It Is Well with My Soul!
Psalm 23:4
Introduction:
Reminded that Psalm 23 is a psalm of relationship = describes our relationship with God with that of a sheep and its shepherd!
Ps. 23:4 = halfway point of the Psalm… entered the valley of the shadow of death… learned that valleys are temporary… passageways… through this valley that the shepherd leads his sheep to the tablelands… high mountain meadows (v.5).
there is within the sheep a longing for “Higher Ground.”
Longing in the heart of God’s sheep to be away from the mundane lowlands of this world and to be on higher ground with God… to enjoy the delights of those mountaintop experiences.
Problem: we want to be “air-lifted” to the top – only way to reaching the top is by climbing up through the valley!
Shepherd knows this and leads his sheep through the deep valleys, up the narrow winding paths to the high table lands above.
David = Judean wilderness area knew this. Made this trek
many a time.
Israel:
Deut. 11:11 – Canaan (land of Israel) = “the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys…”
Judean wilderness is mountainous country with deep valleys and steep mountains… some valleys/ravines so deep that the shadows remain throughout most of the day… with only a little sunlight filtering in at Noonday when sun reaches its highest point.
Christian life = consists of a life of hills and valleys. You see behind every mountain is a valley… and behind every valley is a mountain.
Oftentimes as we make the climb out of the valleys and onto the mountain top… we are on the rough side of the mountain!
As sheep contemplates the path ahead it knows that it is fraught with difficulties, dangers and even death lurks there… yet they are all surpassed by the delights of being on the mountaintop with the shepherd…
Note: v.4d – “thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
“Comfort” = describes a state of inner ease or calm; freedom from pain or sorrow; a sense of well-being!
Sheep = because of my shepherd, “It is Well with My Soul!”
TS: Christian because of your relationship with the Good Shepherd it can be, “Well With Your Soul!!!”
I. BECAUSE OF WHO MY SHEPHERD IS!
Look: v.4 – sheep took great comfort as they made the trek through the valley and up the mountain because the shepherd is with them!
True for David and true for you and me this morning!
Dear child of God as we trek through the deep valleys and up the rough mountains, we can take great comfort because of who our Shepherd is!
Look: v.1 – “The LORD is my Shepherd…”
“LORD” = compound word ‘Jehovah-Roi’ – “The LORD my Shepherd!
“LORD” = Jehovah/Yahweh – the great, “I AM! The eternal, self-existent Creator God of the Universe!
Jehovah God of the OT is the Jesus of the NT. My Shepherd is not just any Shepherd! He is the Good Shepherd… Great Shepherd… Chief Shepherd!
A. He Gives Me Companionship
cf. Can take great comfort in the fact that as I journey through the valleys and up the mountains… never travel alone!
Look: v.4 – “Thou art with me…” = I have a constant companion… My Shepherd is with me!!!
I have His Promise!
Matt. 28:20 – “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Illust: Missionary-explorer David Livingston during times of great distress and difficulty would write this verse in his diary time and time again... with these words, “It is the word of a perfect Gentleman. And that is the end of it.”
**Never put a ? where God has placed a .”
Heb. 13:5 – “for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”
Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Hymn:
“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed
For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand.
Upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, tho’ all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no neve, no never, forsake!”
B. He Gives Me Confidence
Look: Ps. 23:4 – “Yea, though I walk… I will fear no evil.”
“Evil” = not moral evil but calamity.
“Walk” = a sure step… not a faltering step but a firm step; not a fearful step but a faith-filled step… a confident step.
We don’t have to fear the future… face with a firm, sure, faith-filled step because my Shepherd is with me!
1. We can face the future because of the past
Look back across path to the deep valleys and rough mountains and see how our Shepherd has led us past this difficulty, around that obstacle, through that danger, in the midst of that storm… brought me safely through to the other side!
Because of what my Shepherd has done in the past… gives me courage to face the future.
We can be faith-filled because He is faithful!
Ps. 119:90 – “…Thy faithfulness is unto all generations.”
Ps. 36:5 – “…Thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds.”
2. We can face the future because of the present.
I am relatively sure today that if God allowed us to peer into our tomorrows… could see the dark valleys and steep mountains ahead… we would want to stop right where we were… wouldn’t want to take another step further up the path.
We can’t see! But our Shepherd can see! He goes before… we are following Him. He’s surveyed the country, knows what’s ahead… assured us everything will be alright… giving us the confidence to go on!
**He has promised me that I will walk through… Through the shadow and into the sunshine; blackness and into the brightness; darkness and into the daylight; gloom and into the glory; twilight and into God’s tomorrow; through the midnight of human experience and into heaven’s eternal day!
Because He Lives:
God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal and forgive
He lived and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my savior lives.
How sweet to hold a newborn baby
And feel the pride and joy He gives
But greater still the calm assurance
This child can face uncertain day, because He lives.
And then one day, I'll cross the river
I'll fight life's final war with pain
And then, as death gives way to victory
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He reigns.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives
I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives
**Can say it is well with my soul because of who my Shepherd is!
II. BECAUSE OF WHAT MY SHEPHERD HAS!
Look: v.4 – “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”
Hymn: It Is Well With My Soul
Horatio G. Spafford was a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago with a lovely family - a wife, Anna, and five children. However, they were not strangers to tears and tragedy. Their young son died with pneumonia in 1871, and in that same year, much of their business was lost in the great Chicago fire. Yet, God in His mercy and kindness allowed the business to flourish once more.
On Nov. 21, 1873, the French ocean liner, Ville du Havre was crossing the Atlantic from the U.S. to Europe with 313 passengers on board. Among the passengers were Mrs. Spafford and their four daughters. Although Mr. Spafford had planned to go with his family, he found it necessary to stay in Chicago to help solve an unexpected business problem. He told his wife he would join her and their children in Europe a few days later. His plan was to take another ship.
About four days into the crossing of the Atlantic, the Ville du Harve collided with a powerful, iron-hulled Scottish ship, the Loch Earn. Suddenly, all of those on board were in grave danger. Anna hurriedly brought her four children to the deck. She knelt there with Annie, Margaret Lee, Bessie and Tanetta and prayed that God would spare them if that could be His will, or to make them willing to endure whatever awaited them. Within approximately 12 minutes, the Ville du Harve slipped beneath the dark waters of the Atlantic, carrying with it 226 of the passengers including the four Spafford children.
A sailor, rowing a small boat over the spot where the ship went down, spotted a woman floating on a piece of the wreckage. It was Anna, still alive. He pulled her into the boat and they were picked up by another large vessel which, nine days later, landed them in Cardiff, Wales. From there she wired her husband a message which began, “Saved alone, what shall I do?” Mr. Spafford later framed the telegram and placed it in his office.
Another of the ship’s survivors, Pastor Weiss, later recalled Anna saying, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”
Mr. Spafford booked passage on the next available ship and left to join his grieving wife. With the ship about four days out, the captain called Spafford to his cabin and told him they were over the place where his children went down.
According to Bertha Spafford Vester, a daughter born after the tragedy, Spafford wrote “It Is Well With My Soul” while on this journey.
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Chorus:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul
