king. He modeled this fear of morally neutral harm in verse 11, when he pleaded with God, “Do not take thy holy spirit from me.” David’s fear was that if God took His Holy Spirit from him, then David could not rule as king. He would end up like Saul. He knew that God would discipline him some way, to train him, but he feared that God’s discipline might be like Saul’s, and that would not be in David’s best eternal interest.

But as David grew older and better understood the Shepherd’s character, he realized that he never had to fear even the Lord’s discipline over his life, because he was one of God’s beloved sheep. Yes, the discipline would hurt for the moment, but it would in the end produce good in his life, so he learned not to fear God’s hand in his life.

Another example of David’s fear of God’s moving in his life as “harm” is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 13:11-14. Here, David stands in fear of God, not sure if he is going to be harmed or, without purpose or reason, disciplined by a capricious God. The situation comes right after David becomes king. David is still very young and learning about the nature of God. Just as soon as David has established his governmental seat in Jerusalem, David’s very first act as king, is to return the ark of God to Jerusalem and to the Tabernacle.

During the previous king’s reign, King Saul, the ark had been captured briefly by the Philistines and had been returned, but never to the Tabernacle. Since the ark represents the very throne of God, David rightfully wanted God’s presence re-established in Jerusalem, as the ultimate ruler over Israel. So, David went the house of Abinadab, where the ark was temporarily being stored, to return it to Jerusalem.

But a serious problem arose. In the process of returning the ark, the priests failed to follow what God had clearly instructed in how the ark was to be transported. God’s instrucions were that it was to be carried on poles, not set on a cart and pulled by oxen. But the priests either didn’t know what God had instructed or they ignored God’s instructions, as they probably had done for years under the previous king’s reign. In route to Jerusalem, somehow the cart carrying the ark got jostled to such an extent that it upset the ark and if the priest had not reached out to steady it, the ark may have fallen to the ground, which would have been terrible.

But what man thinks is terrible and what God thinks is terrible are two different things. God thought it terrible and was deeply upset that the priests had not followed His clear instructions as to how the ark was to be transported. So, after the priest had touched the ark in an attempt to steady it on the cart, the anger of the Lord led Him to strike Uzza the priest dead where he stood. Presumably, David had no understanding of how the priests were commanded to move the ark. He wasn’t a priest, so why should he have been up-to-date as to how they were to function.

After this priest is killed by God, David is in shock and fear. We read, "Then David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzza; and he called that place Perez-uzza to this day. [the breach of Uzza = either division against God or breach or split in his body] David was afraid of God that day, saying, ‘How can I bring the ark of God home to me?’ So David did not take the ark with him to the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. Thus the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months; and the Lord blessed the family of Obed-edom with all that he had.”

Note: David was “afraid of God.” This is not the expression commonly used of the wholesome awe for or respect for God. This statement is one of “I am afraid of God, that He could bring harm against me, even when I have done nothing wrong!” Furthermore, David had a dilemma on his hands. He really sensed that God would be honored by having the ark returned to the Tabernacle, but how was he to get the ark to Jerusalem, without upsetting God and getting killed in the process? Notice, he was so afraid of personal harm being done to himself, that he didn’t move that ark for three months!

But in the end, by the time David had lived and walked with God for many years, he had learned what the writer of Hebrew 12:11 had written about the Lord’s discipline. It was not something to fear, but to sorrow over. It says, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Like any child fears the pain or consequences of being disciplined, David learned that his heavenly Father was not one to be afraid of, even when He disciplines. David, as an older man, had learned, “I will fear no harm, whether from enemy or God, because He will use it all for my good. It is never without purpose or futile. For what God determines to do or allows, He is the Good Shepherd working in my life.

Notice another interesting observation from our passage that also supports this interpretation of “harm.” The rod and the staff symbolize the shepherd’s power, control and leadership. The “rod,” a great oak club about two feet long, was used to defend the flock against wild beasts and thieves. The rod had a round head, usually whittled from the knot of a tree bough, into which the shepherd had pounded sharp bits of metal. A skillful shepherd not only used the club up close to smash the head of an attacking wolf or thief, but he could also hurl the club with great accuracy like a missile to a target, striking a wolf lurking in the distance.

But this same rod was also used on the sheep to send them a message at times. If they were wandering off, or turning left when they should have been turning right, the shepherd could skillfully launch that rod over the heads of his flock, just missing them, but close enough to scare them so as to get their attention. At first, they might have been frightened of the shepherd, thinking he was out to harm them with this instrument as he had the wolves. But later, they learned that it was meant not to harm them, but to steer or protect them. Hence, they learned not to fear the shepherd’s rod or the shepherd, as they did at first. With time, they learned that all the shepherd did to them, was for their good and best interests in the end.

The shepherd’s staff or crook served a completely different purpose. This staff was sometimes bent or hooked at one end. With the staff the shepherd restrained the sheep from wandering or hooked their legs to pull them out of holes into which they had fallen. He also used it to pull branches aside when a sheep got tangled in a thicket or to beat back the high grass to drive out serpents coiled in the path. Sometimes, in using the staff, it hurt the sheep. It wasn’t a pleasant experience being hooked and dragged out of a hole. The sheep, at first, may even have feared the harm of the staff. But in time, even though they did not like the pain that came with being rescued, they did not fear harm from the shepherd when he came up to them with his staff, because in the end, they knew it was for their own good.

Whether I am correct in my interpretation of both causes for fear of harm, David’s point is that now, as an older, wiser man of faith, he has learned that with the Lord around, one has no cause to fear ultimate harm. The sheep takes comfort from the shepherd’s power. The sense of the Lord’s presence was David’s comfort, as it has been for believers all through history. What God said to Moses is true for all times: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest (Ex. 33:14). He said to Jacob: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go” (Genesis 28:15). He said to Joshua: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). He said to Israel: “Don’t fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand....When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 41:10; 43:2). And Jesus says to us: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Friends fail us, spouses walk out on us, parents disappoint us, therapists refuse to return our calls, but God is with us every moment of every day, even when we walk through the valley of deep dark shadows. Alexander Solzheitsyn once said, “Suffering ripens our souls.” Allow me to quote my friend David Roper, once more: “When we come to the end of all our “valleys” we’ll understand that every path has been selected, out of all possible options, for our ultimate good. God, in fact, could not have taken us by any other way. No other route would have been as safe and as certain as the one by which we came. And if only we could see the path as God has always seen it, we would select it as well.”

J. R. Miller did what I cannot do. He put his thoughts about God’s leading him through deep valleys into a poem. He writes of God, the Good Shepherd:

He chose this path for me,

Though well he knew that thorns would pierce my feet,

Knew how the brambles would obstruct the way,

Knew all the hidden dangers I would meet,

Knew how my faith would falter day by day;

And still my whisper echoes, “Yes I see

This path is best for me.”

He chose this path for me;

Why need I more: this better truth to know,

That all along these strange bewildering ways,

O’er rocky steeps where dark rivers flow,

His mighty arm will bear me all my days

A few steps more, and I shall see

This path is best for me.

Like Jill Herweyer, you and I have to make a deliberate choice as we enter new, dark and foreboding valleys. The choice is to walk by faith, to trust our Shepherd even when we can’t see Him in the dark. We choose to walk by faith, believing that He the ever-present one is with us, even though we can’t see or feel Him.

Second, we choose to walk by faith believing we have no reason to fear Him because all of His plans for you are for good, not calamity (Jeremiah 29:11).

Third, we choose to walk by faith believing that we have no reason to fear our enemies, because our Shepherd, who is bigger than our enemies, will care for us.

Finally, we choose to walk by faith believing that we will not spend “forever” or the rest of our life in the deep dark shadows of this valley. Our Good Shepherd will eventually lead us out of this valley to our eternal home, where we will relax with Him in perfect peace.

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