Through the Valley

Welcome to the Gospel Focused Family Moment. I'm your host, Eric Novak. Each week we pause as a family to remember what matters most: the good news of Jesus. This podcast is brought to you by gospelfocused.com. For our opening liturgy today, I'll be your leader and ask a question, and then you follow along and repeat with your family. Christian family, what do we believe? We believe in God the Father, Maker of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who gives us life and makes us one. Scripture Reading — Psalm 23 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. This is the word of the Lord. Welcome back to the show, friends. I'm so glad you're here for our short November season. We're on week two of three, studying the 23rd psalm. We'll be off for Thanksgiving, and then we'll launch right into Advent. I'm so excited to share with you this Christmastide about hope, peace, joy, and love. You won't want to miss it as we spend five minutes together in the days leading up to Christmas Day. Today we're studying the middle of Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." In the last episode we talked about how Jesus is the good shepherd who leads us in the paths of righteousness, and this is a continuation of that idea. I don't know about you, but when I think of paths of righteousness, I imagine a quiet meadow with a sunny path leading through it. But that picture is only partly true. Here we read that the paths of righteousness can actually lead through the dark valley. So if your family has ever felt like you're in a dark valley, this passage is so reassuring. We're in the valley because the Good Shepherd is leading us through it, on the way to green pastures. When it's a dark night and you're scared, you just want your mom and dad to be with you, right? And by them being there, it suddenly doesn't feel as scary. Well, there's reassurance in the dark valley in the presence of the good shepherd. He doesn't guide the sheep into the valley and just leave them there. He is with them. The word for valley in the original Hebrew is more like a canyon, and it can be so narrow in that region of the Middle East that its walls block out the sun, and it's a perfect place for wolves or even flash floods. But the shepherd guides the sheep to safety. I love the words of the Heidelberg Catechism from 1563: "He (Jesus) so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head. Indeed, all things must serve my salvation." There's great comfort in knowing that God does what He says He will do for His children. He never says Christians won't go through hard times or dark canyons, but He promises to lead His children through them for their good and His glory. Something interesting happens here in our psalm too. The author, David, stops talking about God, as if He were out there, a concept that David kind of knows about, and he starts talking to Him. David says, "You are with me," and then he keeps speaking to God directly: "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." And in the next section, which we'll cover next week, "You prepare a table before me." The pastures aren't good because they're great places to be. The pastures are good because Jesus is there with us, and that's the only reason they're good. That's the only reason anything in this life is good and worth enjoying. Without Jesus, it's all pointless. I want to say two more things about the valley, because it seems like we spend a lot of time in the valley as adults, and sometimes kids can pick up on that. Sometimes your family just feels like it's been in a valley for a really long time, and it's not easy at all. And Psalm 23 is famously read at funerals, often when someone is burying a loved one who has passed away. So instead of comforting, it can be sad to read, because you think of those hard times. My one reassurance is that this isn't the first time Jesus has been through the valley. Hear this: Jesus already passed through the valley, and He went there alone. It was on the way to the cross, where Jesus died for you and me, to turn death on its head, to undo all the wrong in this world and make it right in the next one. We have hope and assurance in this: that Jesus has already been here, and one day death will be no more. The last part of our passage is about the rod and the staff, and they're worth spending a minute on. Before David was a king, he was actually a shepherd himself, and so he wrote Psalm 23 from that experience. When he writes about the rod and the staff, he's specifically talking about a rod used to protect sheep from wild animals, and a staff, or a shepherd's crook, that was used to pull sheep to safety and keep them from getting hurt. David says that these tools are a comfort to him because they're meant to keep him safe when used by the Good Shepherd. Here's one thing to notice: the rod isn't aimed at the sheep, it's aimed at the wolf. The same strength that could hurt is the very thing that keeps the sheep safe. I hope you see the great intentionality and purpose of what is written here. Jesus loves us. He cares for us and He protects us. He has a purpose for us and He guides us. No matter what you're going through as a family, Jesus is with you now. I'm so glad that I get to be a part of guiding you through these passages and teaching you about Jesus. Let's pray together. Thank you, Father, for the good shepherd Jesus, who cares for His flock and guides us in the way we should go. You're faithful, you never leave our side, even in the valley. Reassure us of your presence through your word, through the holy sacraments of bread and wine, and through the faithful preaching of the gospel by your servants. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Our memory verse for this week is Psalm 23:4: "I will fear no evil, for you are with me." Thanks for joining us for this week's Gospel Focused Family Moment. I'm your host, Eric Novak. Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and your hearts focused on the gospel. Go as a family in the peace of your Savior and closest friend, Jesus Christ. See you next week. Thank you for being part of what we do at gospelfocused.com. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with a friend. Every person we reach brings us closer to our goal of sharing the gospel with every family around the world by the grace of Jesus.