The Valley
Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley”.
Oh the fear and dread that fills the human heart at the mere mention of “the valley”! The thought of facing a valley tends to evoke images of suffering, hardship, and affliction in our minds. When we contemplate the valleys of this life we typically have no thoughts of joy or bliss; instead, we find such a place to be depressing or even repulsive, and thus, we desire to avoid it. Even here, as the Holy Spirit inspires David to pen these divinely ordained words, He allows the personality of David - the man, to shine through in the phrase. God allows us to see “the valley” from a human perspective, even as He is unfolding divine principles.
Think about it. As you read the fullness of what David says here, you can almost see the darkness and sense the gloom which is lurking in the place that he is describing. I do not believe that David was afraid to tread in such a place, for he said, “I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me”. But still, it is quite obvious that he does not face the prospect of having to “walk through the valley” with eager anticipation. In other words, I don’t believe that David had any delusions of grandeur concerning what “the valley” held in store for him or any one else that enters into that shadowy vale. For instance, why was it necessary for David to declare, “I will fear no evil” if there were no “evil” waiting in “the valley”? Indeed, “the valley” is a very dreadful place!
Let’s face it; nobody longs to walk the difficult path! No person in their right mind wants to spend their days in the low lands of this life! Nothing within us hungers to endure the dark shadows, the treacherous terrain, the ever-present dangers, and the possible hazards that always accompany the journey through such a rough and rugged place as “the valley”! However, though everything within us would cry out to God for the easy path, though our souls would beg for some other way to reach our destination, though we would plead with God not to direct our “paths” into that woeful way, yet we must understand that there is no other way! When we realize this, it will bring us at once to understand a very vital truth: The Valley is A NECESSARY Place!
It has been said that, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials”! Without a doubt, this is one of the great lessons that we glean from this particular phrase in Psalm 23. When David says, “THOUGH I walk through the valley”, he is not suggesting that “the valley” is nothing more than a dreadful possibility; he is instead acknowledging that “the valley” is an unavoidable certainty! This is why Acts 14:22 says, “…that WE MUST through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
For a moment, let’s think about the backdrop against which God has set this scene. In the previous phrase, the psalmist declares that God “…leadeth me in the paths of righteousness” (Psalm 23:3). Then, upon making that statement, he begins the next phrase with a positive affirmation. Notice that in verse 4 we read, “YEA, though I walk through the valley”. The word “Yea” means “Yes”. When David uses this word, it is akin to adding an “Amen” to what he has just said. In other words, he begins by affirming that “the valley” is a part of those “paths of righteousness” in which God leads us! Then, in the midst of “the valley” scene, he acknowledges the presence of God when he says, “I will fear no evil: for THOU ART WITH ME”. The very fact that David finds comfort in such a claim is proof that he has not wandered away from God into this place as a straying sheep. Instead, these words are certain proof that David had followed God into “the valley”!
Remember what we have already established: the “paths of righteousness” in which God leads us are plural “paths”, and because they are so, they carry us down many varied and different courses. Thus, God often guides us through deep, dark, and dreadful places. While this may not be what we want, it is what He wants, and what we need! You see, though our heart longs for the pleasant places of life, and though we would always make our dwelling in the green fields and beside the calm of the still brook, and though we hunger to reach the heights of the table lands of life, yet it is impossible to reach those higher plains for which we long, unless we journey through these low places! If there were no deep valleys to endure, there would be no high mountain tops to enjoy!
Think about this for a moment dear friend! The mountains are made by valleys, and the valleys are made by mountains, and none of us could ever know the delights of the one, without facing the difficulties of the other! The heights of triumph are often made sweetest, when the depths of trials are most bitter. Perhaps this is what Paul was saying when he declared, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) William Penn put it this way, “No pain; no palm. No gall; no glory. No thorns; no throne. No cross; no crown.”
Oh how necessary are the valleys and the deep, narrow gorges of this life! Necessary, because God is seeking to conform us to “the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29)! You see, in Christ, we see a living example of the necessity of life’s valleys. In fact, 1 Peter 2:21 says, “For even hereunto were ye called: because CHRIST also SUFFERED for us, LEAVING US AN EXAMPLE, THAT YE SHOULD FOLLOW HIS STEPS”. Think of what this means dear friend! The sufferings of Christ were not only necessary to bring us life, but they were also necessary to illustrate how we must live in this life!
Think about the statement that is made of Christ in Hebrews 5:8, “Though he were a Son, yet LEARNED HE obedience BY THE THINGS WHICH HE SUFFERED”! Oh how this illustrates the great humility and ignominy of the God-man, Jesus Christ! You see, it was not necessary that He “learned…obedience” because of some reluctance within Him to submit to the Father’s will! Instead, this clearly reveals the extent to which our Great High Priest limited Himself! Christ, through His sufferings, “learned…obedience” experientially! Oh how great the measure to which the Son of God limited Himself and “thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:6)! Oh how vast the humility of Him who “made himself of no reputation” (Philippians 2:7)! The Master was willing to become the servant; The King was willing to be made a pauper; The Sovereign Lord was willing to live as a subjected man! Thus, He was “leaving us an example”!
There are so many things which may be said of this profound statement of Hebrews 5:8, and most of these things are those which we do not have occasion to expound upon here. However, among the many truths that are gleaned in this blessed statement, there are two glorious truths which are conveyed that are relevant to our experiences in “the valley”. First, Christ illustrates to us that God uses “the valley” as a means to teach us. Christ’s sufferings were necessary, so that as He “learned…obedience”, though it was indeed in purely an experiential facet. But, none the less, He “learned…obedience”! And why was it so? He was “being made perfect” (Hebrews 5:9)! But how can this be? How could the precious, pure, and completely perfect Son of God be “made perfect”?
Please understand that this statement concerns no change in the person of Christ. Instead, it speaks of His being initiated or consecrated to execute the office of His priesthood! Just as the priests of “The Aaronic Order” in the Old Testament were consecrated to the work of their office through the sufferings of those beasts which were sacrificed at the ceremony of their consecration (Exodus 29:1-46), so Christ, who was “Called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 5:10), was consecrated to execute His office through His own sufferings!
In illustrating this truth, I am not suggesting that those ends which are accomplished by our sufferings are equal or comparable to Christ’s, but rather, I mean to suggest that in Christ’s example we see the will of the Father being fulfilled. In this fact, we come to realize that our Heavenly Father permits the sufferings of this life’s valleys to teach and to accomplish certain things in our lives, which are in accordance with His will! This is exactly why 1 Peter 5:10 says, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, AFTER THAT YE HAVE SUFFERED A WHILE, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you”!
But there is one more thing to be gleaned from Christ’s example of suffering. You see, in Him we not only realize that God uses “the valley” to teach us, but we also see the measure to which the Father is to be obeyed, even in the midst of sufferings! Think of it friend! Christ was not merely “obedient” and submissive to the pleasure of His Father, but according to Philippians 2:8, He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”! It was the pleasure of the Son to do the pleasure of the Father! Thus Jesus said, “I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29)! And when that “always” included “the death of the cross”, He willingly “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2)!
Meditate upon this dear friend! The Bible does not say that Christ “enjoyed the cross”; it says He “endured the cross”! He willingly embraced the agony, the shame, the sufferings of that vile instrument of death, and according to Hebrews 12:2, He did it “for the joy that was set before him”! You see, the joy was not in what He would experience on the cross, but instead, it was realized in what could only be procured through the cross!
So what was that “joy that was set before him”? In part, I believe it was the redemption of humanity, but in full, I am certain it was the “joy” of doing what pleased the Father! Remember the words of Christ in John 4:34, “My meat is to DO THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, and TO FINISH HIS WORK.” This is why, in the midst of Christ’s sufferings on the cross, and at the appointed hour of His death, He cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30)! You see, in finding “joy” in the Father’s will and work, and in fulfilling that “joy” by a willingness to “endure the cross”, Christ has illustrated to us the full measure of devotion that we ought to have to God, even and especially in the midst of sufferings!
When we realize that “the valley of the shadow of death” is part of the “paths of righteousness” which He has purposed for our lives, and as we remember that these “paths” are necessary to bring forth glory from our lives “for His name’s sake”, it is then that we, like Christ, can “endure” the valleys of this life, knowing that there is a “joy” that has been “set before” the one who would “follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21)! And what is the necessary path of the one who would follow Christ and obtain such “joy”? He must be willing to “deny himself, and take up his cross” (Mark 8:34)!
Everything within us cries “NO” at such a thought! Such a pathway makes no sense to the logic of man; it does not fit within our paradigm! Far too often we are like Peter, who, upon realizing the sufferings that Christ was promising would come, took Jesus aside and said, “Be it far from thee, Lord: THIS SHALL NOT BE UNTO THEE” (Matthew 16:22)! Yet such thinking was not of God, for Christ rebuked Peter when He said, “Get thee behind me, SATAN: THOU ART AN OFFENSE UNTO ME: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Matthew 16:23)!
Oh how often we follow the footsteps of Peter, rather than those of Christ! How often we listen to the whisperings of Satan convincing us that the cross is to be avoided at all cost! How often do we fail to see that “the valley” with all of its sufferings and dangers and crosses is necessary for God’s glory, and for our good! Yet, if we can be made to see that God’s purposes are fulfilled in “the valley”, and if we could but grasp that He has laid before us joyous things that can only be realized by journeying through that rugged path, then we would be able to heed the admonition of James 1:2 to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations”! It is sweet consolation to know that when we “walk through the valley”; it is our faithful Shepherd that has lead us there! It is blessed peace to be assured that He uses such a difficult place to teach us such delightful truths!
But there is still more to be thankful for here? You see, though we may indeed find solace in knowing that the valley is a necessary place, there is another certainty in the psalmist’s words which is equally as comforting. Upon careful reading of the text, we also learn that: The Valley is A TEMPORARY Place! David declares, “Yea though I walk through the valley” (Psalm 23:4)! Do you see it? He says, “THROUGH the valley”! In this the psalmist realizes that his journeying in that place is temporary! The phrase affirms that “the valley” is not only a place in which God teaches us, but it is also a means by which God transitions us! In other words, the valleys of life are not intended to be places where we make a permanent abode!
You will notice in the pattern of Psalm 23 that the psalmist speaks of his “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” in verse 4, but then, as you leave reading verse 4 and begin looking into verse 5, you see what lies ahead. He says, “Thou preparest a table before me”! In this particular case, this “table” refers to the table lands to which shepherds lead their sheep in certain seasons. The text reveals that the Shepherd has already prepared that table land for the sheep, providing every safeguard, and acquainting Himself with every potential hazard there, so that He may bring His sheep to that higher plain in safety, and so that they may enjoy feeding in that place!
Do you realize what this means? The Shepherd has intentionally led His sheep into “the valley”! But He has not done so, because He intends to keep them there. Rather, it is only a means by which to get them to higher plains which He has prepared for them to enjoy! In other words, the necessary place is also a temporary place. The valleys in which God teaches us are also valleys in which He is transitioning us to place of blessings!
Is it not a glorious thought to know that God has gone before us to prepare “a table” at which we may feast? Is it not a blessed truth to realize that God’s valleys are both necessary and temporary places? Oh what help to be assured that we are only called to tread the darksome path for “a while” (1 Peter 5:10)! Oh what comfort we may find in knowing that we will only have to bear the “heaviness” and endure these “manifold temptations” which He has ordained, “for a season" (1 Peter 1:6)! And, though it may not seem so now, there will come a day when we will be able to declare with the psalmist, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:71)!
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