SPEAKER_00: Hey, we're in Psalm 23.
SPEAKER_00: We're doing one verse today, verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited for it.
SPEAKER_00: Probably maybe one of the most quoted verses in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: But before we jump in, I need you guys to remember something about your life.
SPEAKER_00: Can you remember a time that you walked into something completely unprepared?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, whether it was a job interview, a test you thought was open book, but it wasn't, uh, maybe it was a meeting you forgot about, or maybe you took your kid somewhere without snacks.
SPEAKER_00: What a rookie mistake.
SPEAKER_00: Talk about being unprepared.
SPEAKER_00: Well, okay, if you come to our church long enough, you stick around, uh, you're gonna hear a little bit stories from my childhood, uh, specifically from my sweet little hometown called Honey Grove, uh, which is about an hour that way.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's a thousand people, one stoplight, and I graduated with 30 people in my class.
SPEAKER_00: Now, there's some disadvantages to a school like that, um, but also there are some advantages, namely that with sports, you didn't have to try out for the team, you just had to sign up, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And that was good for me because a guy of my small stature and low muscle density uh could play football.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I actually played football from second grade uh to senior year.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, they needed every guy in the school to play football.
SPEAKER_00: Roderick probably would have been quarterback of my team, Jonah would have been like a left guard, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Well, anyways, I love football.
SPEAKER_00: Well, anyways, I can still remember this moment in high school.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we're practicing, it's two days, and we're uh practicing tackling, okay, form tackling.
SPEAKER_00: And we're doing all the things Oklahoma drill, bull in the ring.
SPEAKER_00: Well, there's a moment where one of the coaches uh took all of us little guys to the side and said, Boys, we need to talk.
SPEAKER_00: And all the guys are practicing practicing tackling, and the coach says to all of us little guys, he says, Guys, here's the deal.
SPEAKER_00: For most of your teammates, they can, while tackling, uh, use their own strength to overpower the other guy and take the guy down.
SPEAKER_00: That is likely never gonna happen for you in your life, okay?
SPEAKER_00: You're never going to overpower a human being on the football field ever.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, thanks, coach, for believing in us.
SPEAKER_00: Well, anyways, in this moment, he taught us two things specifically to all the little guys playing football.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing was how to prepare for a hit, and the second thing was how to take a hit, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I mean by that.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he taught us in this moment techniques to prepare for the hit to come, to lower your body, to get in the right position, and then he taught us how to take a hit.
SPEAKER_00: Not to initiate contact, but to absorb contact, okay?
SPEAKER_00: To use their momentum to try to tackle the guy, not to get ran over, but hopefully to trip the guy, or hold on long enough until Calvary came.
SPEAKER_00: And I got really good at that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, anyways, um, the moment was this.
SPEAKER_00: The point was this we had to be prepared for hits.
SPEAKER_00: Because when a hit comes, it's one thing to get blindsided, that's difficult.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're prepared, you can at least be ready for the hit to come.
SPEAKER_00: I'll never forget the last time I ever wore football pads or a helmet uh was my senior year playoff game against Italy, Texas.
SPEAKER_00: And uh they had this beast of a running back, he was built like a mat truck, and just absolutely dominated us.
SPEAKER_00: We got beat.
SPEAKER_00: But I'll still remember this one play where he comes through the line, gets past the linebackers, and I'm the safety, obviously.
SPEAKER_00: And he comes and I did everything Coach told us to do.
SPEAKER_00: All the techniques, absorb the hit, go low.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but this guy ran over me so bad that it didn't just make the YouTube recap video.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they captured me getting bulldozed, but also they replayed it in slow motion, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It's on I watched it this week on YouTube, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Um my point is this sometimes, sometimes you can prepare for a hit and it still hurts.
SPEAKER_00: But the worst hits are the ones that you never see coming.
SPEAKER_00: In a very similar way, life is like that.
SPEAKER_00: And that there's an idea in the psalm that we just read that talks about that same idea that in life there are hits that you do not see coming.
SPEAKER_00: A phone call, a diagnosis, a scan, a breakup, a betrayal, the death of a loved one, a child who's walking through suffering, a child who walked away from the path that you put them on, parents who don't approve of your relationship, your engagement, the payments for student loans all of a sudden kick in and you're not ready, we could keep going.
SPEAKER_00: There's so many different things that can hit us out of nowhere that feel like getting hit by a Mac truck.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the greatest dangers in life and in faith following Jesus is not just suffering, but it's being unprepared for suffering.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, there's a lot of my friends from college who I used to go to church with and used to sit in seats just like this, uh who no longer walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And if you ask them why, like why don't you follow Jesus anymore, it's not because they all of a sudden deny the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not because they converted to like Hinduism or Buddhism.
SPEAKER_00: It's none of that.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you ask them why they stopped following Jesus, almost always it's because a series of serious suffering came into their life and they did not know how to handle it.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have the theological framework or the community they had didn't have the theological framework to understand suffering, and it knocked them off their feet.
SPEAKER_00: And they, and perhaps some of us in this room, can quietly assume that if God loves us, then life would generally go well, and if life's not going well, then God can't be trusted.
SPEAKER_00: And so this morning, I want to try to help with that, and Tyson wants to try to help with that, singing songs about singing in the valley.
SPEAKER_00: I want to try to prepare us for suffering with this verse.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not dumb, okay, it would be impossible for me to prepare you for all kinds of suffering unique to you that you might face, but I do think Psalm 23, specifically verse 4, it can prepare you to take a hit.
SPEAKER_00: But also you might be able to use the hit to use suffering for your own advantage, to push you further and deeper in your walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: At least that's true in my life.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's do this.
SPEAKER_00: Olivia just read it, but let's highlight it.
SPEAKER_00: Go back to verse 4, and we'll read it slowly, but before we read it, let me pray for us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I'm thankful that no matter how much water we put on the grass in Texas this week, the grass is gonna wither.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, it doesn't matter how many flowers my wife plants around our house, so this week with the heat, they are going to fade.
SPEAKER_00: But God, I'm thankful that the grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord stands forever.
SPEAKER_00: God bless us in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read verse four.
SPEAKER_00: Look at it.
SPEAKER_00: I'll read it slow since the words are kind of updated from old English.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, verse four.
SPEAKER_00: Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger.
SPEAKER_00: For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's a great one to memorize if you're in a season of pain or doubt or grief, if you're in the valley, to use the language of the text.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want to do this morning, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I think David teaches us a few things about two things here.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, first, he's gonna teach us quickly a thing or two about suffering, generally, and then he's gonna teach us again, he's gonna revisit the role of the shepherd in this text.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but first I want to look at three quick truths about suffering we learned from David, okay, about the valley that comes from the first adverbial clause.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the first phrase here.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we'll go quick, look at it.
SPEAKER_00: The first truth I want you to see from this text is this suffering is to be expected.
SPEAKER_00: That suffering is to be expected.
SPEAKER_00: Look carefully at verse 4 and notice what it says.
SPEAKER_00: It says, even when I go.
SPEAKER_00: Now notice what it doesn't say.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say even if I go, does it?
SPEAKER_00: No, David knew that when it comes to suffering, it's a when, not an if.
SPEAKER_00: He knew that the valley, it wasn't just a detour around traffic or a wreck.
SPEAKER_00: No, it was the planned route from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: And not only that, it's not like the sheep wandered into the valley by themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, like if I take EJ to Target and she's not in the buggy or the cart, whatever you guys call it, and she's following us and she happens to wander and disappear and reappear in the toy aisle.
SPEAKER_00: It's not like that here.
SPEAKER_00: No, you notice something in the language.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: Can you go back a verse?
SPEAKER_00: Notice who is leading who.
SPEAKER_00: It says, He, the shepherd, leads me along what?
SPEAKER_00: The right paths.
SPEAKER_00: I would underline that for his namesake.
SPEAKER_00: David says this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm playing, follow the leader, and I'm following the shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And the shepherd always takes me down the right paths, the good paths.
SPEAKER_00: Like not wrong paths, good paths.
SPEAKER_00: And then without skipping a beat in verse 4, what does it say?
SPEAKER_00: Even when I walk through the darkest valley.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, can you see it?
SPEAKER_00: There are two very clear truths here from that verse.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, the same shepherd that leads us beside quiet waters also leads us through dark valleys.
SPEAKER_00: It's true.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's true, also likewise, that means the darkest valley is a path of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Or it is the right path.
SPEAKER_00: Or it's exactly where God wants us to be.
SPEAKER_00: David understood that, that suffering's to be expected.
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's important for us to understand today.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the truth you can follow the shepherd and still end up in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it can be easy to assume that if I follow God, life will go well, and if I'm suffering, I must have done something wrong.
SPEAKER_00: But guys, if you read the Bible, it does not make that connection.
SPEAKER_00: It does not say, as you follow Jesus, prepare for a suffering-free life.
SPEAKER_00: No, it almost guarantees the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, in this world you will have trouble.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, everybody who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
SPEAKER_00: Peter says, don't be surprised when fiery trials come, as if something unusual is happening.
SPEAKER_00: The argument is it's usual.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Over and over again, the Bible doesn't teach us to be surprised by suffering, it teaches us how to remain faithful in the middle of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: And if you read the Bible, you start thinking about the source of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Like where does suffering and pain come from?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it comes from all different angles and different places.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the source of suffering, just case study, between Jonah, Joseph, and Job.
SPEAKER_00: Jonah's suffering, where'd that one come from?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it came from his own sin, didn't it?
SPEAKER_00: He ran from God, got swallowed by a whale.
SPEAKER_00: That's on him, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, think about Joseph's suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Did Joseph in Genesis suffer because of his own sin?
SPEAKER_00: Well, not necessarily, it was the sins of others.
SPEAKER_00: His brothers, right?
SPEAKER_00: But then you get to Job.
SPEAKER_00: And you learn something unique about suffering when it comes to Job.
SPEAKER_00: That there are realities at work that we cannot see and we cannot understand behind suffering.
SPEAKER_00: That we have an enemy, Satan, but we also have a God who loves to make the valley of death a path of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And so this morning, if you ask the question, like, why am I in darkness?
SPEAKER_00: You can't immediately conclude that God has abandoned you, or that you've done something wrong, though you may have.
SPEAKER_00: You may just be in the valley because you're following the shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first thing.
SPEAKER_00: That suffering is expected.
SPEAKER_00: Let's keep going, because just because it's expected, it doesn't make suffering less painful or less real.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the second thing we learned from this verse is that suffering is real.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's still painful, it's still real suffering, and it's still dark.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he calls the valley in verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: It's different than the old English.
SPEAKER_00: It says this even when I go through the darkest valley, he calls it the darkest valley, or maybe your translation says the valley of the shadow of death.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I looked into it.
SPEAKER_00: Why did the CSB guys change the language in this translation?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I what's wrong with the valley of the shadow of death?
SPEAKER_00: It sounds more intense, more helpful.
SPEAKER_00: And there's actually a reason why they did this.
SPEAKER_00: It was an attempt to clarify the language.
SPEAKER_00: Because this word in Hebrew, it doesn't just mean death.
SPEAKER_00: What I mean by that is it's broader than physical death.
SPEAKER_00: It can describe just a period of deep darkness, of deathly gloom, or just a dark place.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it includes any suffering, any darkness that feels heavy.
SPEAKER_00: And also if your vision feels limited.
SPEAKER_00: You ever been in a spot where you can't see ahead?
SPEAKER_00: That's what a valley was for the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the valley they could not see that far ahead.
SPEAKER_00: They did not know when the valley would end, and they could not see around the next bend.
SPEAKER_00: But notice something quickly here.
SPEAKER_00: David, he doesn't minimize the valley.
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say, when it's dark and you're going through a valley, he doesn't say, hey, don't worry about the valley.
SPEAKER_00: It's a valley of sunshine and rainbows.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say that, does he?
SPEAKER_00: No, he says this is a valley of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: He calls it what it is.
SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't say later, there is no danger in the valley.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I fear no danger, and that's a difference.
SPEAKER_00: You see, David, he doesn't discount or minimize suffering.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a word for us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Because oftentimes, as you follow Jesus, faith in Jesus doesn't mean pretending that suffering is light.
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't mean pretending like it's nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it doesn't mean you need to smile through all the pain, and if you had faith, you wouldn't call it dark.
SPEAKER_00: No, you can say with David, this is a valley, and it's a dark valley, and it's painful.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I know some of the suffering in this room, and I can tell you it is real and it sucks.
SPEAKER_00: And it's okay to call it what it is.
SPEAKER_00: David calls it what it is.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes suffering is expected and it always feels real.
SPEAKER_00: But then notice what David does next.
SPEAKER_00: He sneaks in a word here of hope in the first verse.
SPEAKER_00: Go back to verse 4 or the first phrase.
SPEAKER_00: Even when I go what?
SPEAKER_00: Through the darkest valley.
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it there?
SPEAKER_00: Notice the word through.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's a great word in this verse, is it not?
SPEAKER_00: If you just think about it for five minutes, through means we're not stopping in the valley, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's like driving through North Texas.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody goes to Louisville.
SPEAKER_00: We all drive through Louisville, right?
SPEAKER_00: Louisville is not a destination, it's a through.
SPEAKER_00: And there's something we can learn about this, and it's we gotta be careful, but here's the third thing about suffering, and it's this that suffering is temporary.
SPEAKER_00: That it is temporary.
SPEAKER_00: There is, for every believer, a temporary aspect to suffering.
SPEAKER_00: There is an end date, there is a sunrise, there is a new dawn coming, and it can give you hope to think about that while you're in the middle of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's sort of like Mallie and I waiting to find out the gender of this baby coming in a month, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Everybody in this church, when I said, hey, we're thinking about waiting, everybody was like, Zach, just wait, find out.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be worth it.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, I I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I regret it, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I wish we knew, okay, in this moment, if you ask me, we could be planning the nursery.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to think about two names.
SPEAKER_00: You want to talk about challenging, that's a valley.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, that in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: But everybody tells us, and you're gonna come up to me afterwards, like, no, Zach, it's gonna be worth it.
SPEAKER_00: Just think about the other side.
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it?
SPEAKER_00: That's the idea.
SPEAKER_00: If you think about the end, the better end, it will give you endurance in the middle.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's the idea.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what keeps cowboy fans like myself from getting their hopes up every July?
SPEAKER_00: The thought that we might actually win it this year, right, baby?
SPEAKER_00: Go cowboys.
SPEAKER_00: What kept Penelope from marrying one of her suitors?
SPEAKER_00: The thought that Odysseus might come home soon, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is what happens.
SPEAKER_00: You think about it.
SPEAKER_00: It's a good movie if you haven't seen it.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's the idea.
SPEAKER_00: It's a temporary thing.
SPEAKER_00: And guys, likewise, suffering in this life, it is temporary, and focusing on the other side can help to an extent.
SPEAKER_00: Like looking ahead to when the pain is gone, when the relationship is restored, the workload lightens up, whatever it is, but at the same time acknowledging that for some people and some suffering, the other side of the valley is not in this life.
SPEAKER_00: Not every illness is gonna get better, not every loss gets reversed, not every prayer is gonna get answered the way we want, and for some believers, the darkest valley is a valley of death.
SPEAKER_00: But praise God if you read the Bible and you sing that song that Tyson just led us, you know this that suffering and death is not the end game for the Christian, it's a means to an end.
SPEAKER_00: Death is a through, not a to for us.
SPEAKER_00: Darkness and the grave, they don't get the final word in the story.
SPEAKER_00: And on a sermon on suffering, you could actually take it there if you want.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we could spend the rest of our time talking about heaven, right?
SPEAKER_00: The end.
SPEAKER_00: And I could try to get us to find hope.
SPEAKER_00: But guys, that's not exactly what David does here.
SPEAKER_00: If you read the text, David, his primary comfort in this psalm is not the light at the end of the valley.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't find comfort from saying, Hey, I see an incline over there.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, the light at the end of the tunnel.
SPEAKER_00: No, he doesn't say, I fear no danger because it's about to end.
SPEAKER_00: What does he say?
SPEAKER_00: I fear no danger, why?
SPEAKER_00: His eyes shift and it says, Because you are with me.
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it?
SPEAKER_00: David's hope is not merely getting to the other side of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: His hope is in the Savior who is by his side in the middle of the suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it?
SPEAKER_00: And that's the point of this song.
SPEAKER_00: And the main idea for the rest of our time for David, as he's preparing to take a hit, actually, it's in the darkness and taking the hit that he realizes his hope and his trust is in the Savior, and it deepens his faith.
SPEAKER_00: And you can see it here, not just because where he looks, but who he talks to.
SPEAKER_00: There's a shift.
SPEAKER_00: You know, in the first few verses in Psalm 23, David's been talking about God, right?
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it?
SPEAKER_00: He leads me, he restores me, he makes me lie down, he leads me again, but something happens in the valley where David goes to talking about God to actually talking to God.
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it?
SPEAKER_00: And isn't that true in our life?
SPEAKER_00: That it's actually in the middle of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to talk about God and to talk about theology, and that's all helpful.
SPEAKER_00: But it's in the suffering where theology turns to prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what happens to David.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in these final words that David gives us three quick reasons why we can trust the shepherd in the valley.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
SPEAKER_00: First, the first reason he can trust the shepherd is because of his presence.
SPEAKER_00: His presence with us.
SPEAKER_00: Go back, read it slowly.
SPEAKER_00: It all builds up to that one idea.
SPEAKER_00: Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the climax of it.
SPEAKER_00: For you are with me.
SPEAKER_00: Or in other words, the scenery might change, but the shepherd does not hear.
SPEAKER_00: Like the shepherd here, he doesn't run away from the sheep in the valley, he doesn't abandon them.
SPEAKER_00: No, he stays with them.
SPEAKER_00: And great David's greatest comfort is in that reality.
SPEAKER_00: Not because he understands all of a sudden why he's in the valley, not because he knows he's gonna get through it, but the reason why he has comfort is because he knows who is with him in the middle.
SPEAKER_00: It's the withness of God that brings him comfort.
SPEAKER_00: And that idea, the withness of God, it is not unique to David.
SPEAKER_00: That is all over the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, one of the greatest promises of God to weak, scared, overwhelmed, anxious people is that he is with them.
SPEAKER_00: To Moses, God says, I will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: To Joshua, he says, I will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: To Isaiah, he says, Even when you go through waters, I am with you.
SPEAKER_00: And what does Jesus say to his ragtag, discouraged disciples on the mountain?
SPEAKER_00: Behold, I am with you to the end of the age.
SPEAKER_00: You see, you read all that and you begin to pick up on the reality that God doesn't always give us answers, but he does give us himself.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the comfort in the middle of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: It can bring you real comfort this morning.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I remember a story of uh a man named John Patton.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he's a missionary from a while back, and he went to the South Pacific to share the gospel, and the tribe did not want John Patton to share the gospel with them.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's on the run, and they're chasing him with machetes and spears, and he's in the forest, and John Patton to hide from these people, he climbs in a tree.
SPEAKER_00: And God spares him as he hides in this tree.
SPEAKER_00: And 40 years later, he comes back and he writes an autobiography because tens of thousands of people in that area came to know Jesus because of John Patton.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in this biography, he writes this sentence.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I would go back to that tree any day of my life if I could enjoy the same sweet, precious fulfillment of the promise of Jesus, I will be with you to the end of the age.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, I was alone, yet never alone.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the promise, right?
SPEAKER_00: That in a tree or in a valley, if you climb the highest mountain or make your bed in Sheol, God is still with you.
SPEAKER_00: That yes, the valley might be a place where visibility is low, but the presence of God is high.
SPEAKER_00: And it comforts us.
SPEAKER_00: And I've experienced this in my own life.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Mallie and I, my wife, have had different seasons of suffering, different valleys, uh, some serious suffering we've gone through.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll never forget the very first time my wife and I walked through a valley of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it was the moment we found out we were first pregnant for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: And when you first find out, you pee on the stick, it says pregnant, whatever, it's you get very excited.
SPEAKER_00: And you're overwhelmed with joy, and we're so pumped, thinking about life, and not a short time later, we found out that we lost the baby through miscarriage.
SPEAKER_00: And guys, it's hard to describe that roller coaster, right?
SPEAKER_00: Of a high, high and a low, low.
SPEAKER_00: Like all of your joy turns into sadness and then grief and then anger and then questions like, God, why would you do this?
SPEAKER_00: Like, aren't we obeying you?
SPEAKER_00: Aren't we following you?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not going to romanticize that night.
SPEAKER_00: That was a very difficult night.
SPEAKER_00: We cried, we grieved.
SPEAKER_00: I called Drake.
SPEAKER_00: I cried some more.
SPEAKER_00: But it was that night in bed with my wife, with no words to say, that the words of Jesus did become more real, that he will be with us always.
SPEAKER_00: And church the next morning singing how deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he would give his only son to make a wretch his treasure.
SPEAKER_00: And it's only in the middle of suffering sometimes that those words become true and you can cling to it.
SPEAKER_00: And so, church, I don't know what you're going through in this morning, this season.
SPEAKER_00: I can only imagine, and I know some of you are going through suffering, but you have to understand from verse 4 of Psalm 23 that if you feel alone, you are never alone.
SPEAKER_00: That God sees you, He has not abandoned you.
SPEAKER_00: And so, even if you're single and all your friends are getting married and you feel alone, even if you wish you had a baby because all your friends are having babies and you've been praying for years and you feel alone, if everybody around you is getting the promotion that you wish you got and you feel alone, guys, the scriptures are clear.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherd is with you.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the encouragement here from this text.
SPEAKER_00: He promised not to save us from suffering, but sustain us in the middle.
SPEAKER_00: That even when you can't understand his ways, oh, you can trust his heart.
SPEAKER_00: He's a good shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe the most comforting thing about the good shepherd is what happens next in these verses.
SPEAKER_00: Because we are unprepared for suffering a lot.
SPEAKER_00: We don't know what's coming, we can't see.
SPEAKER_00: But you notice something from this verse?
SPEAKER_00: The shepherd is not unprepared for this valley, is he?
SPEAKER_00: How do we know that?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's not empty-handed.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what's in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
SPEAKER_00: It says, For you are with me.
SPEAKER_00: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: And you can see it here.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just his presence that comforts David, but it's the things that are in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: First, the rod.
SPEAKER_00: Or in other words, the second thing that comforts David is not just his presence, but also his protection.
SPEAKER_00: His protection.
SPEAKER_00: Not just that he has a savior that's with them, but he's got a savior who can protect them.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the rod was a strong weapon that shepherds primarily use to defend the flock, away from lions and bears and stuff and wolves.
SPEAKER_00: And David, he sees this and he's looking at the shepherd in that rod, and he's going, sweet.
SPEAKER_00: Like I don't care what comes against me, what's on the other team, as long as I got Jesus and God with that rod, I'm gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's like if I'm playing basketball yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: Like if I look sideways and Brent Cohen is the best player on my team, I'm feeling nervous about the experience.
SPEAKER_00: But if I look sideways and Jordan McGuinness, okay, Wisconsin State champ, and literally named after Michael Jordan is on my team, he is carrying me to victory, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I feel great.
SPEAKER_00: Like Michael Jordan carrying the Looney Tunes, he can carry me to victory.
SPEAKER_00: That's best basket.
SPEAKER_00: We had a great time yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: But the point is this you can look, this is what David's doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's just looking who's on his side versus who's against him.
SPEAKER_00: The rod feels great.
SPEAKER_00: Having that guy with the rod on my team, it's stronger than what threatens me.
SPEAKER_00: That's the play here.
SPEAKER_00: David feels encouraged that even though he's the helpless sheep, he has comfort because God is stronger than the danger.
SPEAKER_00: And then David mentions his staff.
SPEAKER_00: And the staff is less about protection and more about guidance.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's a tool that was used by shepherds for guidance, for rescue, and care.
SPEAKER_00: You've seen the pictures, it's got a crook, a curved end on it.
SPEAKER_00: It was used to pull the sheep close, also to redirect the sheep if they were wandering, and also to save the sheep if they fell into a pit of danger.
SPEAKER_00: And with the rod, what David is saying is, I trust my shepherd to defend me.
SPEAKER_00: But with the staff, he is saying, I also trust the shepherd to guide me, to guide me.
SPEAKER_00: And that is really good news for us.
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't know about you, but people who are walking through suffering, when I go through suffering, I rarely feel like I'm following Jesus and doing a good job.
SPEAKER_00: Most of the time we feel confused, we forget how to pray, we don't want to read the Bible, we feel weak, mad, and numb.
SPEAKER_00: But the comfort of the staff is that our shepherd knows how to lead weak sheep.
SPEAKER_00: And that's good news.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know about you, but I'm usually pretty impressed by people who can train animals to do cool things.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, whether it's dogs or horses, or I read that dolphins can be trained by the Navy to find bombs underwater.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm generally pretty impressed about these animals, but I'm also impressed by the trainer, the one who has led the animals to do the thing.
SPEAKER_00: But guys, listen, it's one thing to be able to train a horse to do something.
SPEAKER_00: And it's another thing to lead a group of highly trained golden retrievers to do something.
SPEAKER_00: But what's even more impressive is that our shepherd knows how to lead sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Weak, confused, tired sheep.
SPEAKER_00: He knows how to pull us close.
SPEAKER_00: He knows how to redirect us, keep us from wandering, and that should bring us comfort.
SPEAKER_00: Because, guys, we don't need to know how to handle every bit of terrain we're gonna face.
SPEAKER_00: We don't need to know how to climb every mountain that's gonna be put in front of us.
SPEAKER_00: All we need to do is learn how to stay close to the shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, the Bible is gonna make a case that sometimes God uses suffering to reroute us, to wake us up, to convict us, and to show us what's important, to get sin out of our life.
SPEAKER_00: Or, in other words, almost always the reason we go through suffering is to make us more like Jesus and to fix our eyes on Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's the point of every single valley.
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately, where you're gonna find comfort, the greatest comfort in life, the reason that we can trust the shepherd to take us through the valley is because Jesus is no stranger to the valley.
SPEAKER_00: This is a road that his sandals have walked.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a verse in Hebrews that never sat well with me when I read it.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's a verse in Hebrews 4 that says something like this that we Christians, we do not have a high priest who can't sympathize with our weakness.
SPEAKER_00: You guys know the verse?
SPEAKER_00: It's this idea that Jesus can sympathize with us.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what it's like to suffer.
SPEAKER_00: And it never sat well with me because for the longest time I struggle with that, thinking, really?
SPEAKER_00: Like, does Jesus really know all suffering?
SPEAKER_00: Does he know every aspect of suffering?
SPEAKER_00: How does it make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Like, Jesus never got served divorce papers.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus never had student debt.
SPEAKER_00: He never had a car break down, he never lost a child, he never lost a baby, he never lost a job, he never got cut from his football team, he never got broken up with, he never had an engagement get called off.
SPEAKER_00: He never experienced every exact form of suffering that every person in this room has experienced.
SPEAKER_00: So how is it then that he can sympathize?
SPEAKER_00: That's the question, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, there is an answer to that question biblically.
SPEAKER_00: Because, sure, while Jesus did not swim in every water of suffering, he did go to the deepest of the water of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: And while he didn't travel every road of suffering that you are going to travel, he has traveled the road of suffering all the way to its darkest end.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what it's like to be misunderstood by people he loves.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what it's like to be rejected by his own people, betrayed by a close friend, abandoned by the people he loves, falsely accused, falsely tried, publicly humiliated, and physically tortured.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, he knows what it's like to be overwhelmed with sorrow.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what it's like to fall on his face to his father and ask, Lord, is there any other way?
SPEAKER_00: And he goes to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus may not have tasted every individual expression of suffering, but guys, he did drink the cup of suffering all the way to the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: He drank every last drop.
SPEAKER_00: And then he prays, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
SPEAKER_00: He entered the deepest valley and he carried sin and shame and guilt and grief, and he cries out.
SPEAKER_00: And so, no, Jesus did not walk through every circumstance you will walk through, but listen, there is no depth of pain that you can reach that Jesus hasn't also been.
SPEAKER_00: He has gone lower, he has gone further, he has walked through the deepest valley deeper than you ever will, and that is why he can sympathize with us, not theoretically and not from a distance.
SPEAKER_00: Our shepherd does not stay outside the valley and shout instructions down to us.
SPEAKER_00: No, he enters it with us.
SPEAKER_00: He knows the terrain, he knows the darkness, and he knows where the road leads, because at the cross the shepherd became the lamb.
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: And he walked all the way to the end of the valley of death, and he went down into the grave, and then he came out the other side.
SPEAKER_00: And so when Jesus says to us in the scriptures, hey, stay close.
SPEAKER_00: I can lead you, we can trust him.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because this is a road his sandals have walked, and guys, the hands that are holding the staff and the rod, those are scarred hands.
SPEAKER_00: He died for us.
SPEAKER_00: And so the conclusion and the comfort of Psalm 23 is not that Christians avoid the darkest valley.
SPEAKER_00: It's that we never enter a valley that Jesus can't enter with us.
SPEAKER_00: We never walk a road that he's not beside us, and there's never a darkness that he can't bring us home.
SPEAKER_00: And we can truly say that even when we walk through it, he's with us.
SPEAKER_00: Let me pray for us.
SPEAKER_00: God, I'm so thankful for the promise of verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I pray for all of us in the room.
SPEAKER_00: Especially those who are right now would describe this as a dark valley.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I'm so thankful that of all the places they could go this morning, stay in bed, hang out with friends, go get brunch, that they came to church, to sing songs to the good shepherd, and to read this verse.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you use this verse to lift their eyes to the shepherd?
SPEAKER_00: That even though you don't promise to save us or end a suffering like this, God, that you're doing something, that suffering's never wasted in this life.
SPEAKER_00: God, would we consider it pure joy when we face various trials, knowing that it's through it, through our suffering, that you produce character, hope, love, and faith?
SPEAKER_00: God, do it for King's Church.
SPEAKER_00: When people see us, the people in this room, suffer with a peace that is so strange to the world, would they see the love of Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And would we be the salt of the earth and a city on a hill within the city of Denver?
SPEAKER_00: We pray that in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You guys can stand a song of gratitude.