If The Lord is My Shepherd - Affliction

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, 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.

https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.23.1-6.NIVUK There are times in our lives when we face danger, or at least feel like it. I wasn't even a year old when my parents had to move into a terrible neighbourhood. I went to primary school and high school on the same route: up a small hill, through a tunnel beneath an expressway and then left up the road towards both schools. We had a tough time in that neighbourhood. There were people in that neighbourhood who really didn't like us and some who were actually dangerous. The atmosphere alone made me afraid. I felt safe when my parents were with me. But when I was alone, I would run from my home to the tunnel and the tunnel home. Every day. All through Primary school. All through Secondary school. Thirteen years of fear. The road to the bus stop to University was on a different route out of the neighbourhood. I ran it too. I never felt any peace until I lost sight of the neighbourhood behind the bus. I was so happy when we moved home. Then there is Glasgow. Brilliant place. One of my favourite places in the world. I'm proud to have been born there. And it just keeps getting better. But in the nineties it was just shaking its tag of "No Mean City" due to the incessant gang violence that had been part of the city for decades. During the day? No problem. But put me on a night bus with drunks and junkies and all of a sudden I was a bag of nerves. Then there is Romania. Beautiful country. You have to go. You'll love it. But on my second trip there, an Orthodox priest was so angry at our evangelism that he ran the church bells to gather a mob to beat us up. When I became a team leader, I had to take teams into Romany villages where I'd have to give security briefings and carry out checks before we left. The churches were fine. Completely safe. But out on the streets and in the houses I was hyper-alert. In one gypsy neighbourhood I was told "Don't come in here without a guide." "Why? Will they hurt us?" my colleague asked. "No, they will kill you." the guide responded. That was the sharpest children's evangelism programme I have ever witnessed in my life. Then there's Czech Republic. Wonderful country. One of my favourite places. But I once had to wait for seven hours in Brno station one week after a racist attack had taken place. I waited for that train with three girls and a Korean. Yeah, you heard me right: a Korean. One week after a racist attack. I was so alert. It was late. I was exhausted. I listened to loud music over my earphones the whole time and prowled around the group, keeping watch like a cat about to pounce. Do you want to know the funny thing? The Korean guy had not long finished his mandatory stint in the Army and knew martial arts. I was a skinny guy from Scotland who'd need to use his backpack to stop himself from being blown away in a gust of wind. And I was the guy who told him to rest! "No, no! You sleep. I'll keep watch." Right. Okay then. Fear makes you do the strangest of things. Yet David writes these words: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil. Many translations make this firmer and call it "the valley of the shadow of death". That's because the Hebrew carries the sense of this being the deepest shadow or darkness, a place of distress and serious danger. Not make-believe. Not imagined. Not perceived. Real, honest-to-goodness danger. And that's because David knew real danger. As a shepherd boy, he would have led his flock into the mountains to escape the heat and find pasture. The sense of the Hebrew word here is of a narrow ravine, potentially where shadows permanently existed. These would provide excellent hiding places for predators or robbers. In fact, semi-nomadic shepherds often built dry-stone pens for sheep in the mountains to keep them safe and slept at the gate to the pen to prevent the sheep from being attacked. This gave rise to Jesus' teaching in John 10: Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. John 10:7‭-‬9 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.10.7-9.NIVUK David himself spoke of the serious dangers he faced as a shepherd when he told King Saul that he wanted to fight the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:34‭-‬37). David could speak of the dangers he had faced and how the Lord had seen him through them. He could easily speak of how the Lord had been his shepherd, even through the darkest valleys. There are believers right now who regularly pass through the valley of the shadow of death. There are those working in hospitals and care homes and in emergency vehicles who regularly come face to face with Coronavirus. Not to mention those who are persecuted and find themselves in tremendously unsafe places because of Lockdown. For many, facing dangers like this is simply a fact of everyday life. But the Lord was with David and can be with them, and us, too. David goes on to say something we might find a little strange: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. How many small children have you ever seen who are comforted by a stick? They aren't very cuddly, are they? I've never seen any child take them to bed or carry them around like a blanket or a soft toy for comfort. Yet when I was growing up, young people did carry sticks out of fear to give themselves a false sense of confidence. These were usually batons or coshes of some variety, and sometimes even knives. It may have given them some assurance, but when they started drinking strong alcohol or taking drugs it gave me no assurance at all. Yet the sheep is assured by the presence of the shepherd and these two sticks: the rod and the staff. The rod was there for the shepherd to lean on as he would not be as fleet-footed as the sheep. It would also be a weapon to be used against predators or robbers. The staff had a wooden hook at one end and would be used to rescue the sheep from difficulty. So the sheep would be comforted by the presence of these two aspects of the shepherd's presence: defence and rescue. David is saying that when we pass through the darkest valley - the valley of the shadow of death - we ought to be unafraid because God is there to defend us and rescue us. His very presence should give us all the assurance we need. David doesn't minimise the risk and use it to provide false comfort. No, he is entirely realistic about it. However, He sees God as bigger than the risk and pictures Him as standing ready to defend and rescue him at any moment. This is what it means to have the Lord as our shepherd. Even in our darkest moments His presence removes our fear. Having seen that our attitude changes to Provision, Direction and Affliction when the Lord is our shepherd, in my next blog we will turn to the last aspect, that of POSITION.