Psalm 23:4

In the warm late-Spring and summer months, sheep graze in the wide-open spaces of grassy highland pastures. Left to themselves, they would remain in those pastures indefinitely and never leave. If their shepherd allowed them to stay there, they would eventually die when the harsh winters set in. Frigid temperatures, accumulating snow, and biting wind would overtake them.

To prevent this disastrous outcome, a shepherd must guide his flock back to the fenced farmyard and barn near his homestead down in the valley or at the base of the mountain. As autumn winds down, he leads them down from their carefree mountaintop experience to the safety of his home.

This journey is usually a treacherous and uncomfortable one:

• Crossing rushing river rapids
• Walking over rocky, rough terrain
• Traversing dangerous alpine meadows
• Passing through shadowy forests

These descents into the valleys feature many opportunities for sheep to be swept away, wander off, fall prey to a predator on land or in the sky, or give up.

There is no way to avoid this journey unpleasant journey. It is the only way forward because it is the only way to get the sheep through winter in safety when they can return to the mountaintop pastures once again.

Like sheep who need a shepherd to guide them, we’re always helpless. We desperately need God to guide us through life. We all enjoy the “mountaintop experiences” that come our way – those times when everything is comfortable and nice. Yet we’re unable to move forward without going through some difficult things.

We call these difficult experiences or journeys in life “walking through the valley.” These are necessary experiences that we cannot avoid, but we can go through them with the confidence that comes from knowing that our shepherd is leading us on.

Walking through the valley increases our self-awareness.

Can you notice the shift in perspective from the first three verses of this Psalm to the fourth? The first three verses emphasize the Lord and he, referring to the Lord. In v.4, David shifts abruptly to an emphasis on I, referring to himself.

This happens to us all when we step into difficult situations and enter difficult stages in life. We shift our focus from God to ourselves. This subtle often sudden shift can be either harmful or helpful to our mindset and approach.

• This self-ward shift can be harmful if it becomes unhealthy self-pity, fear, or frustration that blames God, looks backward rather than forward, and worries about what will happen up ahead.
• This self-ward shift can be helpful if it becomes a renewed awareness of our helplessness and our desperate need for the Lord.

What was something you were afraid to do as a child and how did you feel less “confident” or “carefree” when you had to do it. For me, I shifted to a sudden, fearful self-awareness when my parents asked me to do an errand in the basement or outside after dark. I could be enjoying a tasty meal or having some fun with my toys, without a care in the world, but when my parents asked me to do a chore like this, I would suddenly feel helpless.

• Sometimes this fear would cause me to resent my parents for giving me the job.
• Other times this fear would cause me to focus more intently and do my job seriously.

We face experiences like this today:

• Losing a job
• A broken relationship
• A financial setback
• Opposition from other people
• Declining health or a scary diagnosis
• A sudden or major change to our lives

Uncomfortable, unexpected experiences like these are necessary because they help us to take life more seriously, reflect more thoughtfully, and make decisions more carefully.

• If we respond wrongly, then we develop bitterness, discouragement, or depression.
• If we respond properly, then we will draw closer to God – our shepherd – because they remind us of our true helplessness and need for him.

Key Questions

• What is a circumstance or trial that you’ve recently faced that’s increased your self-awareness?
• Has this increased self-awareness caused you to turn away from God or draw more closely to him?
• What are you doing to show that you are depending on him more than before?

Walking through valleys requires that we make good decisions.

Notice how David says I “walk through” the valley. Walking is a common metaphor that Scripture uses, both in the Old and New Testaments, to portray life as a journey of many steps, not an occasional burst of inspiration.

• Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher, rightly said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
• Another Chinese proverb correctly observes, “To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.”
• John Wanamaker, a pioneer in department store retail and marketing and a faithful Christian, said, “One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time.”

The “valleys” of life usually unfold as drawn-out experiences, not momentary episodes that flare up one day and blow away the next. That’s why James teaches us to practice patience when we experience trials (Jam 1:2-4) and why the NT emphasizes endurance so frequently.

The key to walking through our trials successfully is not to figure out some fool-proof way to pray our way out of our problems as quickly as possible. Instead, we must learn how to make a long series of good and godly choices, one step after another. That’s why James teaches us to seek godly, biblical wisdom rather than find a fast way out (Jam 1:5).

Key Question

• When you experience a trial, how do you pray, or what prayer request do you share? Do you simply ask for healing and a quick way out? Or do you ask God for wisdom to walk through the trial and to make you more like him in the process?

Walking through valleys awakens fear of death.

When we go through stretched-out, difficult experiences in life, we’re often tempted to be afraid. But what are we afraid of? We’re afraid of all sorts of things. But at the end of the rope for every fear is the ultimate fear that drives all unhealthy fears – the fear of death. In one form or another, we’re afraid to die.

Sometimes we’re afraid to die physically.

• When we experience a health crisis, we’re afraid to die.
• When someone is hostile towards us, we’re afraid to die.
• When crime is escalating in our community, we’re afraid to die.
• When we get onto airplanes, we’re afraid to die.

Other times we’re afraid to die socially by losing our reputation or quality of life.

• When we fail an exam, we’re afraid of this.
• When we’re released from our job, we’re afraid of this.
• When we’re rejected by another person, we’re afraid of this.
• When we fall into debt or some other financial crisis, we’re afraid of this.

Yet here’s the reality. Such fear will paralyze us in our forward progress in life, not only as human beings but as Christians. As risky as following Christ through trials and hardships may be, the risk is even greater if we stay put and do nothing.

Christ himself taught this truth to his disciples before his own crucifixion (John 12:24-26):

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”

When we hold on to our lives as they are, we lose them in the end. But if we let go of our lives to follow Christ, we keep them in the end and even more.

Life itself brings enough trouble our way but following Christ as our shepherd and Lord brings even more. Yet it’s following Christ through dark valleys that brings us safely home, not settling down in the safety of the highlands.

Ultimately, David points out that for the person who follows Christ as his shepherd, though the threat of death is real, that threat is only a shadow. In other words, the “bark is worse than the bite.” As Paul himself observed, “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15:54).

Key Questions

• What fears do you have which are ultimately grounded in a fear of death?
• What fears do you have which are ultimately grounded in a fear of losing reputation or quality of life?
• What decision might you need to make to follow Christ setting your fears aside?

Walking through valleys draws us closer to the Lord.

When sheep enjoy the open, highland pastures in the springtime, they generally roam more freely and farther from their shepherd’s presence.

As Robert Robertson wrote in 1758, as a young man in his twenties – a few years after believing on Christ, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love,” we can empathize with this tendency.

We can “settle into a groove” and get comfortable with our situation in life, then the Lord brings a sudden change or difficult trial our way to “lead us down into the valley.” Hudson Taylor, the well-known missionary of the China Inland Mission in the mid-to-late 1800s, called these experiences the “valley of tears.”

When we leave the comforts of our present life to follow our Lord on the arduous descent down the mountain, it’s remarkable how we tend to walk more closely to him. When we cross over the tree line into the forest and the shadows dim our eyes, we give more effort to walk as closely to our shepherd as possible.

Perhaps this is why Christ assured his followers that as they went out into the wide, wide world to “seek their fortunes” (er, um, to “make disciples”), he would “be with them always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20).

There is no time or place during this era in which the church is spreading the gospel and waiting for Christ’s return that he is not with us as a shepherd is with his sheep. We are wise to follow him closely.

Key Questions

• Have you been more or less aware of Christ’s presence in your life this past week?
• How are you responding to Christ since he is always with you?

When we walk through the valleys, our Shepherd skillfully guides us.

David describes how the Lord guides us by highlighting a shepherd’s two primary tools: a rod and a staff.

• The rod, which was a wooden club, would hang at the shepherd’s side or sit in a sheath. This club would be chosen by the shepherd from the root of an oak tree, with the bulb at the beginning of the root serving as the head of the blub and the handle being carved and fashioned to fit the grip of the shepherd’s hand comfortably.[1]
• The staff was a longer stick, as long as six feet, that served less as a club and more as a walking or climbing stick. Sometimes this staff would feature a curved or hook-shaped end.[2]

So, how would a shepherd use these tools to guide his sheep through the valleys?

With a rod, he examines me.

Each night, before the sheep lay down to sleep, they “pass under the rod” of the shepherd so he can count them and account that they are there and not lost. He will often use his rod to push back their wool to ensure that no matting, injuries, diseases, or bug infestations have developed on their skin during the day.

Key Question

• How is God keeping a close watch on you and examining you for spiritual flaws?

He does this through regular observance of the Lord’s Table, close/accountable friendships with other church members, and the personal ministry of the Holy Spirit.

With a rod, he corrects me.

Sometimes a sheep will become so rebellious and stubborn that the shepherd may need to break its leg by striking it with his rod. This is undesirable of course, but sometimes necessary. When a shepherd does this, he then picks up the sheep and carries it on his shoulders, caring for it until the leg heals. This drastic measure humbles the sheep and forms a closer bond between the sheep and the shepherd.

Key Question

• How has God corrected your wayward behavior, whether recently or not?

According to Hebrews 12:5-11, God disciplines his children when we persist in disobeying him. “No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Such correction is sometimes necessary, but it shows that he loves us enough to move in the right direction, and it produces a godly change in our lives as a result.

With a rod, he protects me.

Sometimes a sheep is cornered or stalked or even attacked by a predator, such as an eagle, a coyote, a cougar, or a wolf. When the shepherd sees that this is happening or has occurred, he will use his rod as a fighting club to wound or kill the predator that’s threatening his sheep.

Key Question

• How has God protected you from danger?

When my parents moved from the safety of rural Indiana to the country of South Africa as missionaries, people would ask my mother if she was afraid? After all, South Africa is known for ineffective law enforcement and high crime rates. She would simply reply, “There’s no safer place than the center of God’s will.” She knew that if they followed Christ to South Africa, he would protect them – and he did.

With a staff, he rescues me.

Sometimes a sheep wanders off the pathway or falls into a ravine. The shepherd will use his staff to reach out and nudge the sheep back to the pathway. Or he may use the staff as a lever or lift pull the sheep back to safety.

Key Question

• How is God keeping you focused and moving in the right direction?

Is there a verse of Scripture that comes to your mind? A friend from church who gives you friendly reminders and encouragement? Do you listen to godly music throughout the week?

My shepherd’s faithful care comforts me in the valleys of life.

With all the care that our shepherd provides in our journey through life’s valleys, we can find great comfort in the darkest of times. Speaking like a helpless sheep, David tells us that he found tremendous relief and encouragement when he walked through the valley.

• In his peripheral view, he could see the shadows of the dark forest and encircling predators around him.
• Yet he could also see something else, the oak club dangling from his shepherd’s belt and the walking staff in his shepherd’s hand.

Whenever the shadows and sounds of the valley struck fear in his heart and urged him to go back to the pastures behind, the rod and the staff of his shepherd brought instant relief. Whatever dangers or threats he would face in the valley, he knew that his shepherd was ready and prepared to solve those problems head-on.

Today, let me encourage you to follow Christ through the valley. Be willing to take steps of obedience to worship and serve him in the weeks and months ahead in new and more challenging ways. As you do, rest assured that your shepherd will guide you forward no matter what you fear may happen. Follow the Lord forward into the future and he will comfort you along the way.

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[1] George M. Mackie, Bible Manners and Customs (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, n.d.), p. 31. For a full discussion of the rod and its uses, see E. Power, “The Shepherd’s Two Rods in Modern Palestine and in Some Passages of the Old Testament,” Biblica, 9 (1928), 434–442.

[2] John J. David, The Perfect Shepherd: Studies in the Twenty-Third Psalm (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 100.