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THE SHEPHERD IN THE SHADOWS (Psalm 23)

Ask anyone what their favorite psalm is, and it is very likely that you are going to hear someone say, “Psalm 23.” At the very least, it is perhaps the most famous of all the psalms.

Most often, Psalm 23 is used when people are very ill and nearing the end of life. It is often used during funeral services. It is frequently connected to death, but I want to show you today that it is actually a psalm of life. Further, it is a psalm for every stage of life.

We know it was written by David, the shepherd turned king, but we do not know exactly when he wrote it.

Was he sitting in the fields as a young man, keeping watch over his father Jesse’s sheep? Perhaps.

Was it when he was sitting on the throne as ruler of the southern kingdom, waiting on God’s perfect fulfillment of the promise? Perhaps.

Was it near the end of his life when he was looking back at all of those years? We do not know.

One thing we do know: David is not the Shepherd; Christ is! The Lord Jesus, who would come through David’s line, is the One spoken of in Psalm 23. It is not the pastor who is the shepherd, or the king shepherding a nation. It is the Lord Himself.

Look at verses 1-3. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leaders me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

If you stop right there, you might think, “How wonderful.” So far it has been light and stillness, nothing but good days.

Then you come to verse 4. “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 have gone from stillness to shadows, from the mountaintops and green pastures to the valleys. But our God watches over us in the dark as well as in the light, in the valley as well as the mountain peak. He leads us to rest and peace in verse 2, and in paths of right and peace in verse 3. But sometimes He leads us through rough places, as in verse 4.

Today I want to leave you with the simple thought that God is the shepherd in the shadows. According to I John 1:5, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” But He works in our lives!

1. THE SHADOW

Everyone has seen a shadow and knows what that is. Even great men like David had their own darker days when it seemed as though the shadows fell upon them. But let me remind you of the most obvious truth about shadows: they are not real. There is no substance there.

Afraid of a shadow? My friend, there is nothing to fear when the Lord is near.

That brings up another thought, which is that the only way to have a shadow is to have light. Its very presence is evidence that light exists. In your dark days when the shadows cross your path, let me challenge you to look not at the darkness but at the light. Shadows always pass.

Verses 5-6: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

The shadow is not the end. The Lord, the shepherd, will last forever.

There are three beautiful words in verse 4 that merit further examination. The word “though” suggests possibility. It means that something could happen.

The word “through” contains a measure of certainty. You are not going to stay in the valley or in the shadow. You will come out on the other side. As the saying goes, “This, too, shall pass.”

But the greatest word is “thou.” It is a word of deity. God will never change. The shadow will never last, but He will.

2. THE SHEPHERD

What does the Shepherd do for us?

• He frees you. Verse 4 states, “I will fear no evil.” He takes that fear away.
• He feeds you. In verse 5 a table is spread for you even in the presence of your enemies. Just as the children of Israel received manna in the wilderness, He still feeds His own.
• He fills you. How else could your cup be running over except He fill you and flow through you.
• He follows you. We see that in the first part of verse 6 in the form of “goodness and mercy.”
• He fulfills you. How does the psalm end? “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” He is with you now, and you will be in His house with Him for all eternity.

A pastor named E.J. Rollings, a former police officer who ministered years ago in Detroit, went through a period of real darkness. The shadows fell and his faith was shaken. A fellow pastor wrote him a letter that contained this encouraging statement: “Standing somewhere in the shadows, you will find Jesus.”

Rollings took those words and wrote this now-famous hymn which contains the following chorus:

Standing somewhere in the shadows you'll find Jesus,

He's the Friend who always cares and understands.

Standing somewhere in the shadows you will find Him,

And you'll know Him by the nail prints in His hands.

The Lord Jesus went “through the valley of the shadow of death” for you. He tasted death for every man and is with you right where you are. He is not only the Christ of the cross but also the Christ of the empty tomb. Because of that, you will come out on the other side.

3. THE SHEEP

Remember, David was one of those; he was a follower of the Lord just like we are.

Sheep are skittish creatures. They are easily frightened and shaken by certain things. Yet there is a certain confident tone in this entire psalm, because it is not about us but about the Lord.

Even with a potentially negative tone going into verse 4, he began with the positive word “Yea.” That was because of the One in whom he placed his trust. We can often look at circumstances and they will say, “No.” But then we look at the Lord, and He will say, “Yes.”

The Bible says in II Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

In 1862, a man named Joseph Gilmore was speaking from Psalm 23 and was arrested by the words “shadow of death” in verse 4. It was during the dark days of the War Between the States. While having lunch at a deacon’s house one Sunday, he jotted down some words on paper and gave it to his wife. She sent it off to musician William Bradbury, who published it.

Gilmore never knew this until one day many years later. At a low point in his life, he was in a church and opened a hymnbook to find on the page these very words which he had written:

He leadeth me, O blessed thought

O words with heavenly comfort fraught

Whate'er I do, where'er I be

Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me

He leadeth me, He leadeth me

By His own hand He leadeth me

His faithful follower I would be

For by His hand He leadeth me

Friend, the Lord is not just leading you when things are good. He is also leading in the shadows. Standing somewhere in the shadows, you will find Jesus.