"growing up. Did you ever read the peanuts comic strip? You know the one with charlie brown lucy snoopy and the whole gang. I saw 11 time where snoopy was typing on a typewriter on his dog house and he was writing a story in the first line of his story. Read it was a dark and stormy night lucy entered the scene and said, that's a terrible way to start a story. It's so trite. You should write Once Upon a Time. The best stories always start with Once upon a Time. Yeah, do that start with Once upon a Time. She leaves the scene in the last square. In the comic strip has snoopy restarting his story and he types out once upon a time. It was a dark and stormy night. Now some of our days start like that, don't they? As much as we want to be happy and jolly and jovial. We walked through very difficult circumstances and to be honest, when we are facing difficult circumstances, it's not enough to talk about God. Sometimes we have to talk directly to him and this is exactly what king and shepherd, David does in psalm 23 verse four, You see in the first three verses, he refers to God the good shepherd and third person. But as he enters the valley, He switches to 2nd person and speaks directly to God. See it's important for us to know as christians that when we walk through this life. Yes, we have green pastures, yes, we have still waters but we're also gonna walk through the valley, Jesus said in John chapter 16 verse 33 that we will face trials and tribulations of many kinds. But we can take heart because God has overcome the world. We pick up our story and psalm 23 in verse four, that reads this. Even though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. It should be noted that shepherds in that time around, in and around Israel would have to move sheep from one pasture to the next. There were only two main rainy seasons in that area of land. So oftentimes between those two rainy seasons, he would have to take the sheep from high ground to low ground and the only path to go from high ground to low ground is a deep valley. Now valleys were terrifying for sheep because there was so much unknown. It was in the valley where there was darkness. It was in the valley where wolves and other animals could attack. Sometimes the path was uneven and they felt uneasy and thieves hidden caves and came out to try to snatch them from the shepherd. So the valley for a sheep was a very scary place. But it was walking through the valley that oftentimes would lead to the greenest pastures and the calmness waters. And so I want to notice a couple of things in this verse first, it says, even though I walk through the valley that's present tense, that means while you're facing present tense, difficult situations, you also have present tense promises and power from God. When you become a christian, it's not about waiting until you die to go fly up on a cloud and play a harp. It's about experiencing heaven. Now God's kingdom coming down his power, his spirit coming within you to have a personal relationship with God so that you can walk through your valleys christians. We do not go around the valley. We do not just stay in one spot, but we move through the dark times in our life to get to greener pastures on the other side. And so what is it that keeps us from fearing. It's the very presence of the good shepherd because the shepherd had to continually move the sheep from one land to the next. He had to travel light. For those reasons, he didn't bring a lot of tools with him to manage the sheep. Two of the tools that he used to take care of them was a rod and staff. Now a rod was used for protection, inspection and discipline. It was like a club or a stick. It was used for protection to literally beat the wolves or animals away from the sheep. It was used for inspection because as the wall would grow out of a sheep, you could take the rod and kind of comb it through the wall to find parasites or ticks or bugs. Also, when it came to counting sheep, they would often pass the sheep underneath the rod as it entered through a gate. This is most likely how the Shepherd was able to count the 99 and figure out that one was missing in the story found in Luke chapter 15. It was used for protection. It was used for inspection, but it was also used for discipline. We've shared previously how sheep are prone to wander and prone to disobey and so a little whap of the rod would get the sheep back in line. Now it's interesting that a rod brings comfort to sheep. Something used for discipline actually brings comfort. So what is it for the christian that brings comfort in our lives in the middle of our valleys? What offers protection, inspection and discipline? I believe it's the word of God. Think about it for a second. When you are facing temptation, you can use the word of God to defeat satan and overcome that temptation and to choose to walk in the spirit. This is exactly what jesus did in the wilderness. When satan tempted him, when satan offered an opportunity for jesus to sin, he did not respond in pride, he responded with scripture in the same way the word of God can protect your mind can protect your heart and can protect your soul when you're not feeling good enough, remind yourself of your identity in christ and the promises of God, but not only is the word of God, good for protection, it's also good for inspection. When you can read the word of God and apply it in your life, it's like looking into a mirror of the soul, you can find out where you stand before God. What has God called you to do? Is there something that you need to confess? Is there a promise that you need to believe? Is there an action that you need to take? The word of God is living and active And it's useful for rebuke and for inspection in our lives. So we see that the rod for the christian is the word of God, that it protects that it inspects, but it also disciplines you know, much of the old testament centers around this idea that as humans, we cannot follow God's law on our own. The 10 commandments were given to moses and much of the old testament is about how the Israelites repeatedly disobeyed and wandered away from God and that God used his word to bring them back to him in the same way today that if we read God's word for protection for inspection and indiscipline, it can bring comfort into our lives. Now we see that the shepherd has the rod. Well, what does the staff use for the staff was a long stick that had a hook on it And that hook was used for two purposes. First, it would guide the sheep when you're walking through a narrow path of the valley, it's easy to stumble or fall away and so that hook would literally guide them onto the right path and then next the hook would be used to draw them close to the shepherd when he would get ready to inspect or to take care of a sheep. That hook would be brought in as a really an act of love. So what is it in the christian's life that guides us as we take steps and draws us close to the shepherd? I believe that is the spirit of God. The spirit of God leads us, the spirit of God empowers us. The spirit of God draws us close to him. Have you ever had a moment of reflection or worship or reading your bible where lightbulb moment happened or you just felt emotional and you couldn't explain it. That's the Holy Spirit. Now, you don't always have to quote unquote feel it. But when you do understand that you are being prompted by the Holy Spirit to draw close to him and he guides us in our steps as a youth pastor. I would sometimes describe it to our students as a Holy spirit drip or a nudge. Have you ever been in the workplace and you've got this prompting and you're harder in your head that said, hey, you should go talk to this person. Hey, you should give this person a phone call or reach out or stop and help them. That is the staff of the Holy spirit guiding you or drawing you close to him. So when you're walking through a valley and I don't want to make light of whatever valley you're in because that valley is called the Shadow of Death. It doesn't get more extreme than that. Now, what does it mean? Does does it mean actually death itself? The psalm is often quoted at funerals. It could I believe most likely being written by David, it was a culmination of walking through a difficult or dark night of the soul for him through one of the circumstances that he was facing. And so in that dark night of the soul, when you're walking through the valley of the Shadow of Death, do you know what brings you comfort? It's the Rod of God's word and it's the staff of God's spirit that if you walk in spirit and you live in God's word, they will bring you comfort in your darkest night. And so now we've reached the time where we're going to share with you this truth to declare, Are you facing cancer or difficult relationship or you feel far in your faith or maybe you're broken in relationships or down financially or whatever is your valley that you're walking through right now, here is the truth that I want you to declare, jesus dealt with the substance of death. So all that remains is its shadow. Think about that, Jesus dealt with the substance of death. So all that remains is its shadow. Shadows are scary, but they're not substantial. Let me prove it to you. Would you rather be hit by a car or hit by a car's shadow? The shadows are scary, but they don't represent the object itself. And what's interesting about psalm 23 is that it actually comes directly after psalm 22 And Psalm 22 is seen as a Messianic psalm. It was pinned by the words of David and actually foreshadows or prophesized the death of Jesus Christ. In fact, when jesus was on the cross, he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Do you know where those words come from? Those words come from Psalm 22 And now here we are in Psalm 23 and David is walking through the shadow of the Valley of Death and we see that God has already dealt with the substance so that all that is left is the shadow and you want to know another interesting thing about shadows. Shadows don't exist in the dark. You know you when you're walking through a space in the middle of the night, you do not see a shadow. And so this is why this is important. Shadows only exist when light is present. Let me say that again, because that's incredibly powerful. If you grab ahold of this truth. Shadows only exist when light is present. That means that if you're walking through the valley of the shadow of death, there are shadows. But there is light and there is light because there is the good shepherd. And if the good shepherd is with you then you have no reason to fear. And his rod of his word and his staff of his spirit are there to bring you comfort when jesus died on the cross and rose again, he conquered death to our riders. In the new testament could say things like death. Where is your sting Paul when writing his letter in Philippians in Chapter one verse 21, he says for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I love that verse. In fact, that's my personal life verse. But the only way you can say to die is gain is if that first part is also true, that is your life rested in christ. Is your life invested in the causes of christ. Because if you do that, what's the worst thing that could happen to you? If you lose everything, if you die to die is is to be absent of the body, but really to be present with him in heaven. Heaven's gonna be filled with no more mourning. No more cancer, no more poverty, no more racism, Brokenness, sins, addiction, there is complete acceptance. There is complete love. There is joy. There is purpose because you are with the good shepherd, you are with the light of the world. You are with the God who created you loves you and saves you for all eternity. Therefore, even though we walk through the valley of the Shadow of death, we remember that Jesus dealt with the substance of death. So all that remains now is its shadow and shadows are scary, but they're not substantial. And if there's a shadow there must be light. And if there is light, you can cling to that light and cling to the good shepherd and he will protect you with his rod and with his staff. And so I want you now to apply this action, turn to the shepherd wherever you are, whatever darkness you're feeling right now. Is it depression? Is it worry? Is it difficulties? Lean into that situation and draw close to the good shepherd because it's the very presence of him that will bring you peace. The key to comfort is the presence of the good shepherd all throughout scripture. We see this in genesis. God walked with Adam and Eve, when moses was going to really save the Israelites, it was the fact that God said, I am that brought moses comfort Joshua. Chapter 1: verse nine, Joshua was going to lead the people into the promised land and God spoke to him and said, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid for I will be with you always Again in Psalm 23, we see that the reason David doesn't fear is because God is with him and then you go into the new testament, jesus comes down and it's given the name immanuel, which means guess what God with us. And before he leaves to go back to heaven, he gives the disciples the great commission and he says go and make disciples baptizing them in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all the commandments that I've given you. Now, how do we get that power? How do we have that comfort to live out such an incredible mission? He says for I will be with you always if you're in a valley right now, if you're feeling anxious you're feeling worried, I want you to know that jesus dealt with the substance of death so all that remains is its shadow and if shadows are present, so is light and that light is the good shepherd and the rod of his word and the staff of his spirit will bring you comfort in times of name. So choose to lean into that today and I promise you you will receive and have and hold the piece that you've been looking for. Let's pray dear Heavenly Father for those that are walking through difficult times right now, God, my heart breaks for them, God for our nation and our country in our community right now. My heart breaks for this, it seems collectively as a community and as a culture and a society that we are walking through this valley. But God you dealt with the substance of death on the cross so that all that's left is its shadow and so shadows are scary, but they're not substantial. So God let us bring comfort to the world when we pull and draw close and turn to you. The good shepherd, May, the rod of your word and the staff of your spirit brings us comfort in this time of name. We give our situation, we give our day, we give our lives to you God in your son's name, we pray. Amen."