Walking in Darkness
Notes
Transcript
Shepherd Me
“Walking in Darkness”
August 4, 2019
Introduction
We are in the middle of a sermon series entitled, “Shepherd Me.” In this series we are looking at came across a great quote from Adrian Rogers on the 23rd believe that the Twenty-third Psalm ought to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Have you ever thought about what a magnificent psalm it is? Think about the scope and the reach of it. It’s sweet to a little child. And yet it is perplexing to a scholar. It is quoted at funerals, and it is quoted at weddings; it is quoted in the nursery school, and it is quoted on the battlefield—the Twenty-third Psalm.
Read from the NLT:
¶ The LORD is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,a
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD
forever.
Today, we are going to look at verse 4.
Illustration: Larry's Walters boyhood dream was to fly. But fates conspired to keep him from his dream. He joined the Air Force, but his poor eyesight disqualified him from the job of pilot. After he was discharged from the military, he sat in his backyard watching jets fly overhead.
He hatched his weather balloon scheme while sitting outside in his "extremely comfortable" Sears lawnchair. He purchased 45 weather balloons from an Army-Navy surplus store, tied them to his tethered lawnchair dubbed the Inspiration I, and filled the 4' diameter balloons with helium. Then he strapped himself into his lawnchair with some sandwiches, coca-cola, and a pellet gun. He figured he would pop a few of the many balloons when it was time to descend.
Larry's plan was to sever the anchor and lazily float up to a height of about 30 feet above his back yard, where he would enjoy a few hours of flight before coming back down. This turned out to be a major miscalculation on Larry’s part
When his friends cut the cord anchoring the lawnchair to his Jeep, he did not float lazily up to 30 feet. Instead, he streaked into the LA sky as if shot from a cannon, pulled by the lift of 42 helium balloons holding 33 cubic feet of helium each. He didn't level off at 100 feet, nor did he level off at 1000 feet. After climbing and climbing, he leveled off at 16,000 feet.
At that height he felt he couldn't risk shooting any of the balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really find himself in trouble. So he stayed there, drifting cold and frightened with his coke and sandwiches, for more than 14 hours.
He crossed the primary approach corridor of LAX, where Trans World Airlines and Delta Airlines pilots radioed in reports with one pilot saying, “You are not going to believe, we just passed a man in a lawn chair.
Eventually he gathered the nerve to shoot a few balloons, and slowly descended. The hanging tethers tangled and caught in a power line, blacking out a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes. Larry climbed to safety, where he was arrested by waiting members of the LAPD. As he was led away in handcuffs, a reporter dispatched to cover the daring rescue asked him why he had done it. Larry replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just sit around."
Larry later had to pay a fine of $1500.
The phrase we are looking at today is about everything going wrong in life.
1. Dark Places
Let’s put verse 4 up on the wall again. In Hebrew, the text reads more like the valley of darkness.
(NLT) Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.
It’s a reference the dark places that we find ourselves in life.
Illustration: Snipe Hunting — Dark, unfamiliar place — all alone
In life, we finding ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places. Remember the first few days after Hurricane Katrina: no power, no water, damage to our homes, a mess in the year, and soldiers guarding the bank and ice.
Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places.
Think back to the March flood of 2016. Many people in our church were flooded. Many people in our town and parish were flooded. Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places.
Think about recent threats to our safety. Maybe, you caught the headline in a recent edition of the Daily News: BPD investigating 9 shooting incidents in 14-day timespan.
BPD officials said that the frustrating thing about this spree of shootings is that they have taken place at all times of the day, and in multiple locations throughout the city. We read article like that, and it’s scary. Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places.
Other examples of trials we face in life: our health coming under attack, a serious car accident that leads us injured, trouble with our kids, financial problems. Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places.
We face disappointments in life. I didn’t get the job or the promotion at work. We lost the big game. I didn’t make the team. I missed the bonus at work. The high school breakup that crushes us. Or the divorce that devastates us. Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places.
Or what about the dilemmas that we face in life. Do I take the new job or stay where I am ? Do I keep taking the treatment or stop? Do I have the surgery or deal with the pain? What do I do with my family member that’s struggling with an addiction? Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places.
Disappointments, dilemmas, trials — Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places. It’s scary.
I wish I could tell you that as Christians we were immune from the trials, disappointments, and dilemmas in life. I wish we had a get out of jail free card.
(NLT) … Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.
Sometimes, we find ourselves in dark, unfamiliar places. It’s scary. We fell all alone, but we are not alone.
2. Delightful Promises
A. God is always with us.
Look at v. 4 again. I fear no evil, you are with me. In Hebrews, evil is translated danger, harm. Just a second ago, we talked about dark places being unfamiliar, scary, lonely. But we have nothing to fear. We are not alone. God is with us. God doesn’t abandon us. God doesn’t leave. God is with us.
(NKJV) For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(NLT) I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
We don’t have to be shaken by the trials, disappointments, and dilemmas of life. God is with us. God’s provision during the dark times of life is his presence. In difficult times, God’s provision is His presence.
Illustration: Camp Pastor who’s dad had stroke. God is here. God is good.
God is always with us. In difficult times, God’s provision is His presence.
B. God will get us through the difficult times.
God will get us through the dark places of life.
Illustration: I had a pastor friend who was sitting on an airplane with a lady, and she was very nervous; she was crying. And it was rough. And he turned to her, he tried to comfort her, and she said, “Do you mean to tell me you’re not afraid in all of this?” He said, “Well, lady, before I got on this thing, I committed my life into the hands of my heavenly Father.” And then he said, “I will have to admit that I have reminded Him about it several times since we’ve been up here.”
Go back to verse 4 and notice the word “through.” The idea there is getting to the other side. God will get us through difficult times in life. God will get us to the other side. Sometimes, the loss is tough and the hurt seems unbearable. But God will get us through our difficult times and to the other side. Sometimes, we get to the other side with physical and emotional scars. But God will get us through our difficult times and to the other side. Sometimes, God getting us to other side doesn’t mean in this life on earth but in the life to come in Heaven.
God will get us through the dark places in life. God is always with us.