In part one of ‘How to Find Peace in an Anxiety-Filled World,’ we examined the beginnings of Psalm 23. While the analogy of a Shepherd with his sheep was explored, let me just hit some of the highlights and then we will move to the second point of the Psalm where there is a change in imagery.
Psalm 23 was written by King David, who in his youth cared for his father’s sheep. Now in a time of danger and difficulty with enemies before him, he expresses confidence that the Lord is his shepherd. The God who created the universe and delivered his people from slavery through a mighty hand and then sustained a nation of slaves through forty years in the wilderness, was also his Shepherd. David’s confidence in life was based upon his understanding of the nature of God, and his personal relationship with God. While the first picture of God’s amazing care for us who know Him is the metaphor of a shepherd caring for his flock, let me finish that imagery from Psalm 23:4. “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.”
A. The Darkest Valley
What is meant by walking through the darkest valley? The origin of the word translated darkest is the Hebrew word Salmāwet, in which Sal is valley and māwet is death. Bruce Waltke and James Houston make an interesting distinction in understanding this term.
But this gloss may be misleading, for in use Salmāwet does not signify clinical death. In its other seventeen uses, all poetic, it refers to literal darkness in opposition to light, usually with an implied sorrow or fear.[i]
Verse 4 envisions God’s guidance through a time of utmost distress. Continuing the path metaphor, the psalmist imagines the path leading through the darkest valley or, according to another translation, ‘the valley of the shadow of death’. The latter more traditional rendering derives from splitting the Hebrew word salmāwet (deep darkness) into two words: Sēl māwet (shadow of death).[ii]
Kenneth Bailey shares that there are many such valleys in that region.
The former shepherd Krikorian describes such a valley that is just south of the Jerusalem-Jericho road. He writes, ‘There is an actual valley of the shadow of death in Palestine, and every shepherd knows of it. …It is a very narrow defile through a mountain range where the water often foams and roars, torn by jagged rocks. …The path plunges downward …into a deep and narrow gorge of sheer precipices overhung by frowning Sphinx-like battlements of rocks, which almost touch overhead. Its side walls rise like the stone walls of a great cathedral. …The valley is about five miles long, yet it is not more than twelve feet at the widest section of the base. …The actual path, on the solid rock, is so narrow that in places the sheep can hardly turn around in case of danger.’[iii]
By expanding the idea to include all times of anguish, despair, and anxiety, including the approach of death, the point is that God will be with us throughout life’s journey, even in the most difficult moments. In other words, it conveys that God will take us through this life’s darkest moments, even through the door of death itself until we come safely to the other side to live eternally with him. We can be assured that the Lord will not forsake us. The picture of the Shepherd leading has moved to being with us, therefore, we need not be fearful of any evil. God will protect us. How does God deliver us from fear? “His rod and staff they comfort me.” The idea here is not that God sympathizes with us, but rather, He encourages us.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.[iv]
God primarily uses His word to lead and encourage us. That is the greatest argument for us spending time in God’s word. It grounds us, strengthens us, warns us, encourages, and comforts us. God can give us a specific word to sustain us in times of challenge and difficulty.
B. The Rod and Staff comfort us
Here we have the two instruments that Shepherds employ, the rod and staff. Kenneth Bailey describes the rod as both a scepter and a weapon.
…it is the shepherd’s primary offensive weapon for protecting the flock from enemies… The instrument itself is about two and half feet long with a mace-like end into which heavy pieces of iron are often embedded.[v]
Phillip Keller in his description of the rod from his days in Africa describes the shepherd boys selecting a sapling and using the enlarged base.
…it is shaped into a smooth, rounded head of hard wood. …After he completes it, the shepherd boy spends hours practicing with his club, learning how to throw it with amazing speed and accuracy.[vi]
God’s spirit and word are being represented here. The staff is only used in the care of sheep. It is one of the chief tools used by shepherds. It speaks of the care and guidance of the shepherd. The staff is symbolic of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the one that is leading the church family. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that brings comfort to the people of God.
Jesus calls the Holy Spirit another comforter. The Holy Spirit is the One who comes alongside of us and helps us through our tests and trials. He convicts use when we stray from God’s will.
David, in mentioning the rod, that ancient weapon used by shepherds to protect their flock, knew its value. David shared with King Saul that he had as a Shepherd attacked both a bear and a lion with his rod to rescue a sheep. This rod was a formidable weapon.
But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear;[vii]
David struck these animals with his rod. This rod is a picture of God’s word used in defense against the attack’s that come to us. The battlefield is our mind. So many thoughts come that are in opposition to the promises and principles that are found in God’s word. We are to grow in our understanding of the Word of God and submit our thoughts in obedience to the knowledge of Christ. The apostle Paul talks about that in his second Corinthian letter.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.[viii]
You notice in these verses that the battle is really thoughts opposed to the knowledge of God. It is, as we know, the truth and we apply it to our lives so that we will win spiritual battles. It is therefore how we are comforted or encouraged. This contrasts to the temptations and thoughts that are contrary to the word of God. These thoughts can torment us, fill us with anxiety. Our society is structured to build discontent into our lives. The basic premise of our society is based on the concept that we are still lacking something to be really fulfilled. That is the gimmick of the advertising world.
When Jesus fought the battle in the wilderness, He found comfort or encouragement in the correct understanding and application of the Word of God and brought victory against the enemy.
II. THE SECOND PICTURE OF GOD’S AMAZING CARE IS AS A ROYAL HOST
The shift now moves from Shepherd and sheep to Royal host and guest. Tables were found in wealthier homes, and the host was responsible for meeting certain needs.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.[ix]
When most read this text, it is easy to miss some of the intensity and meaning behind what is being expressed. In their book, Biblical Social Values and Their Meaning: A Handbook, John Pilch and Bruce Malina, explain the significance of ‘hospitality’ in a shame and honor culture that will help us understand the significance of these expressions in Psalm 23.
Hospitality is the process of ‘receiving’ outsiders and changing them from strangers to guests. This value clearly serves as a means for attaining and preserving honor, the core cultural value. In the world of the Bible, hospitality is never about entertaining family and friends. Hospitality is always in dealing with strangers. …their reception occurs in three stages:
- Strangers have to be tested. …The ritual of foot washing marks the movement from strangers to guest.[x]
If we consider Jesus in the Upper room at the last Passover meal with the disciples, Jesus’ acting as the host washing their feet and calling them his friends.
(2) The stranger takes on the role of guest. Since transient strangers lack customary or legal standing within the visited community, it was imperative that they find a patron, a host. …to offend the guest is to offend the host, who is protector and patron of the guest…[xi]
The significance of this is that now the stranger-turned-friend is under the protection of the host and to treat the stranger-turned-friend in a wrong manner means that you are offending the host. In practical terms to attack one of God’s children is, in essence, to attack God. That’s why Jesus states that when we are ministering to one of the least of these in Matthew 25, we are ministering to Him. When we welcome a little child in Christ name, we are welcoming Jesus (Matthew 18:5).
Pilch and Malina continue to explain this host and guest relationship.
(3) The guest never leaves the host with the same status as upon arrival, for the stranger-guest will leave the host as either friend or enemy. If as a friend, the guest will spread the praises of the host.[xii]
We know from Jesus’ appearance at Simon the Pharisee’s home that Jesus was treated as an enemy. Neither did Simon have Jesus’ feet washed, nor greeted with a kiss, nor anointed his head with oil. Here in our text, we read that our heads are anointed with oil, an expression again of acceptance.
Waltke and Houston explain the significance of the anointing of the guest.
The pouring of olive oil on the guest’s head, connoting the wealth, generosity, and care of the host to promote the renewal, joy, and healing of his weary and wounded guest: ‘In a climate where dry skin was a problem, especially for travelers, anointing with oil was a refreshment.[xiii]
The picture here is more than just a feast.
In the Old Testament world, to eat and drink at someone’s table created a bond of mutual loyalty and could be the culmination token of a covenant. That was how the Old Testament was sealed in Exodus 24, when the elders of Israel ‘beheld God, and ate and drank;’ it was so again at the Last Supper, when Jesus announced, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. So to be God’s guest is to be more than an acquaintance invited for a day. It is to live with him.’[xiv]
Our cup will certainly overflow. This is not the cup of judgment but one of blessing. That’s the meaning we need to gain from Jesus’ message to the church at Laodicea.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.[xv]
Not only has God taken us from being strangers to guests, but as the guests leaves, he or she now sings the praises of the Lord.
B. God’s covenantal love pursuing us.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.[xvi]
In the Hebrew language, we find some exceptional words here. God’s goodness and His covenantal love will literally “pursue me” all the days of my life. Though translated that God’s goodness or grace and covenantal love will follow me, they are not coming from us but think of it that literally they are pursuing us. God’s amazing grace and love are chasing after us. Waltke and Houston remind us God’s goodness and kindness was revealed to Moses.
When Moses requests to see the glory of God, I AM replies, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you’ (Exod. 33:19–20). In a subsequent event of that encounter, I AM passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘I AM Who I AM,’ the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love (hesed) and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (Exod. 34:6–7). Hesed essentially means ‘help to the needy’ and has no precise English equivalent. It refers to a situation where a needy partner depends on another for deliverance, and the deliverer does so freely out of all his finer spiritual and sensitive instincts (i.e., kindness, mercy, love, and loyalty). Karen D. Sakenfeld defined it as ‘deliverance or protection as a responsible keeping of faith with another with whom one is in a relationship.’[xvii]
The Psalm closes with the journey coming to an end. If the Psalm is an expression of my shepherd leading me out to provide for my needs of provision and protection and leading me safely through life’s adversities and enemies of our soul, we end safely living eternally with our Shepherd.
Are you a stranger or a friend of God? Consider how this Psalm ends. God’s goodness and love pursuing us. The question then arises as to what our response ought to be. Considering the incredible relationship with God and His wonderful provisions, what should my response be? What can I receive from the truths found here to help me in a fast paced, stress-filled, anxiety-producing lifestyle?
Like David, who had many challenges in his life as King, we need to commit ourselves to experiencing three very liberating facts.
A. Since the Lord is our Shepherd we don’t have to be discontented and in want. We can find contentment in the knowledge that God Himself is sufficient for us. In Him we have all that we need. It is so difficult for us to learn this.
B. Secondly, because the Lord is our Shepherd we do not have to fear the threat of evil. God is always present. “If God be for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31).”
C. Finally, we can be assured of a life with God. Unbroken fellowship is a reality. We have the guarantee of continuity in the presence of God for all eternity. Even the ultimate fear, the very fear of death, will only pass before us like a shadow as we abide in the presence of the Almighty.
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[i] Bruce Waltke and James Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 441.
[ii] Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and a Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 15—16, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 135.
[iii] Kenneth Bailey, The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey From Psalm 23 To the New Testament, (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Academic Press, 2014), 47 quoting, M. P. Krikorian, The Spirit of the Shepherd: An Interpretation of the Psalm Immortal, 2nd Edition, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1939), 11.
[iv] Romans 15:4, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[v] Kenneth Bailey, The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey From Psalm 23 To the New Testament, 50.
[vi] Philip Keller, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981), 93.
[vii] 1 Samuel 17:34-36a.
[viii] 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.
[ix] Psalm 23:5.
[x] John Pilch and Bruce Malina, Biblical Social Values and Their Meaning: A Handbook, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993), 104.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] Ibid, 104-06.
[xiii] Bruce Waltke and James Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary, 442-43.
[xiv] Derek Kidner, Psalm 1-72, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, (Downer Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 112.
[xv] Revelation 3:20.
[xvi] Psalm 23:6.
[xvii] Bruce Waltke and James Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary, 443.
