Thursday 30 July 2015

Daily Reading Psalm 23v4

"Even though I walk 
   through the darkest valley
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and staff,
   they comfort me."

The Bible is realistic about life in a broken world and so is David in this Psalm.  God is not just a fair weather Shepherd, he's not like the hired hand of John 10 who runs away when the wolf attacks the flock because he doesn't care for the sheep.  David can testify that when he walks through dark places God is with him.  When he faces threat, hardship and suffering, when he feels that oppressive darkness pressing in on him, when he cannot see what the future holds whether there is a light at the end of the tunnel or not he knows God is with him, present, guiding, leading.

David knew such times; fighting the bear as a shepherd boy, facing the terrifying and mocking Goliath, running from the throne room as King Saul hurled a spear at him intending to pin him to the wall, hiding in the caves when Saul sought him, overhearing his own men talk of stoning him.  David knew threat and faced danger.  But he also faced dark nights of the soul, when haunted by grief and conviction over his sin, when bereaved and gutted by loss.  But as he walks through those dark valleys he can face it, his faith is not eroded by fear because God is with him.

His confidence isn't an unrealistically blase everything with be OK.  Nor is it that God will remove all opposition and hardship and suffering.  Rather it is that God is with him in and guides him through the suffering and menace he faces.  The rod and staff speak of God's identity, presence, protection and guidance.  In Genesis 38 Tamar is given Judah's staff as a pledge of payment.  It identified him and tied him and his name to her.  So here, God is the shepherd with his people, his rod and staff are signs of his presence, they bring comfort.

It's worth noting the weight given to things in the verse.  David doesn't dwell on the darkest valley, he doesn't describe it, he doesn't strive to make us feel it's oppressive nature, it's menacing threat.  No the weight in the verse is on the hope in the darkest valley, the presence of Yahweh who is his people's shepherd.  It isn't minimising the struggle but seeking to provide perspective.  Our confidence must be theological not circumstantial.  Yahweh is our God and he is a good present shepherd leading us along the right paths to the destination he has in mind.  He doesn't leave us in hardship he is right there with us.

It's a perspective we're called to echo.  Too often I'm prone to dwelling on the shadows in the valley, David reminds me instead to recognise them, not deny them, but to fix my gaze on the shepherd.   Yahweh, who is with me and is leading me.  Who sees and knows what we face and is with us every step of the way, leading us through them by his presence and growing our trust in him so that we echo this verse, so that we sing along.

"Even though I walk 
   through the darkest valley
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and staff,
   they comfort me."

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