Walking Through the Valley (Psalm 23:4)

A change takes place in the psalm in verse 4 in that the sheep now commences to speak to the Shepherd rather than speaking about the Shepherd as has been the case in verses 1-3. The psalm can be divided into two because of this change: verses 1-3 could be called ‘Speaking About the Shepherd’ and verses 4-6 could be called ‘Speaking to the Shepherd’. I suppose we could say that this is an important order. Once we know who the Shepherd is, we will know how to speak to him.

What is the valley?

Many people regard David as speaking about literal death and apply it to the last moments in a person’s life. While that may be an application of what David has in mind, his description cannot be limited to that time in a believer’s life. Instead I would say that the valley describes the Christian’s journey through this world. It has been suggested that David is referring to the journey that a sheep would make when the Shepherd took his flock from the winter pastures to the summer pastures. The winter pastures were lower down and the valley was the route taken to the higher plains. It is not hard to see in this illustration a picture of a Christian leaving the winter of sin behind and travelling upwards to the heavenly pastures.

The valleys that the shepherd would take his flock along were not totally bleak. Just as we see valleys with green fields, so there were rich pastures in some of the valleys in Israel. But there would also be forests and steep cliffs which darkened things. The valley had its name because death was all around. There would have been many shadows and we will think about them shortly. But the point I would stress presently is that light has to be shining to some extent in order to see shadows. Therefore, we can deduce that the sheep is never travelling in complete darkness but even at the worst of times there is sufficient light to see the dangers. The light is given to Christians because the Shepherd is there, as David stresses in this verse. After all, they know that Jesus is the Light.

The sheep is travelling by faith through the valley – we see his faith in his use of the word ‘through’. Although he knows that the valley is a place of danger, he knows that it is not a place of permanent defeat and disaster. He expects to get through to the end of his journey. The hope of a Christian does not disappear just because things get difficult. We don’t travel to heaven lying on a couch, but by walking through the valley of dangers.

How did a sheep get through the valley? He did so step by step and that is the only way to live the Christian life. We can imagine the sheep seeing a danger ahead. He cannot avoid it, but must keep on walking. When I was young, if I saw someone ahead of me I did not wish to speak to, I would make a detour. Usually the tactic did not work because the individual had seen me and mentioned to me on a later occasion that he had. Some people imagine the Christian life is like that and look for ways to avoid spiritual troubles. But in the valley we cannot escape the shadows. Wherever we go, one or more will be there. There is nothing for it but ongoing consecration, to resolve to persist in our journey until we reach its end.

The likely dangers

As the sheep travelled through the valley, it would face danger from wild animals, from landslides and from losing its footing by carelessness or distraction. We can easily see several spiritual dangers that threaten our journey through the world.

One of them is the devil and his agents. He has two methods of assaulting the sheep. Sometimes he tries to frighten the sheep by making a noise in the sheep’s ear. Peter describes the devil as roaring like a lion looking for prey. The devil can bombard a believer with all kinds of threats. He may suggest possible troubles ahead; he may threaten persecution; he may resurrect past sins. In addition to roaring, the devil also will tempt believers to sin. He will try and make disobedience attractive to the sheep, and sometimes he succeeds.

The sheep also faced dangers from landslides occurring as it was passing a particular point. Also it had to watch out for the effects of previous landslides that left rocks and boulders scattered all over the place. We could regard those rocks as dangers connected to the valley’s environment and they can depict the sins of others that a Christian encounters as he makes his way forward. Those sins may be fresh, as depicted in a landslide, or they may be old, depicted in the rocks lying around. After all, we face both kinds of sin today. There are new ones and there are old ones. Both are dangerous, although we may be more careful with the newer because of its seeming power and energy. In contrast, we can become so used to the rocks that we forget that initially they too were sin. By definition, a landslide is chaotic in its consequences, and sin by definition is the same.

The third kind of danger facing a sheep would arise from within itself and we can describe them as carelessness and curiosity. A sheep walking in front of a fast-moving car illustrates a Christian who has become careless about the shadows he sees on his pathway. What marks a careless Christian? Lack of Bible reading and prayer. Reading the Bible devotionally and prayer keep us alert to current troubles within and without. A sheep can also be curious about a bit of grass on the other side of a gate and stick its head through and get stick by its horns. Christians see something that looks good and make their way towards it. But instead of discovering a pleasant encounter, they meet something wrong and harmful. A book describing claimed heights of Christian experience is dangerous if the author is writing about what is wrong, and that is the case no matter who the author is.

The good thing for each sheep of Christ’s as he or she travels through the valley is that they do not travel through it by themselves. David here affirms that the Shepherd is with him. This is a reminder that a sheep of Jesus needs more than the company of other sheep. They are essential for fellowship, but all of them are equally in need of the Shepherd’s help. And he is there to help all of them as they travel through the valley full of shadows.

Therefore, it is possible for the sheep of Jesus to say, ‘I will fear no evil.’ The evil may be known ones or unknown ones; they may be solitary or numerous simultaneously. Of course, this is not a statement of self-confidence, because if that were the case it would be a foolish statement. Instead, it is a statement of confidence in the Shepherd, especially in his faithfulness to his role.

It is important to have spiritual courage. Sometimes we are frightened of one personal weakness or one particular temptation or one area in life that is threatening. If we let them become bigger in our estimation than the Saviour is, then we will not enjoy his presence as we should. Instead, when such thoughts occur in our thinking, we should start looking at the capabilities of the Shepherd who is walking ahead of us (in the sense that we see what he can do in his Word). I would say that we should initially focus on his wisdom, his power and his covenant love and ask the Holy Spirit to make Jesus bigger and bigger to the perception and grasp of our faith.

We need to remember that the Shepherd is with us despite what we are – sinners. Even although we have been converted we still sin, sometimes deliberately. Yet he is with us. And we should remember that he is with us because of who we are. We are the gift that the Father, in his electing love, gave to his Son; we are the redeemed, delivered from the slavery of sin by his atoning blood; we are the sons of God, members of the heavenly family. And we should remember that he is with us because of what we shall yet be through the fulfilment of his gracious plans to take all his people to be with himself.

The Lord and his instruments

David no doubt used his rod and staff as he looked after his sheep and had used those instruments for the good of his flock. We are not to imagine a shepherd walking along with a stick in each hand. The rod was more like a club and a shepherd carried it in his belt; the staff was longer and it was shaped like a crook. It is likely that a sheep never saw the shepherd without them. As far as a sheep was concerned, those instruments were part of the shepherd’s identity.

The point of the rod is obvious – it would have been used for protecting the sheep from wild animals or even from sheep stealers. When the rod was used, it was an effective destroyer of the danger that the sheep faced. A club in the hand of a strong shepherd would crush the attacker. David here is saying that the Lord is able to crush anything that threatens his people.

The shepherd would use his rod or staff to number his sheep. In Ezekiel 20:37, God uses this practice as an illustration of what he would do for Israel when he restored them: ‘I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.’ The sheep would be gathered round the shepherd and he would hold his staff over them as he counted them one by one. He did this to show his concern that none were missing. In a far higher sense, the heavenly Shepherd knows who his sheep are and where they are all the time.

The crook was used for rescuing any sheep that had gone astray or fallen into a hole. Often sheep would find themselves in a spot that the shepherd could not reach except by his crook. If those sheep could speak, they would say that they were glad that he had a crook. With regard to Jesus, we don’t say that he has a crook for a staff; instead we say that he is the staff who reaches down to where we are in order to rescue us.

So Jesus the Good Shepherd comforts his sheep by protecting them from enemies and by recovering them from difficult situations. This is another way of saying that a sheep of Christ is safe. But the reality of this has to be conveyed to them for their comfort, and Jesus does this for each of his people by the Holy Spirit. In what ways will the Holy Spirit comfort them in the valleys of life? Here are two suggestions.

One way in which he can do so is to remind them that their current experience will sanctify them and make them more like Jesus, that somehow the valley with all its problems is used by the Spirit to make them more devoted to God. A remarkable example of this dedication was Job when he insisted, ‘Though he slay me, I will trust him.’

Another way by which the Spirit comforts them is to assure them that they are on the road to glory, that the uneven, rocky path leads to the Celestial City. They may wonder at times if they will manage to reach there, but they will be comforted by the many promises found in the Bible about the certainty connected to his people reaching their heavenly home.