Many of us can remember a time in our life, when on a dark night, we stood outside and looked up into the sky, and saw literally millions of stars. They were beautiful; they looked like diamonds on black velvet. But today, many of us live in the city, and because of the many bright lights we are not able to see the beautiful stars anymore. BUT LET ME ASSURE YOU, THE STARS ARE STILL THERE!
I want to assure this grieving family today, GOD IS STILL WHERE HE ALWAYS HAS BEEN. He has promised us, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Perhaps the emotional glare of this moment has blinded our eyes temporarily, but God is still where He always has been.
For centuries, the Twenty-third Psalm has been one of the most treasured passages in the Word of God. Every effort to modernize it into contemporary English has proven to be futile.
• The King James Version that we just read from remains the favorite translation.
• The 23rd Psalm is still the most popular passage in the Bible.
Why is this Psalm the most popular scripture in the Bible? Because of three reasons:
I. FIRST, IT DEALS WITH THE REALITY OF LIFE
The psalmist said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Notice two very significant things:
1. The psalmist does not promise that we shall never have to walk through such places.
2. Nor does he promise that there is no evil there.
However, he does promise this: As we walk through the VALLEY OF DEATH we do not have to FEAR any evil.
WHY? The Word of God tells us why.
The Psalmist said, “For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” What does he mean when he says, “…Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”?
• The rod was used by a shepherd to ward off evil, and to direct the sheep as they walk.
• The staff with its large crook at the end serves to support the sheep's body when it crosses a dangerous crossing.
God was with ____________ until the final moments of his life on earth.
Notice, God does not say, “You go through the valley of death and I will meet with you on the other side.” No, God promised He would go with us through the valley of death. He walked with _____________ through the valley of death, and only a few days ago, he emerged with God on the other side of the valley of suffering and death. NOW HE IS WITH GOD FOREVER.
______________ came to know the Lord late in life.
Was he perfect after he was saved?
• Absolutely not!
• Was he saved, absolutely he was!
I say that, because at funerals you have people who have come together from all kinds of religious backgrounds. Some of these have been taught salvation is acquired by works. And if they can see sin in the life of a believer, they are quick to say that person is not saved. If that were the case, there would not be a saved person on the face of the earth.
The Bible makes it clear; we are saved BY GRACE ALONE!
• God’s grace gives us ETERNAL LIFE
• Our works give us our ETERNAL REWARDS
What these folks fail to realize is, Christian people are not perfect people, they are sinners saved by the grace of God.
If ____________ was not perfect, then how do we know that he was saved? Because the word of God was opened, and step-by-step, what he must do to be saved was revealed to him.
• He confessed he was a sinner.
• He repented of his sins with tears of sorrow running down his cheeks.
• He recognized that he could not save himself.
• He asked the Lord Jesus to forgive him of his sins and to come into his heart.
• He trusted Christ to save him.
• He did everything the Word of God told him to do to inherit salvation.
As he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he knew that God had saved him.
Illus: The last time I talked with him face to face, he was staring death in the face, and he said, “I am ready, I am not afraid!”
HOW COULD HE DO THIS?
David tells us how! David said he would fear no evil, as he walked through the valley of death. Why? Because he said, “For thou art with me.”
Every one of us has this one thing in common, if we do not have anything else in common, we have this one thing in common: AS WE WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH WE ARE ALL STARING DEATH IN THE FACE. We do not know what time death will leap out from behind some bush and attack us and snatch us from this life.
Illus: It might be next week that death will lay its ugly hands on us:
• Perhaps some skillful doctor will save us
• Perhaps some miracle drug will save us
But we all can mark this down. One day death will lay its ugly claws on our throat, and will squeeze the life out of us, and no DOCTOR or no MEDICINE will be able to save us. The Word of God says in Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed unto man once to die”
Illus: Some say there are only two things we must do in this life:
(1) Pay Taxes
(2) Die
But that is not true, some in this society do not pay taxes, but they are going to die.
Illus: Methuselah lived to be 969 years of age, and it looked like he would never die, BUT HE DID!
Illus: Houdini escaped death hundreds of times, in his death defying tricks, and walked away. But one day he faced death and he did not walk away.
We all have to walk through the valley of the SHADOW OF DEATH. That implies that death is always close to us. We do not know from day to day, when we are going to fall into the hands of this dreadful enemy that we face each day - Mr. Death!
But the good news is this; we do not have to live in fear. Why? Because the psalmist said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. “
We all love and appreciate the twenty-third Psalm, because IT DEALS WITH THE REALITY OF LIFE WE FACE EACH DAY. But we also love the 23rd Psalm because-
II. SECONDLY, IT DEALS WITH A PROMISE
Look what the Psalmist said, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.“
One way to understand what the Psalmist is talking about is this.
Illus: Imagine a scene where we have two large armies that are preparing to attack each other. One is on one hillside, and the other one is on the other hillside, with only a valley separating them.
However, one army does something that is very unusual. They suddenly break ranks and start setting up tables and chairs in preparation for a feast.
In total amazement they watch as the first army sits down to a banquet table having the time of their lives! This is absolutely amazing. Instead of giving in to their fears, THE ARMY THROWS A PARTY IN THE VERY PRESENCE OF ITS ENEMIES.
Now that is precisely how the Lord tells us we should live our Christian lives.
We all are going to have to walk through the valley of death, WE HAVE NO CHOICE, but we do have a choice as to how we go through the valley of death.
The Psalmist said, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” As we walk through the valley of death, God offers us a feast of celebration in the face of our most fearsome enemy - DEATH!
Illus: A pastor went to comfort a man, who the doctors only gave six more weeks to live on this earth. When he arrived and got close to the man to comfort him, this Christian man gently grabbed him by the arm and said, “Preacher, thank you for coming to see me, but I am not afraid, I am looking forward to seeing the Lord and my wife in a few weeks.” And the pastor noticed this radiant smile he had on his face.
This man had come to discover the banquet table that God wants all his children to discover, as they walk through the valley of death. Many Christians have never discovered the banquet table.
Illus: In the musical, "Auntie Mame", there is a scene where Mame is descending a staircase into a room full of party guests. She pauses and says, "Life is a banquet, and all you poor slobs are starving to death!"
We all can relate to that statement, because all around us there are people who REGARD LIFE AS A PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED, rather than a gift to be relished and enjoyed.
This is a God-given banquet that defies all our enemies as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The lost world cannot comprehend this, but yet it is available to all those who will accept Christ as their personal Saviour.
We all love the 23rd Psalm because IT DEALS WITH REALITY, IT DEALS WITH A PROMISE, and we love the 23rd Psalm because -
III. THIRDLY, IT DEALS WITH THE FUTURE
The Psalmist said, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” Notice, as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God has promised the child of God, “Goodness and mercy will follow” us.
But if you are not saved today, you need to deal with the REALITY OF LIFE; you need to come to know this God of “Goodness and Mercy.”
Illus: A Christian was witnessing to a young man that did not know Christ as His Saviour. This young man worshipped the god of materialism. Most of his thoughts were about what he wanted, and how he could get it.
The Christian man said to him one day:
• “What do you plan to do with your life?” He said, “I plan to go to college and get the best education I can get.”
• He said, “What do you plan to do after college?” He said, “I plan to get the best job that is available, so I can make lots of money.”
• He said, “Then what do you plan to do?” He said, “I plan to buy the biggest car and the biggest house I can buy.”
• He said, “Then what do you plan to do? “I plan to grow old and retire and travel all over the world.“
• He said, “Then what do you plan to do?” “I guess I will grow old and die.”
• He said, “Then what?” And the young man had no more plans.
This is where many people are today. They have made plans for the most minute details of death:
• Who is to preach their funeral
• What they want to wear
• What they want sung
• What funeral home they want to prepare their body for burial
But it is so sad that, they have not made any plans for where they are going to spend eternity.
The prophet Amos goes down in history as saying these startling words, “Prepare to meet thy God!” He says the purpose of life everyday should be, PREPARATION TO MEET GOD.
HOW DO WE DO THAT?
By accepting the tremendous price Christ paid for our sins on Calvary.
_______________ today is in heaven, not because of anything he did, he is in heaven because of what Christ did on Calvary. He placed his trust in the Lord to save him. The GOODNESS AND MERCY that follows him is given to him by the sheer grace of God.
I look across this congregation, and I see __________ family and friends. Many of you are up in age, and you need to deal with THE REALITY OF LIFE.
Death is staring you in the face.
• The wrinkles and the gray hair says it will not be long
• The aches and pains you never had before, tell you it will not be long
• Your body tells you it will not be long
• The mirror that you look into each day tells you it will not be long
• Statistics tell you it will not be long
You know death is knocking on your door. You need to come to know this God of GOODNESS and MERCY before it is to late.
We have gathered in this place to mourn over how empty our lives will be without _______________. But also, we are here TO CELEBRATE HIS PROMOTION, AS HE HAS GONE TO HIS ETERNAL HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD. This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to ______________.
Everyone here today knew _______. This is why you are here.
• Some of you knew him as a Father
• Some of you knew him as a grandparent
• Some of you knew him as an Uncle
• Some of you knew him as a neighbor
• Some of you knew him as a close friend
But I knew him as a FRIEND and as HIS PASTOR. I would like to take these last closing moments to share with you some things about ______________ from my perspective.
(Insert personal comments)
Conclusion:
As we close, I am reminded of a dear Christian woman who was dying. She sent for her pastor to make all the final details. When he arrived, she talked with him about many things that needed to be talked about. She knew she was staring death in the face, and she had to tell her pastor some things that she wanted him to do.
• She asked him if he would preach her funeral. And he said, “I feel honored, I will be glad to do this for you.”
• She asked him if he would read the 23rd Psalm
• She requested certain songs she would like sung
• She told him what funeral home she had already talked to about some arrangements
• She told him what dress she told her husband she wanted to be buried in
The pastor sat there with tears gathering in his eyes, as she went down the list of things she wanted done at her funeral.
He smiled, held her hand, and had prayer with her and was walking out of the room when she said, “Pastor, there is one more thing and this is probably the most important of all.” “I told the funeral home that I wanted to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” She saw the puzzled look on his face, and she said, “I can tell you are puzzled about this request.” He said, “Yes, it is a bit unusual.” She said, “I know it is, but I want you to tell everyone why I requested to be buried like this.” He said, “Ok. Can you explain?” She said, “Yes, Pastor I can explain. You see I have attended all the church functions we have had in the fellowship hall, when all that delicious food is brought, and I enjoyed it so much. But at the end, you always stand up and say, ‘Hold your fork, the best is yet to come.’” She said, “Preacher, I have eaten at the banquet table as I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and I have enjoyed it immensely. But I believe the best is yet to come.”
I want to say this to the grieving family, every time you raise a fork to your mouth, remember the best is yet to come.
Graveside: (Committal service)
As the Lord has, according to His Divine will, called __________________ home to stand in His presence; it now becomes our sad duty to commit his body to the grave: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, looking forward to the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the reuniting of all believers in the presence of our Lord for eternity!
LET US PRAY.
