This morning, we are going to dip back into that series of messages that I have been working through on suffering. This will be the sixth message on suffering, and it is titled Comfort in Suffering. And we will be looking at a portion of this famous Psalm 23. So let's read the text. This is the word of God. Psalm 23, a Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in pads of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 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, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, anytime we open the scriptures. We feel privileged, Lord, to have this book, to have these words, to have this revelation of who you are, your greatness and our great need of you. And yet, Lord, for the word to truly profit, we need the ministry of your spirit in us and amongst us to illumine, to give understanding, to liberate areas of our thinking where we're blind. Lord, would you do all of that this morning? Would you speak and give grace to your sheep that they would hear your voice and follow after you? We love you. We thank you for texts like this. Bless it to us in a fresh way this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, this chapter, as you all, I imagine, know, He's thought by some to be maybe the most well-known part of the entire Bible, not just the Old Testament. To many, it may be the best loved part of the sacred text. Charles Spurgeon referred to Psalm 23 as the pearl of Psalms. Another 19th century preacher said, there is no psalm in which the absence of all doubt, misgiving, fear, and anxiety is so remarkable. Alexander McLaren commented that the world could spare many a large book better than this sunny little psalm. It has dried many tears and supplied the mold into which many hearts have poured their peaceful faith. James Montgomery Boyce, the great 20th century preacher and author, said this of Psalm 23, quote, millions of people have memorized this psalm, even those who learned few other scripture portions. Ministers have used it to comfort people who are going through severe personal trials, suffering illness, or even dying. For some, the words of this psalm have been the last they uttered in life. One church historian recorded this grand summary of Psalm 23's effectiveness throughout the years of our church's history. Quote, it has sung courage to the army of the disappointed. It has poured balm and consolation into the hearts of the sick, of captives in dungeons, of widows in their pinching grief, of orphans in their loneliness. Dying soldiers have died easier. As Psalm 23 was read to them, ghastly hospitals have been illuminated. It has visited the prisoner and broken his chains, and like Peter's angel, led him forth in imagination and sung him back to his home again. It has made the dying Christian slave freer than his master. It's astounding, isn't it? Psalm 23. Not surprisingly, this is one of the first three chapters of the Bible I memorized as a new Christian. It isn't a far stretch to say that Psalm 23 is something of an Old Testament version of Romans 8. There is a depth of comfort here. It's a passage that has helped many a dear Christian to walk triumphantly through the darkest hours and the most difficult horrors. And I think without hesitation, if given one word to describe Psalm 23, many would simply say comfort. Well, this will be the prevailing theme this morning. as we focus on just a single verse within this mighty Psalm. And that single verse will be, as you might have guessed, Psalm 23, verse four. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Our approach to the text will be rather straightforward. It will consist of five parts. I want to consider the verse itself in four parts, and then fifthly, make a couple of observations on the text as a whole. So let's begin where the text begins, this opening phrase, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. In order to fully capture the significance of these opening words, we first need to understand something about the psalm. This is the great shepherding psalm. It opens with words that are as powerful as they are astounding, and that is in verse one, the very opening phrase, the Lord is my shepherd. Those five words in our English translation actually consist of two tiny little Hebrew words, one of which is Yahweh, and the other of which is Roi. And that in the Hebrew is Yahweh, the Lord, we see it in our ESV anyways, in small caps, L-O-R-D, and then Rohi, which is my shepherd, Yahweh, the Lord. My shepherd. What an introduction to a psalm. Two little words that make up the first line of the first verse. Of course, Yahweh is the name that God speaks to Moses there at the burning bush in the third chapter of Exodus when he says, I am that I am or I am who I am. It is the covenant name of God that describes him both as the self-existent one and the self-sufficient one. It's the idea that God has always been and he needs nothing outside of himself to exist in absolute perfection. Only God can say this, of course. God simply is without any effort on his part. He exists and not only is he the self-existent one, he's the one that brings all other things into existence. This is what we see in the name God gives to himself, Yahweh. This is just a fraction of what we should capture in the Psalms opening word. Now what follows is both remarkable and even a bit startling. What are you gonna say on the heels of Yahweh, the Lord? You can't get more lofty or more majestic or more significant than Yahweh. And in the Jewish mind, it's harder to get much lower in terms of office or calling than shepherd. Yahweh is my shepherd. In many ancient societies, Israel included, shepherding work was the lowest work, right? This is David in the long line of sons being the last, the runt of the bunch, he gets the shepherding responsibilities. Shepherds often lived with the sheep under their care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Thanks, Alan. Now your name is forever recorded in the teaching, Comfort and Suffering. Can y'all hear me okay? All right. You could probably hear me okay without all the gadgetry. All right. The work of caring for and protecting and feeding and leading sheep is unending. Care in the daytime, care in the night, Care in the heat, care in the cold, care in the good weather, care in the bad weather. It's constant care of some of the dumbest creatures in God's creation. Who in their right mind would want to be a shepherd? Yahweh, that's who. And that's where the chapter, the psalm begins. Yahweh, my shepherd. There's at least one more beautiful note in this song I want you to be aware of. Our Lord Jesus Christ was pleased to take this very title to himself. John 10 verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. On one hand, this only further affirms the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, it shows us the tremendous unity within the Trinity. Christ is Yahweh, on one hand. On the other, Christ is the good shepherd who will completely care for his sheep. Think of these New Testament passages, Luke 15, verses 4 through 7. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Christ is the rejoicing shepherd in Luke 15. Or what about these moving verses from John 10? But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. The wolf snatches them and scatters them. Jesus Christ is the good shepherd. Yahweh is my shepherd. It's this introductory picture that should be obvious to us all. God is holy with his people and for his people. That's where the psalm begins. He, just like the shepherd leading the sheep, is our constant guide and companion. Even verse three tells us he leads us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. And now we come to verse four, our text for today. Extended background, but supremely necessary background to fully appreciate this verse. Look at this first phrase. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, It seems as though this verse transitions into some kind of traveling language. In addition to the existing shepherding language of verses one through three, and again, even at the end of this verse. So all the while, even in the picture of traveling through a valley, the image of God as shepherd needs to be kept in view. And from the start, we should see that we don't end up in this shadowy and scary valley by chance. As much as God leads us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake, sometimes which is besides still waters, equally so, he leads us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake when that leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. It's not by chance. This is God's leadership through and through. He isn't just leading us saints in the good times and the happy days, but rather the whole course of our lives is directed by his invisible and yet all-powerful hand. And next, we should note that this dark valley must be walked through. God isn't in the business of merely taking people out of the fearful valley situations. The Christian life in the midst of trial doesn't have some eject button on the control panel. Get out of jail free. It's not Star Wars where we can go into hyper drive and in the next second we're in some distant galaxy. God ordains these valleys in our lives and we have to walk through them. That's not a running pace, that's a walking pace. Meaning we may be in said valley for some time, we have to walk through them. Now let's consider the valley terminology here. Because it seems David is creating this mental picture for us in this fourth verse. As a shepherd himself, while growing up, certainly David would have known all about the various types of terrain. because he was an Israelite shepherd. The valleys were known to be places of danger. There was the danger of wild animals attacking. There was the danger of sudden and overwhelming storms, even storms that could flood a valley floor. There was the danger of bad men who often lurk in the shadows waiting for a victim to rob and plunder. There were dangers associated with a valley. Since the valley floor has full sunlight only for a tiny portion of any given day, there are almost always shadows throughout the valley. Danger hides in the darkness of shadows. In God, the Good Shepherd is well-equipped and most willing. to protect us in the midst of these dangers, in the midst of the darkness, in the midst of the shadows. Now, the Hebrew word translated shadow of death is one singular word. It's a compound word in the Hebrew. It refers to, on one hand, a shadowy darkness, and on the other, simply the idea of death or terror or calamity. And it is this single Hebrew word that David attaches to the valley, and that's where we get the well-known phrase, the valley of the shadow of death. It is this imminent place of danger and darkness. These, I think, are the moments in our Christian lives that appear to us to be most fearful. It's the unknown things in the shadows that make us anxious. It's the darkness of the valley that doesn't let us see the rising grade of the land before us, the way up out of the valley. It's the walls of the valley that are oppressive and seem even to move in upon us in the midst of our trial, in the midst of our suffering. This is the vivid imagery that David gives us here in Psalm 23, 4. And I think the language of verse 4 is pretty much relatable to all of us. Pretty much relatable to anyone who is in the thick of pain or suffering or trial. This is language broad enough to encompass every kind of trial, every kind of suffering. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But now for the second phrase. I will fear no evil. As startling as the opening two verses of verse one are, Yahweh, my shepherd, these words aren't far behind them. First, of course, we've already discussed this vivid imagery of the valley of the shadow of death. And then you might imagine that the next words would say something like, I am afraid. But instead, we read, I will fear no evil. It's quite a remarkable juxtaposition before us. I like how the Puritan Joseph Carroll puts it in rather plain language. He said, David puts the worst of his case and the best of his faith when he said, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. That is, in the greatest evil, I will fear no evil. And that is the confident case. with the writer of this psalm. You see everything about the valley is darkness. It's scary frightening. It's as though evil lurks behind every bend in the valley and within every cleft of the rock. The sign at the head of the valley says traveler beware. And yet we see David the psalm writer confidently expressing I will fear no evil. Evil, it's a general term, evil or bad things in the Hebrew. David is saying, I'm not going to be afraid of any of the dangers I might be confronted with in the valley, invisible or visible, real or threatened. I will fear no evil. How in the world can this be? Where does this kind of confidence come from? Is it because he was a great warrior? David could defend himself like the mighty men that could slew maybe 300, 800 men? What can liberate a suffering one from the fear that only makes the suffering more difficult to suffer through? What can keep one's mind fixed on things that are true, honorable, pure, and lovely when the unknowns of suffering surround us on every side? How can someone say what David has said? For this, we need to turn to the next phrase, the third phrase. Five little words for you are with me. for you are with me. The I will fear no evil isn't rooted in self-confidence or self-sufficiency. It is rooted in God's all-sufficiency. We can suffer well as Christians because of God, not because of us. This is the significance of the word for in this part of the text. It answers the question of how in the world can this be the case? It is what John Wesley hearkened to from his deathbed. Best of all, he said, God is with us. And it is here, dear ones, that the secret to suffering well is found. What makes suffering bearable? What makes trials profitable? What beautifies something often so ugly and painful? It is the presence and nearness of God with us in the midst of it. This is God Almighty with David when he's on the run, hiding in the dens and caves from King Saul. This is the Hebrew exiles in Babylon, thrown into the fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar to be burned alive, suddenly saved by the Son of God, walking with them in the flame. This is Job in the midst of severe suffering, saying, though he slay me, Yet will I hope in him. This is Jacob, fearful of his brother who was approaching with 400 men, sending all his servants and all his family away. Jacob is alone and afraid, waiting for what will be to be. And then in Genesis 32, 24, we read, and Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. God came to that patriarch when all seemed lost. For you are with me. This is the key. This is significant, brothers and sisters, these five words. It's significant in how it births hope in us. It's significant foundationally as to what will be most important to us in the Christian life and all the more so in the midst of suffering. This is significant. We can embrace suffering of every hue or type when we know that it comes with the comfort and embrace of God himself. Suffering grows increasingly insignificant when God draws near to us in all of his significance. But before moving on, there's one other thing I want you to see in this little phrase. It's in this part of verse four that a subtle shift takes place, a shift to second person language. Maybe you noticed that in the opening reading of the whole psalm. You see in the opening verses of the psalm, David is telling us about God and what he does. This is third person language in verses one and two and three. And then suddenly here in verse four, David looks away from his readers. He stops telling them about who God is, and he begins to speak directly to the Lord. For you are with me. He moves from he, he, he to you. You are with me. The more intimate language here doesn't happen in the locale of green pastures, but in the midst of a gloomy Providence, the valley of the shadow of death. And I see in this that David is hinting at something both subtle and sweet. God is nearest to his people in the valleys filled with shadowy darkness and danger. or at least we recognize his nearness most clearly in moments like this. It is what wise Samuel Rutherford once said, when I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines. If you're going to hold on to any truth this morning, let it be this truth. because this is the cordial of comfort we will need when we enter into the next hard providence. The very God who authored the providence will be with us in the midst of it. He authors the situation and he authors the comforts as well. We ultimately want to soak clean to a truth like this, that we can say with the Apostle Paul, with the minor manipulation, oh, suffering, where is your sting? We need to be those that trust, even when we cannot see. That's the significance of these five words, for you are with me. And now for the final portion of this lovely verse, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. This draws us right back to the shepherding imagery of the early verses of the psalm. The rod or club and staff were the tools of the trade for the shepherd. The rod was a club-like instrument, typically about two feet in length, solid wood often made from an oak tree. The rod was multipurpose. Chiefly, it served as both a tool of correction to the sheep, as well as a weapon of protection against the enemies of the sheep. Think of David's own experience as a young shepherd. He recounts this in the presence of King Saul before he slays the giant Goliath. And he says this in first Samuel 17. But David said to Saul, your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. David had some pretty radical encounters there, didn't he? All of that before Goliath, even as a very young man. It's even the picture when we think of the club being employed in defense of the sheep, it's the picture of a warrior shepherd. fiercely defending his sheep, those entrusted to his care. I thought about citing, but for the sake of time, chose not to, this account from J. M. Porter that Spurgeon refers to in The Treasury of David, about a 19th century shepherd that he saw in the northern part of Jordan. And instead of a club and his staff, he's got a rifle and a knife, but it's this picture of a fierce warrior there amongst the sheep, always with an eye to defend the sheep from predators. Well, the staff was made with a crook at the end of it. It was this that the shepherd would use to corral or to steer the sheep, to keep them congregated and close by. And so it is, the Christian finds deep comfort in these tools of the trade. We find deep comfort in God's correction, protection, and leadership. Again, much of the comfort, it's not the tools. We don't look at the club and say, ah. We don't look at the staff and think, comfort. It's the hand that wields the tools. It's the one who wields them. This is where the comfort lies. To feel the crook of the staff on the neck is to know God's almighty hand at work in us and around us. If we are led, corrected, and protected, that indicates God is most certainly with us. It reminds me of another shepherd text that we come across in Isaiah 40 verse 11. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young. That's the heartbeat of the comfort here. The shepherd amongst the sheep. even carrying the sheep at times in his arms. And these should be like nuggets of gold to believers, even more valuable than that in the time of suffering, when we're confronted by the hardest trials and pains. Because his presence means to us that everything will be just as it should be, even when it hurts. And that's the kind of comfort we need in the midst of trials and suffering. Now let me close with a couple of brief observations. Observation number one. In affliction, God makes himself more known to his people. And we could camp out here for many, many sermons. But I want to be brief. As the Puritan Thomas Case said, who wrote this great little book on sickness, he said, quote, we discover more of God through affliction than by many sermons. In the word we hear God, but in affliction we see him. So many times we come to know more of God experientially by a half year's suffering than by many a year's sermons. And I think there's some truth of course as an English Puritan he is not demeaning sermons these men preached. but he is exalting this experiential, his word, experimental reality that in suffering, we know more of God experientially. You know, prosperity often promotes us being independent, maybe even distancing ourselves from the Lord at times in prosperity. But it's adversity that often drives us to deepened dependency on the Lord and moves us nearer and nearer to him. It was only in the midst of that sharp thorn in 2 Corinthians 12 that the Apostle Paul came to know a whole new degree of the sufficiency of the grace of Jesus Christ. It's as though in the midst of our suffering that God opens up to us his toolbox again thank Rod and staff and he shows us the riches of his mercies. He hands us in affliction the catalog of his attributes and he begins increasingly and experientially to make himself known to us. He shows us in our suffering himself. His glory, His attributes. And so in the midst of the pain, we begin to sense something more of His holiness, of His strength, of His faithfulness, of His mercy. That's observation number one. And we need to remember that. In suffering, we will know more of God. Second and last, there is no darkness in God's sight. Now, you all know that's another reference to another text in another Psalm, Psalm 139, namely. But here, I think we see it as well. This is the valley of the shadow of death or darkness of death. In this valley, under the shadow of death and darkness, we can't see what lurks around the bend. God sees it though. He sees it. The darkness is as light to him. As a matter of fact, he gives the darkness its orders. He's the one that schedules the shadows. They move according to his command. Often the darkness and the unknown in the midst of that darkness has this power to paralyze us. Our minds become this twisted mess as we, with all our energy, ponder the many possibilities, and that is most often not what we need. in those moments of hard providences. Because God sees all things, because darkness is as light to him, because he knows all things, because he authors every story, we are far more wise when we invest our energies into trusting him, viewing him as he is, relying and resting upon him. There is no darkness in God's sight, saints. You, in the midst of your darkness, have no vision of what's to come, of what God is ultimately doing in specific ways, of the duration of the suffering, of the increase or decrease of the suffering. Take it to the bank. God has all those answers. He knows exactly what he's doing. And he has perfect plans of mercy and peace for you in the midst of that suffering. That's where the psalm ends, of course, doesn't it? Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, not just the good days. All right, we're so adverse to seeing goodness and mercy in suffering. But the text tells us we need to change the way we think about this. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life and our life forevermore. That being eternal life. So be encouraged dear ones. Suffering will come. But the God of comfort will come with it. And that I think is what we can take away this morning from Psalm 23, 4. Let's pray. Father, it is your word that is quick and powerful. Or as the ESV says, living and active. And we so need the ministry of your word to us today. Instruct us by these things that we have read and heard. Again, I pray, make the voice of Christ so apparent and clear to your sheep this morning, that distraction, that devils could not take away the good things that we have heard. Quicken us by your word. Ready our hearts for the hour of worship to come. And Lord, meet with us, help us. For those that are in the midst of a hard providence right now, I pray that this would be a sweet balm of comfort to them. That you, Lord, would draw near and be their very present help in time of trouble. Thank you for the comfort you speak to us so personally, so powerfully in the scriptures. Father, you are so good. Thank you for this text this morning, the beauty of it, the sweetness of it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.