Every Christian knows what it is to go through times of great darkness, the dark valley of depression, the dark valley of unemployment, the dark valley of business failure, an extended lawsuit, a serious illness, or caring for a person who increasingly dependent upon you and when you find yourself in great darkness this psalm is for you welcome to open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith I’m David Pick and Colin so for anyone who’s tuned in to hear a message of hope today you’re talking about darkness well you know here’s the wonderful thing the Bible speaks to the realities of life and sooner or later everyone knows what it is to walk through some really dark and difficult times and we’re in Psalm 23 one of the most wonderful chapters in all of the Bible that tells us that the Lord is our shepherd he’s never going to let us go when you’re in Jesus Christ he will never leave you he will never forsake you so these are wonderfully uplifting truths and particularly we’ve come to place in the Psalm that speaks about walking through dark paths and here’s something that I found very helpful never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light and Psalm 23 is going to remind us of truth that brings us light and brings us hope and will be with us in every circumstance of life that we’re ever going to face. So let’s get right on we’re in Psalm 23 as we continue to hear He Guards Me. The biblical is very clear is telling us that God dwells in the light. He is the blessed and an 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 his 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 psalm—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—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 in the light. 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 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 Sun 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 a ransom for many and Jesus knew That he had to go through the dark valley of death three times His he told his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and then 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 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 Now the Bible speaks about death in two distinct ways I’m going to call these the first death and the second death The first death is very simply death as we know it that is physical death in which the soul of a person is Separated from their body. That’s the first death But the Bible also speaks about a second death and that is the judgment of God That will be poured out on the last day Now, here’s the thing Jesus experienced the first death and the second death at the same time Think of what happened when he went to the cross wicked men nailed him to that cross of wood and over six hours life drained from his body and at the same time God laid on him the sins of us all and poured out upon him the judgment that was due to us Now this is why the prospect of what Jesus endured was so horrendous to him in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was not simply that he was going to die on a cross. He faced a double death His soul separated from his body and at the same time the judgment for sin being poured out on him Jesus Christ faced death as no one before and no one after ever has He endured the first and the second death at the same time and Here’s the good news for us that the death of Jesus has changed death for all who belong to him So when you enter the first death when you go through the valley of the shadow of death when the moment comes of Your soul being separated from your body What will lie beyond that death for you christian believer is not the second death Now what lies on the other side of that separation of your soul and your body is the most marvelous Welcome into the joy of your father’s presence forever and forever That is why the apostle paul is able to say oh death where is your victory oh death Where is your sting? Christian believers will never taste the second death Jesus endured it for us and He has drawn its sting So your death when it comes will not be an entrance into judgment and condemnation It will be a translation into everlasting joy Yes death is still a dark Valley But compared to the double death that Jesus endured What’s left for us? well, it’s like a shadow and And you don’t need to be scared of shadows Matthew Henry Says this so very well The shadow of a snake can’t bite you the shadow of a sword can’t kill you and You know what? The shadow of death won’t destroy you Death will separate you from your work. It will separate you from your loved ones It will separate your soul from your own body But it can never separate you from the love of God That is in Christ Jesus Your Lord Even though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear no evil here’s why for you Are with me You’re listening to open the Bible with pastor Colin Smith and today’s message. He guards me it’s part of our series the Lord is my Shepherd and If you’ve missed any of the series or if you’d like to get back and listen again You can always do that by coming online to our website. Open the Bible dot-org dot-uk You can listen to any of the messages which have already gone out on air You can also find us as a podcast if that’s a better way for you to listen to pastor Collins teaching at a time That’s convenient to you and you’ll find that on your regular podcasting site Just search for open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates Open the Bible and the website are only able to remain available to you because of the generosity of Listeners like you and later in the program we’ll let you know how you can get hold of a copy of pastor Colin’s latest book as a Thank you for setting up a new payment to support open the Bible. So I hope you’ll stay with us for that Back to the message now. We’re in Psalm 23. Here’s Collin And now let’s think lastly for a moment about the experience of the sheep 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 your staff they comfort me Now the rod of course was a kind of Club think of a baseball bat If you like that the shepherd held and carried to Fend off Wild animals that might attack the sheep the stuff Well think of the shepherds crook with which he would pick up one of the lambs and take it into his arms and So the rod and the staff together speak about the strength on the one hand and the love on the other hand of the Good Shepherd However Dark, the valley you face may be you do not need to fear because the Lord is with you That’s what David is saying here in the Sun No, power can snatch you from his strong hand And no circumstance can ever take you out of his everlasting love Now What will it be like? When you pass through The valley of death itself when that moment comes and you actually get there What will it be like? Some years ago a young doctor in our congregation here at the orchard by the name of Mark Lovett Died after a major operation. He was just aged 28 His father rod told me about the last Conversation or one of the last conversations he had had with his son He said my son Mark was a doctor and I am a surgeon he said We both knew that there was a chance that he might not come out of this operation Well in this conversation Rod reminded his son mark of The time when the disciples were alone in the boat at night The wind was against them the disciples were straining at the oars They’re there in the darkness and The Gospels tell us that late at night. Jesus went out to meet them walking on the water Now imagine the scene The disciples are looking out into the darkness there on the water at night and they see this figure And he’s coming towards them Mark records that when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and they were terrified and Immediately mark records Jesus said take heart It is I Do not be afraid Now friends that is the most marvelous picture of What happens to a believer at the moment of death? You’ve been straining at the oars The wind has been against you but now into this darkness Jesus comes and he will take you home You Know The first time Carnan I ever visited the United States We spent some time with a friend of mine who is a pastor in California there were a couple of men in his church who owned small Aircraft and one afternoon. They took us out for a flight. We were for couples in Two planes Karlin myself the other pastor and his wife and then the two pilots and their wives Well the pilot of the first plane had been flying for over 30 years and our friends went with them Khan asked our pilot. How long he had been flying? Oh, he said Just a few months well We enjoyed a marvelous afternoon we really did flying up the coast looking out over the Pacific Ocean and after a time we landed on a small peninsula where there was a restaurant and we enjoyed the most marvelous meal together and After we had been sitting there for a little while The lead pilot I noticed began to get agitated He got up from the table Went out of the restaurant and then came back shouting. We gotta go. We gotta go. We gotta go a heavy mist was rolling in fast and Now we were four couples running down the cinder track to words the runway the the lead pilot went first and I have never seen a plane take off so fast I mean he Into the mist and as he did so I could see that our pilot while he was getting flustered and I was saying my prayers he revved up the engine and We got off the ground hardly able to see Then we heard the voice of the lead pilot and he said hold steady Just 10 seconds and you’ll be through We were all counting five six seven It was scary But do you know when we reached the count of ten we burst through the fog and into the most brilliant sunlight It was glorious. I Will never forget it Friend the Lord Jesus Christ will not leave you in the darkness He will bring you Safely home All the way my Savior leads me Oh the fullness of his love Perfect rest to me is promised in my father’s house above When my spirit Clothed immortal wings its flight to realms of day This my song through endless ages Jesus led me all the way That’s a wonderful idea to hang on to as we finish this message that in Christ We have a shepherd who guards us but if you don’t know Jesus as your shepherd you can change that today by asking him to be your Shepherd and knowing that he will guard and save you and Wipe away the guilt and penalty of sin and if that’s something you want to do today I’d encourage you to Seek out a trusted Christian friend or family member tell them about it or maybe go along to a local Christian fellowship Talk to the folks there, maybe meet up with the pastor or pray with the prayer ministry team You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. Then today’s message he guards me It’s part of the series The Lord is my Shepherd And if you’ve missed any of the series, don’t forget you can always come online and catch up or go back and listen again That’s at open the bible dot org dot uk Also, you can find us as a podcast following the link on our website or search for open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates Open the Bible depends on the generous support of our listeners and if supporting open the Bible Financially is something you’ve been thinking about We have an offer for you this month if you’re able to set up a new donation to open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month or more we’d love to thank you by sending you a new devotional by Pastor Colin Smith It’s called Green Pastures Still Waters and like today’s message. It’s based on Psalm 23 Colin, why did you write this devotional this goes back to the pandemic as In these dark days, I guess along with every other pastor I was asking the question. What will help and encourage God’s people to get through these difficult days? and I turned to Psalm 23 and just found such joy and help in mining the wonderful treasures that are in this marvelous chapter of the Bible and my colleague Tim Augustine has now arranged that material in the form of a 31-day devotional and I’m just delighted that we’re able to offer this Looking at the Lord Jesus Christ through psalm 23 will bring strength and encouragement And peace and joy and to do that for 31 days to meditate on one of the best-known and best-loved Chapters in all of the Bible and to get our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ So if you need some encouragement green pastures still waters is going to be a great help to you Well, we’d love to send you a copy of Pastor Colin Smith’s devotional green pastures still waters all about psalm 23 to say thank you If you’re able to set up a new regular donation to the work of open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month Or more full details on our website. That’s open the Bible dot org uk For open the Bible and pastor Colin Smith, I am David Pig, and I hope you’ll join us again next time You What will keep you going when you feel tired and jaded or drained and spent find out next time on open the Bible