Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Welcome back Day two of our second week in Psalm 23. I know I keep reading the same verses, but I like it. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Speaker 2: 0:40

Now, if you already know the Psalm and we've been over it for more than a week now, so you're a little bit familiar with it you know where it's going next. And this is really a little bit of a shocker. It's a little bit of a surprise because you would think, if God is your shepherd and he's taking care of you and he's making you lie down in green pastures and he's leading you beside still waters and he's restoring your soul, and he's leading you beside still waters and he's restoring your soul and he's leading you on paths of righteousness, you would think that the next couple of verses would say something like and if I follow in the footsteps of God, then everything gets better, because God is going to make everything better. But that's not what it says. And the reason that's not what it says is because that's not how life goes. I mean, how many of you know that following Jesus doesn't always guarantee cotton candy, candy canes and Cadillacs. Man is that God never promises that we will not walk through some serious and significant pain. But he does make a promise that is better than avoiding pain. And David says and even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death Now a lot of commentators kind of argue and fight that's what commentators do about when this text was written.

Speaker 2: 1:57

Some people think it was early in life. I think it was much, much later in life, because King David knows what it's like to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death by totally blowing up his life. One day, when he had abdicated responsibility and while kings were off at war, he was sitting on his couch being lazy. There's nothing more dangerous than a lazy man. He walks out to one of his roof and he sees Bathsheba bathing. Then he goes and gets her and sleeps with her and impregnates her, and then he tries to cover it all up and then he has her husband, uriah, killed on the lines of battle and then it all blows up in his face when Nathan confronts him. Maybe the valley of the shadow of death that you're walking through is self-inflicted wound. Maybe he's talking about that. Or maybe what King David is talking about is when he was a kid and he was working for King Saul and even though David was faithful and played the harp and tried to serve King Saul very loyally, king Saul would throw spears at David to try to kill David. Like you think, you're in a toxic work environment and you know what David did every single time he ducked, he dodged, and you know what he never did he never threw a spear back. Maybe that's what he's talking about when he walked through the valley of the shadow of death.

Speaker 2: 3:12

Or maybe what David is talking about is the time that he lost a child. When Bathsheba conceived that first child that was conceived out of wedlock. That child passed away. First child that was conceived out of wedlock, that child passed away. You know there's no pain like kid pain. No matter what you've been through, there is no hurt that can enter into a dad's life like that of a hurting child. And maybe there's no pain like kid pain because there's no love like kid love. And so if you've lost somebody close, if you've lost a child, I can't imagine. And so if you've lost somebody close, if you've lost a child, I can't imagine, I can't imagine. And that is the valley of the shadow of death. So he knows what pain and loss is about.

Speaker 2: 3:58

Or maybe the valley of the shadow of death is when King David is older and his son Absalom revolts against him and tries to throw him off of his throne.

Speaker 2: 4:02

I mean, maybe the only thing harder than a prodigal son is one that actually wants to take you out.

Speaker 2: 4:09

So this is not some kind of whitewashed Bible verse here. David knows what it's like to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and even though the Lord is his shepherd, he doesn't promise David that he gets to walk around that valley. No, no, no, no. He says even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why, david? Because you're good enough, you're smart enough and doggone it. People like you Nope the reason that you can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil. There's only one reason, for you are with me, your rod and your staff. They comfort me. You know, one of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel, god, with us, and his promise is not necessarily to rescue you out of the valley of the shadow of death, but his promise is to walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death. But his promise is to walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death, and you know that you will be comforted by the presence of the living God.

Speaker 1: 5:15

Amen. Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.