In The Presence Of The Lord - Sermon Iv: No Disaster Series

IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD - SERMON IV: NO DISASTER

The fourth jewel of truth is that, in the House of the Lord – in the eternal presence of the Lord God – there is NO DISASTER. The fourth verse of the 23rd Psalm says this: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”

The psalmist has already assured God’s children – oftentimes referred to in the Bible as sheep – that in the presence of the Good Shepherd, there is no fear. Now, in this verse, the psalmist specifies that there is no fear of evil. So, what is he referring to when he uses the word “evil”?

In the original writing of this text in the Hebrew language, it is said that the word translated “evil” in this verse is about something like a serious mishap, or disaster, or some kind of calamity.

For example, it would have been a serious mistake for the shepherd to allow his sheep to wander too close to the edge of a path running alongside a steep cliff. Had a sheep, due to the shepherd’s neglect, gone over the edge, the incident could be disastrous. Such a disaster would be looked upon as an evil occurrence.

This verse is saying that no such disaster like that which would take a sheep away the shepherd’s flock forever can occur in the House of Lord – in the eternal presence of the Lord God. For a child of God to be aware of this great assurance gives hope; and the reason for our hope is the “watch care” of the Good Shepherd.

Many a person has strayed from the “straight and narrow” path only to find themselves caught up in the throes of pending disaster. Many a young person has ignored the cautious words of their parents only to wind up in a tragedy of some kind. Many a rebellious adult has defied the laws of nature as well as the laws of man only to reap a harvest of undesirable side effects.

The psalmist says that if the sheep stays within the bounds set by the Good Shepherd and obeys His commands – if the sheep will obey the rules set forth by the Good Book and strive to do right rather than give in to that which is wrong; if that be the case, there is no need for the sheep to fear any evil threat – even if the sheep goes through a “shadow of death” experience.

“The valley of the shadow of death” is any valley where there is a death shadow. This phrase of the psalmist, in the original text, does not contain the article “the” – which, if it did, would make valley a place; but, as used here, the valley is not meant to be a one and only valley.

In other words, contrary to what I might have once thought, the use of the word “valley” in this verse is not a reference to the grave itself; there are so many valleys that we go through prior to the transitional experience, from this life to the next, called death.

Rather, the emphasis is on the word “shadow” of death. When you are standing in the shadow of a tree, for example, you are not standing in the tree itself. When we were little children, it was not unusual for us to be afraid of shadows in the dark. Did you ever have the experience of seeing a shadow and thinking it was the “boogey man” that had come to get you?

The “shadow of death” is any place where there is something to remind us of the brevity of life or the inevitability of death. The death shadow in David’s experience as a shepherd lad could have been the shadow cast by a bird of prey circling overhead looking for a victim.

It could be the psychological reaction to circumstances beyond our control that remind us that there are dangers out there in this world in which we live, and that, “this could have happened to me” – like the terrorist attack of 911 . . . the dreaded news received by a neighbor whose son or daughter was in a war zone . . . the unwelcome announcement from a family member or friend concerning a medical diagnosis . . . seeing or hearing of a tragic wreck on one of our major highways . . . and on and on we could go talking about the reminders – the shadows – of death to which we are constantly exposed, whether on TV news or otherwise.

Yet, although the psalmist went through valleys different from ours, he nonetheless found himself living in the shadows of death; but the good news for him was that, even in the shadows of death, there was for him a comforting presence.