One day I will walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death… and this is a reality that every single one of us must face! None of us can avoid it! You may not be a believer, you may say, well, now I’m going to choose my own path, I’m going to live my own way Listen, all paths lead to the Valley of the Shadow of Death! Welcome to Open the Bible with pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and we’re continuing our journey through the 23rd Psalm and the message today is called He Guards Me. Colin, as you’ve just pointed out none of us can escape death, so how should we face it? Well the sound byte at the top of the programme only quoted part of Psalm 23 and verse 4 It says, …even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death… And of course all of us will… …I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me… And that’s what we’re going to look at together today That is no circumstance of life where Jesus Christ will not walk with you As a believer, you can say the Lord is my shepherd, He will never let you go This is the wonderful thing about being wholly owned by the Son of God If you’re wholly owned by the Son of God in life, you’ll be wholly owned by the Son of God When you come to the darkest valley Even in death, He’s going to walk with you and then He’s going to receive you into His glorious presence So we’re going to enjoy today, the blessing of all that it means to be able to say, the Lord is my shepherd So let’s look at Psalm 23, we’re focusing today on verse 4 As we begin the message, He guards me Here’s Colin I have two aims for this series and this wonderful psalm The first is to encourage These are days where many of us know what it is to feel tired and jaded and flat It’s easy to get discouraged And we’re looking at this psalm because for 3,000 years, God has used it to bring encouragement to His people The reason that this psalm is so deeply loved Is that in every verse there is a blessing that belongs to those who are wholly owned by the Son of God And here’s what that means He leads me He leads me into rest He leads me into righteousness It means He restores me It means He brings me back when I wander It means He picks me up when I falter So the first aim of this series is to encourage If you are a believer, my prayer for you is that you will find strength And that you’ll find peace And that you’ll find joy As we discover afresh all that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ And the second aim of this series Is to entice If you have not yet surrendered your life To the great shepherd of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ If you have not yet been bought and born into the flock of God I want to entice you with what could be yours My prayer for you is that as we go through this psalm And as you see what it means to be lead into rest And lead into righteousness to be restored To be picked up when you are down Because you belong to the good shepherd My prayer for you is that you’ll begin to say Oh I wish these things were true of me And these things can be yours And they will be yours When you come to give yourself into the care of the good shepherd the Lord is my shepherd Now today we’re coming to something that should encourage all who believe And entice those who are yet to believe The good shepherd who leads you, who restores you He will guard your soul David says even though I walk Through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil For you are with me, your rod and staff They comfort me Now if you thought this psalm was all about you know Fluffy sheep lying down in green meadows And quiet waters all the time running by And you thought well this sounds very quaint and very sentimental I am so glad you are here to take a second look At this remarkable psalm The 23rd Psalm deals with the harshest realities of life I don’t find it easy to rest I need the shepherd to make me lie down My heart wonders, my faith falters Because I need the shepherd to restore me And today we are looking at the harshest reality of all One day I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death And this is a reality that every single one of us must face None of us can avoid it You may not be a believer You may say, well, I’m going to choose my own path I’m going to life my own way Listen, all paths lead to the valley of the shadow of death They all end up in the same place This is a valley through which you must go However you choose to live Whatever you choose to believe There’s no avoiding this It’s the reality that every single one of us must One day sooner or later face Now, I want us to look at three things from this verse today We’re going to look at the valley We’re going to look at the shepherd And then we’re going to look at the sheep First of all, then the valley Notice what David says Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death The shadow of death See, death casts a long shadow And David is describing here Not so much death itself The shadow What leads up to death The prospect of death What comes before it The dawning of the realization That we are going to go into this valley And that there is no way that any of us can avoid it Now I’ve often heard Christians Say over the years Something like this You know, it’s not death itself that scares me It’s the process of dying It’s what I might have to go through to get there That’s the thing that really scares me Now why would Christians say that? Well, surely for this very good reason That if you belong to the flock of God The moment of your death itself Will be the most glorious experience you have ever enjoyed Think about it In a moment In the twinkling of an eye You’ll be away from the body You’ll be at home with the Lord The world, with all of it’s pain Its conflict, and its tears, and its sorrow Is all going to be behind you Faith is going to be turned to sight And you are going to see, at last Face to face The one you have loved and trusted All of your life If you are in Christ The moment of death itself Will be glorious for you To be away from the body At home with the Lord But getting there That’s another business Your body declining Your world contracting Your control of what is happening around you diminishing It’s not the valley itself that frightens us It’s the shadow It’s what lies before It’s getting there And that’s what David is talking about here Now in the ESV Bible that we use in the church here You’ll notice if your eyes are very sharp that there is a footnote that tells us that this phrase the valley of the shadow of death can also be translated the valley of deep darkness Now that’s significant because of-course death is not the only valley that casts a shadow over us dying is the last valley but there are other valleys that we all walk through on the way and the dark valley of depression the dark valley of unemployment the dark valley of a business failure an extended lawsuit a serious illness or caring for a person who becomes increasingly dependent upon you every Christian knows what it is to go through times of great darkness and when you find yourself in great darkness this Psalm is for you the Bible tells us about a time in the life of Abraham when he experienced great darkness as the sun was going down a deep sleep fell on Abraham and behold dreadful and great darkness fell upon him I wonder if you can relate to that experience a great darkness for a reason that you may not be able to explain falls upon you and suddenly you find yourself feeling detached from the world desperately alone you may wonder in that moment if God himself has deserted you now David says here when I walk through the valley of deep darkness You are with me and I want you to try and take that in today there’s a remarkable statement in exodus and chapter 20 that’s where God gave the 10 commandments you remember the story that God came down to Mount Sinai and when he did the mountain itself covered in darkness the scene was absolutely terrifying there was thunder and lightning the whole mountain shook as if in an earthquake and even Moses himself said I am trembling with fear then God spoke the ten Commandments in an audible voice you shall have no other gods before me you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God honor your father and your mother you shall not kill you shall not steal you shall not covet and the people heard the audible voice of God thundering from the mountain they were absolutely terrified and they said to Moses you speak to us and we will listen but do not let God speak to us lest we die and so Moses climbed the mountain and then we read these remarkable words Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. Take that in. The thick darkness where God was and here’s what I want you to grasp today that God is with you in the darkness as much as he is with you in the light. The thick darkness where God was. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. We’re going to briefly pause here but we’ll be back to the message very shortly. Open the Bible is here to help you get a better understanding of the Bible story. So we have a section of the website called Open the Bible Story. Why not take a look at it? You’ll hear how the Bible is just one story. It begins in a garden, ends in a city and all the way through it points to Jesus. Have a look at Open the Bible story on our website. That’s at openthebible.org.uk. Of course you can also catch up or go back and listen again to any of the messages that have already gone out on air on our website. Also, you’ll find those messages as podcasts at your favourite podcast site or follow the link on the website, and the address again is open the bible.org.uk. Back to the message now, here’s Colin. The Bible is very clear in telling us that God dwells in the light. He is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of Kings, he is the Lord of Lords, he alone has immortality, and he dwells in unapproachable light, to him be the honor and the glory forever. But equally, the Scripture tells us that God dwells in the darkness. When the temple that was built by Solomon was dedicated Solomon said the Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. Remember God made his presence known to people in the desert through a dark pillar of cloud. And when the temple was dedicated the cloud of God’s presence filled the temple. God is with you in the darkness as much as he is with you in the light. In Psalm 139, it’s a wonderful song, David asks this question. Where shall I go from your spirit, or where shall I flee from your presence? Now the point of the question here, it’s not that David’s trying to get away from God. No, that read the psalm, it’s full of his love for God, his wonder at all that God has done and all that he continues to do. He’s not trying to get away from God. When he says, where shall I go from your spirit, he’s simply asking this question, is there any place in life or in death where God will not be with me. And he raises four possibilities If I ascend to heaven, you are there. You will not be without the Lord in heaven. He is the heaven of heaven, for all who love him. And then David says if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! Sheol, of course, was the place of the dead in the Old Testament. And so David is saying, I will not be without you in death. Then he raises a third question. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even then your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ I will not be without you, O God, anywhere in the world, in the air, on the land, or at sea. Wherever I go, your presence will be with me and your strong hand will hold me. So he’s looked at heaven, he’s looked at death. He’s looked at the entire geography of the globe, and then he raises one more question, what about when I enter a time of darkness? He says if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, can the darkness cut me off from God? Well, here’s his answer, even the darkness is not dark to you, the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. Do you see this? David is saying God will be with me as much in the darkness as he is in the light. Now, here’s the thing, if you find yourself in a time of great darkness, you may not be able to feel the presence of God. Remember when the Lord Jesus hung on the cross for these six hours for three of them he was plunged into absolute darkness and in the darkness he cried out in a loud voice, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? No one ever knew the love of the Father like God the Son, but in that darkness when he bore our sins for us he was cut off from the comfort of knowing his own Father’s love. Was the father there, in the darkness at Calvary? Yes he was and what was he doing? God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ. God is with you in the darkness as much as he is with you in the light. Now, that’s the valley. Let’s look secondly at the shepherd. David says, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Now how it goes with you when you enter the dark valley depends entirely on who it is that is with you. And David says, when I go into a dark place, the Lord is with me, the Lord is my shepherd. And here’s what’s really important here, that the Lord who is with you has been through the dark valley himself. Remember that death cast a long shadow over the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came into the world to give his life as ransomed for many. And Jesus knew that he had to go through the dark valley of death. Three times he told his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem, and that he had to suffer and to die there. Jesus truly could say to the Father, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you, Father, are with me. Our Lord entered the shadow of his death in the garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed, Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken from me. Do you see that Jesus himself recoiled at the thought of what lay ahead of him? So, don’t be surprised if you find yourself recoiling at the prospect of a dark valley ahead of you. But Jesus said, Father, not my will but yours be done. You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and today’s message, He Guards Me. We looked at the valley of the shadow of death, and we began to look at the shepherd himself. And you can do that by listening to Open the Bible daily, it’s a series of very short reflections based on the teaching of Pastor Colin Smith and read in the UK by Sue Macleish. You can find it on our website, openthebible.org.uk. You can also find it as a podcast. The link is on the website and also you can find it by searching for Open the Bible UK on your favourite podcast site. Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners, that’s people just like you and this month if you’ve been thinking about setting up a new donation in respect of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more, we’d love to thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin Smith’s Devotional, Green Pastures, Still Waters, 31 Days in Psalm 23. It’s very much a devotional that goes with this series of messages. Colin, what do you hope the people using this devotional will take away from it? Well it will fix your eyes and your mind on the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the Good Shepherd. He is what Psalm 23 is all about and to know that you have a Shepherd in Christ and that he’s going to lead you in right paths, he’s going to give you rest, he’s going to restore you when you’re spent and your energy is exhausted and gone. He’s going to guard you, he’s going to sustain you, he’s going to love you all the days of your life and eventually bring you into his nearer presence. I mean a month fixing your mind and heart on Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd is going to renew your strength, it’s going to encourage you greatly, and that’s what Psalm 23 does and I think that’s why it’s one of the best-known and best-loved chapters in all of the Bible. So that’s Pastor Colin Smith’s devotional, Green Pastures Still Waters – 31 days in Psalm 23. And it’s our gift to you if you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of £5 per month during the course of this month. Full details on our website openthebible.org.uk For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll be able to join us again next time. OPEN THE BIBLE What you experience when you enter the dark valley depends entirely on who you have with you. Find out who you need, next time on Open the Bible.