Treading the Dark Valleys

Psalm 23

Jim Davis

Psalm 23 
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
    he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
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.
You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord 
    forever.

When I lived in California, my son and I hunted ground squirrels in the almond orchards. The farmers were thankful for your presence. The squirrels were eating up their crops. The orchards were in the open foot hills of the Sierra Mountains. Hundreds of acres of rolling foot hills with no fences. On one occasion there was a herd of sheep that came through as a shepherd led them. He had a makeshift house on a wagon pulled by a horse. I had never seen anything like it. That shepherd was living out among those sheep day and night. It was an impressive sight for me. It look like a nomadic life, which I am sure could be filled with moments of boredom and excitement. That was before cell phones and the internet which made it a life solitude. 

I have always wished that I had gone over and talked with him about the life he was leading.

It was in this type of lonely nomadic life where David discovered his greatest assurance of God’s presence. Those times served him well as he could reflect back on how God protected him. It provided confidence for each battle he faced.

David was constantly on the move as the sheep move from one grassy slope to another. Daily he took those sheep from the hillsides through treacherous valleys to water his sheep. I can visualize him out there practicing with his sling as he improved his accuracy to protect himself and the sheep. David was an amazing warrior. 

Throughout David’s life when his enemies brought the fight to him, he would flee to the mountains. He would hide in the caves and among the rocks. He often used terms as: “God is my Rock,” “God is My Fortress” through his psalms. It was indicative of his dependence on God’s protection in the wilderness. He depended on God”s protection while he lived in the wilderness.

David really believes this about God; this psalm is personal. David uses the words “I”, “Me” and “My” as he talks about what God has done. This psalm emanates from his personal experience of God.  

When David volunteered to fight the giant Goliath, his brothers told him he needed to go back to tending the sheep. Yet, their victory depended on what David had already learned as he tended the sheep. King Saul questioned his ability to fight Goliath. 

1 Samuel 17:34-37
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Difficult Times are Real
 
Scriptures are comforting; difficult times are real. In those times we must look to God for deliverance. Many scriptures are simply connecting the writers past experiences to the present. The writers look back on what God had done for them for confidence to face present difficulties. They were facing difficult times as they were writing psalms which became our Scriptures.

Psalm 1:6 
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 5:12
Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; 
     you surround them with your favor as with a shield

The psalmists were reminding themselves of God’s presence in difficult times. It is much easier to look back and realize how God has taken care of you in the past than it is to realize his presence in the turbulent waters and dark valleys. I know this is how I struggle with my faith. Often, they were wondering why God seemed to be absent as they struggled.

I can look back through my life realizing that God provided a way for my family when we didn’t know which way to turn. Looking back those provisions didn’t come by coincidence. I look back and see where no doubt, it was God directing my steps into a blessing I never could have foreseen much less planned. We never asked anyone for anything, and yet we were taken care of by the God of heaven. Those times provide us with the confidence of God’s presence for the present. 

We read the Bible to bolster our faith; but to often we come to the same place Gideon came to in his difficulties. The Israelites were being raided by the Midianites; the story is found in Judges chapter 6. The Midianites would invade Israel just as their harvest season arrived. They would steal the harvest. The Israelites were hiding in caves and makeshift shelters. God tells Gideon to go and defeat the Midianites. Gideon has a few questions he ask God. 

Judges 6:1-15
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

God told Gideon to go in the strength he had. Gideon considered himself to be the least qualified. He probably was the least qualified. But God told him to go.

Someone once said, “If you don’t have enough faith to move mountains, you have to at least climb the mountain.”

We are no different from our spiritual ancestors. Sometimes we have difficulty believing God when the mountains don’t move and we are forced to climb them. Now may be a time when it is difficult to believe with all the 2020 difficulties. 

I visited my grandson and family in Albuquerque, NM a few years ago. Rising from the hustle and bustle of Albuquerque, you ascend one of America's most stunning urban peaks, the Sandia Mountains. I decided to hike the Sandia Crest Trail. Albuquerque’s altitude is about 5,000 the place I was hiking to was about 10,000 feet. Almost every step of that 5,000 foot climb was up. I was in my 60’s. I wondered, can I hold out. The air gets thin, I didn’t carry enough water and I reached a point where I could only take a few steps and stop. Stopping to suck in more oxygen to feed my heart. Of course the last part of the trail was almost straight up. I knew there was a restaurant at the top. I was determined to make it. It seemed to take all I had to make it to the top. It was probably one of the most beautiful hikes I had ever taken. The sun shinning down through the valley surrounded by steep canyon walls was something to behold.  I have hiked the Sierras in CA, the great divide in the Montana Glacier National park, but the Sandia Crest was something just as special. You go through four growth zones. Vegetation changes from one zone to the next. Reaching the 10,378-foot crest of the Sandia Mountains, an 11,000 square mile panoramic view awaits you. It's an elevation of the body, mind, and soul; it seems even more special when you have hiked the trail up.

You can take a mere 15 minute tram ride to the top. I could have taken the tram down, but I thought, the sunlight in the valley down would be even more spectacular in the afternoon sun. Believe it or not the pain of hiking down is much tougher than hiking up. I had trekking poles to take weight off of my knees and hips, but it was painful and slow. The trip down offered a much different view of the trail with the afternoon/evening sun. 

I didn’t get back down the mountain until after dark. My family was wondering and worrying about an “old” man out on the trails. I got some beautiful pictures of the sunset and a much different perspective of the cannon walls and vegetation. The moon just happened to give enough light to see the trails after dark.

Out there hiking mountain trails you see a panoramic view that can’t be seen from driving through the mountains. A few years ago I was in the Pecos Mountains with my wife. I wanted her to see the Sandia Mts, so we drove over to Albuquerque and drove up to the top of the Sandia Crest. It was disappointing to me compared to what I had seen hiking up to the crest. 

If we fail to climb the mountains in our daily lives, we will never experience the beauty of God’s deliverance. We will miss seeing the beautiful handy work of God in our lives. 
Scripture verses don’t erase our struggles, doubts and concerns. They don’t stop us questioning God. Even though we  still worship the same faithful God who never changes.

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

Faith In Hard Times

Life is real and life is tough for the best of us and the worst of us. We
also need to see that God is involved in our realities. Yet, David writes:

Psalm 23:3-4
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
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.

For every mountain we climb there is a valley into which me must descend. The book of Psalms is full of weeping and sadness as the writers walk their dark valleys. In those dark valleys we find them wrestling with their faith in God’s presence; thirsting for God.

Psalm 42:1-5
As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

Psalms 42:9-11 
I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?

We are living in a time when this psalm is a reality for most of us. We thirst for God to lead us out of the dark valley we are traveling through as we struggle with the pandemic.
  
1. Valleys are INEVITABLE. Jesus promised valleys would come in this world.

John 16:31-33
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!

2. Valleys are UNPREDICTABLE. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Everything seem to be going great and then 2020 hit is hard.

Worry imagines the worst.

“Toilet paper flew off the shelves when we heard ‘pandemic.’” Basic items became scarce, causing many to selfishly hoard. When we’re afraid, self-preservation kicks in and anxiety rules. Feeling powerless, many of us experience sleepless nights. I’ve worried about my family, the pandemic, division, hatred, increasing violence, and the upcoming election. I find fear robs me of peace.

Worry comes naturally. Why resist? Jesus gives us the answer, ‘Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest’ (Luke 12:25-26).

Jesus says we have nothing to worry about. When we grasp the truth of who God is and trust His plan, we find freedom from anxiety.” (Kit-Gale Moody via Facebook)

James 4:13-17
 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

3. Valleys are IMPARTIAL. It rains on the unjust and not just the “just"! Look around in our pandemic; everybody is suffering mentally, physically and emotionally. Some worse than others, but everyone is going through this valley.

Matthew 5:43-45
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

4. Valleys are TEMPORARY. Peter refers to a "season of suffering" (I Peter 1:6). Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a "time" for all things. 

1 Peter 1:6-7 
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:
    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
    a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace

Paul reminds us that God knows how much we can handle.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

5. Valleys are for BUILDING FAITH. James tells us to "count it all joy" when we fall into a valley because God is answering our prayer and making us more like Christ, stronger in our faith and deeper in our understanding.

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

6. It is in the valleys WE ARE DISCIPLINED for a better life. The book of Hebrews was written for the benefit of those who are about to give up on God. 

Hebrews 12:7-11
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
 
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Conclusion:

In those dark valleys we find ourselves struggling to see and understand God’s presence. We know through faith he is in the valley with us but we struggle. We usually don’t see his presence clearly until we get out of the valley. It is then we look back and realize it was only God who could have led me out. 

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.
You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord 
    forever.

Jesus trod the dark valley for all of us. He died to bridge the valley so those who believe in him can avoid spiritual death. 

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Romans 6:4-5 
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Glamour is not Greatness

Let it never be forgotten that glamour is not greatness; applause is not fame; prominence is not eminence. The man of the hour is not apt to be the man of the ages. A stone may sparkle, but that does not make it a diamond; people may have money, but that does not make them a success.

It is what the unimportant people do that really counts and determines the course of history. The greatest forces in the universe are never spectacular. Summer showers are more effective than hurricanes, but they get no publicity. The world would soon die but for the fidelity, loyalty, and consecration of those whose names are unhonored and unsung. (James R. Sizoo Bits & Pieces, June 22, 1995, p. 11.)