From Brokenness To Blessed Assurance : Walking From The Valley Of Despair Into The Assurance Of God’s Love

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From Brokenness to Blessed Assurance: Walking from the Valley of Despair into the Assurance of God’s Love

I once read of a traveler who lost his way while crossing a desert. As the sun went down, the desert became a place of fear. Every shadow seemed threatening, every sound magnified. He stumbled forward, thirsty, exhausted, with no idea if he would survive the night. But then—just before dawn—he saw a faint glow on the horizon. Slowly the light spread, and the landscape that seemed so terrifying at night was suddenly filled with beauty and direction in the morning light.

This is where the promise of the advent becomes clear to us. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). I realise that one of the best ways of fully understanding this verse is to study the contrast between Psalm 22 and Psalm 23. So let us dive in.

Over the past several weeks, we have been journeying together through Psalm 23. And what a journey it has been! We’ve seen that the heart of this Psalm is not simply about green pastures and still waters—it is about complete dependence on the Lord, our Shepherd. It is about trusting Him for provision, for guidance, for protection, and for eternal hope. In many ways, Psalm 23 has become for us a picture of the life of faith: a life lived under the Shepherd’s care.”

But here’s something remarkable. Psalm 23 is placed right after Psalm 22. When you look at it you realise that it is as if God wanted us to see His protection and provision in stark contrast to the despair and pain that we often go through. the movement from Psalm 22 into Psalm 23 is what the traveler experienced. Psalm 22 is the darkness of the desert night—the cries of pain, loneliness, and despair. Psalm 23 is the sunrise that changes everything. The Shepherd doesn’t remove the desert, but His presence transforms how we walk through it. The very same valley that terrified us in the night becomes safe because His rod and staff comfort us. You know, light shines brighter in darkness. Water tastes sweeter when you are very thirsty. Food tastes a lot better after a fast. In the same way Psalm 23 shines even brighter when we place it right next to Psalm 22. Psalm 22 is the cry of a broken heart: ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ It is raw, painful, and honest. In contrast, Psalm 23 is the calm voice of assurance: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.’ And when we realize that Psalm 23 follows Psalm 22, it becomes clear: our confidence in the Shepherd is not naïve, it is forged in the valley of despair.

How do we get from Psalm 22 to Psalm 23? From despair to confidence? That’s what I’d like us to reflect on today. I have titled my message “From Brokenness to Blessed Assurance: Walking from the Valley of Despair into the Assurance of God’s Love”

Let us start by reading the first two verses of Psalm 22. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. (Psalm 22:1-2)

David’s cry here is a raw cry . This is not polished theology. It is the cry of a broken heart. It is a cry of a child who feels separated from his/her parents. It is deep anguish.

From this feeling of abandonment David goes into a place of rejection and ridicule. Verses 6 to 9 is about how he is being rejected by everyone around him and ridiculed for his trust in the Lord.

Then in verses 12–18, David paints a vivid picture of overwhelming enemies and crushing weakness: he feels surrounded by fierce bulls and roaring lions, symbols of powerful adversaries. His strength is poured out like water, his bones out of joint, his heart melted like wax—an image of complete vulnerability. Finally, he is mocked, stripped, and left to the point of death, with his enemies even casting lots for his clothes—words that prophetically echo the suffering of Christ on the cross.

I just returned from a Missions conference organised by the India Missions Association, where I had the privilege of facilitating the three day consultation for 350 missionaries. The people who were there at that conference knows what David is talking about. They know about the feeling of abandonment, they feel the pain of rejection only too well. They face ridicule on a daily basis. They are surrounded by enemies who want to threaten them and discourage them and try to destroy them. For them in the mission field, Psalm 22 is a real scenario of today. Many of us might not be in the position of the Missionaries, and yet I am sure many of have felt David’s emotions some time of the other.