The Psalm of the Great Shepherd: Psalm 23:4

death, dying, adversity, calamity, etc.
The Psalm of the Great Shepherd: Psalm 23:4
Psalm 34:4, 15-16
I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
Jehovah-Shammah (shawm-maw), "The Lord is there ," (always present) Ezekiel
Ezekiel 48:35
All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits;
and the name of the city from that day shall be:
THE LORD IS THERE." NKJV
We will divide the verse into five parts:
I. The Shepherd's CARE:
A. Psalms 23:4a
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”
1. The PLACE : ‘Valley of the shadow of death’:
The phrase is used 20xs in the Bible NKJV.
The breakdown: 18xs in the O.T. (10xs it is found in Job); 2xs in the N.T. (Matt. 4:16; Luke 1:79)
Literal meaning: The ‘ shade of death’; Figuratively: ‘CALAMITY ’
2. The PASSAGE: ‘Walk through’:
David Jeremiah said, “This valley is not a state of condition or an ‘aiding’ ( a place to remain or live in) but a place we all pass through.” Job’s conversations with his friends about God:
Job 12:22 “He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.”
3. The PROBLEMS: FEAR & EVIL
B. Psalms 23:4b “I will fear no evil”
The great enemy is fear but the Great Shepherd is greater than our fears!
[I will fear no evil] Dark, cheerless, dismal as it seems, I will dread nothing. The true friend of God HAS nothing to fear in that dark valley. His great Shepherd will accompany him there, and can lead him safely through, however dark it may appear. The true believer has nothing to fear in the most gloomy scenes of life; he has nothing to fear in the valley of death; he has nothing to fear in the grave; he has nothing to fear in the world beyond.
The word fear occurs 367xs in the Bible. Some fears are healthy. They can cause us to take flight, to freeze, or to fight when we have no choice. But God doesn’t want us to live in fear!
The word evil (482xs) is not the normal word usedfor sin or iniquity. It does carry the idea of moral problems but it also can be used as (it a long list): adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displeasure,
distress, grief , harm, hurt, ill, mischief, misery, sad, sore, sorrow, trouble, wrong.
1. NEGATIVE aspects of fear: (as found in Job (15xs):
Job 4:14-15
Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair on my body stood up.
The Psalms use the word the most often (62xs): Psalm 56:3-4
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word,
in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
2. POSITIVE aspects of fear: 2 examples from Proverbs
Proverbs: 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction. We need to
understand the ‘fear of the Lord’:
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance
and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.
The word fear also carries the idea of AWE or RESPECT
Psalm 4:4 “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”
Psalm 33:8 “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”
New Testament teaching on Fear:
Luke 12:4-5
"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
I John 4:17-19
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.
Summarizing the first three (3) parts of the verse:
"God will lead and guide me in the path of righteousness, even though that path lies through the darkest and most gloomy vale-through deep and dismal shades-in regions where there is no light, as if death had cast his dark and baleful shadow there. It is still a right path; it is a path of safety; and it will conduct me to bright regions beyond. In that dark and gloomy valley, though I could not guide myself, I will not be alarmed; I will not be afraid of wandering or of being lost; I will not fear any enemies there-for my Shepherd is there to guide me still." (Barnes notes)