THE SHEPHERD WALKS WITH US

Transcript

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Hello everyone. This is Pastor Dean Thompson with a word of hope. The shepherd walks with you. The Lord is my shepherd.

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I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. Yea 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. Psalm twenty three verses one to four. There is a kind of pain that makes us forget who we are. Grief presses in until the world goes flat. Fear makes the future look like a closing door. Into that darkness, David hands us six syllables that have steadied trembled souls for three thousand years. The Lord is my shepherd. The Hebrew verb here raha means more than to manage a flock. It means to tend, to feed, to befriend. Philip Keller, who herded sheep before he wrote of this psalm, observed that sheep are notoriously timid creatures, who will not lie down when they are hungry, frightened or pestered. But David's shepherd maketh me to lie down, speaks of a peace he provides, not one we manufacture by gritting our teeth, but one he produces by his attentive presence. Notice that the Psalm pivots in verse four. Up to that point David has spoken about the shepherd, he leadeth, he restoreth. But when that path drops into the valley of Salmaveth, the shadow of death, deep darkness, David stops speaking about him and begins speaking to him. For thou art with me. Spurgeon caught the tenderness of it. When pain is most pressing, the soul speaks to its God most plainly. Sorrow does not silence the shepherd, it draws us nearer to his voice. And the valley, mark you, is something we walk through. It has an entrance and an exit. You are not lost. The path bends, but it does not abandon you. We hear, of course, the deeper echo. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. The one who leads us through every valley once entered the deepest valley himself, alone, that we might never walk it alone again. The pierced hand still holds the rod and staff. He has been where you are, he has come back for you. Today, if pain is heavy, hear the shepherd's voice. He is not far, he is not absent, he has not forgotten. The valley is real, but it is not the destination. He is leading you home. O good shepherd, when we cannot find words, please hear our heart. Lead us through this valley. We will not fear, because you are with us. Amen. God bless you, brothers and sisters.