Darkest Valley
Robyn Black • April 22, 2020
…When I walk through the darkest valley…
Psalm 23
Gosh, this week has been so unusual. Here’s snap shot of my week.
- Looking at people suspiciously in the GP’s waiting room. All I had to get was a referral letter. I wonder why they are here? Was that a muffled cough I heard?
- Catching up with people in Parramatta for lunch in a café. I need to use the toilet before eating. Thoroughly wash my hands after, and then try and open 2 toilet doors with only my pinky finger. Tricky.
- At Territorial Headquarters in Redfern for a meeting. The person sitting beside me is sniffling and sneezing – OK, that’s not Covid-19, but then he coughs…is that a wet or dry cough…should I stop thinking about this and focus on what the person is saying in the meeting???
- I’m at Officeworks and we’re meant to be 2 metres apart. I’m in a queue and frankly most people seem to have a 20 cm apart rule happening. Trying not to breathe too much. Again…tricky.
- A friend offers me their hand sanitiser. But if I use it, I have to hand it back and surely touching the bottle means I’ve got their germs again. I squeeze out the hand sanitiser, give the bottle back, then rub the goop all over my hands. This new life takes a lot of thought.
There are many things in our new reality that make me smile. But the truth is…this is very serious. The Covid-19 bug is incredibly infectious and hardy, and I desperately don’t want to be a carrier to anyone else.
But our new normal seems to be all about isolation. Social distancing is the term used to describe the practice of putting distance between people, in order to stop the virus’ spread. It includes avoiding physical touch like shaking hands, hugging and kissing (I know, a lot of you are delighted!) and maintaining a certain distance between people in public places or gatherings.
This may be OK in Italy where they live in apartments and stand on their balconies singing to each other. But in Australia, we are often living the Australian dream, bunkered down in a house by our self.
We usually cope with this by being part of groups, like Home League, where we genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Or we go to a café and catch up with a friend. Or we drop in to an elderly neighbour and enjoy a cuppa and a biscuit together. Or we pop in to the local Aged Care facility to support an old friend.
This has all been taken away from us at present and the advice for most of us is to stay home. I saw on facebook recently ‘Still haven’t decided where to go for Easter….The living room or the bedroom’.
We’re more isolated than ever. That’s never good for us, but I want to acknowledge that there are some of us who will feel this even more keenly.
There are many of us who have already struggled with many health issues in the last year and this just feels like the last straw. There are many who have struggled with anxiety or depression and this feels like more encroaching darkness. There are many who already felt the distance of family and now friendship is being done at a distance.
Into this situation comes Psalm 23. Yes, it’s well known. I conduct funerals for community members and many times people request the 23rd Psalm, even though they say they’re not ‘religious’!
But I love this Psalm because it is set in darkness. It is set in the ‘presence of my enemies’, it’s set in the ‘valley’ of life.
The truth is there will always be ‘valleys’ in life. The Psalm doesn’t say IF I walk through a valley, it says WHEN I walk through the valley.
Psalm 23:4 (New Living Translation)
Even when I walk through the darkest valley…
The Psalm acknowledges that the green meadows and peaceful streams of the earlier verse will at some time give way to the valley. There will days that the sun does not shine, because you’re living in the shadow in the valley. There may be weeks, or months or years when the shadows have grown long in your life.
Sometimes we’re plunged suddenly into the valley, and sometimes there’s gradual descent that we don’t at first notice.
I think of the 20,000 Qantas employees who are being put off, or the many small businesses in the Illawarra – cafes, travel agents, restaurants – who are already only just keeping their head above water. All of them pay rent or a mortgage, all of them have to eat and some have to feed a family. These times are incredibly tough for them.
For these businesses the valley was not a gentle descent into a ravine, it was a free fall drop off the edge into the shadows. They didn’t see this coming, none of us did. In early New Year we wouldn’t have thought this virus and its impact was possible.
Of course, the truth is that any day or hour can bring disaster, danger and risk, and mostly we are caught off-guard. But the rest of the verse tells us that we can be fearless in the valley.
Psalm 23:4 (New Living Translation)
I will not be afraid…
The biggest decision we have in the valley is how we respond. And we have a choice of fear or faith. Rick Warren reminds us that the words “do not be afraid” are written 365 times in the Bible. That’s one for each day of the year! It’s like God knew he’d have to write it over and over for us…don’t be afraid…don’t spend your days preoccupied with anxiety and worry.
Maybe it seems unreasonable to you to be asked to not be afraid when you’re in the darkest valley. Well the rest of the verse tells us why we don’t have to be overtaken with fear.
Psalm 23:4 (New Living Translation)
I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.
God is with us. The shepherd has never ever left us…even when we were freefalling into the valley.
Philip Keller used to be a shepherd and he writes from that experience about Psalm 23. “In the course of time I came to realise there is nothing that quieted my sheep more than seeing me in the field. The presence of their master and owner and protector put them at ease as nothing else could do” (A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, p 44).
There’s nothing worse in the valley than feeling like you’re alone. And nothing better in the valley than knowing you’re never alone. God is with us in the valley. He is near, His presence brings comfort, and even more, He brings hope. We’re not alone. The shepherd is there. He will fight for me. He will provide for me. He will protect me. He will keep me on the right path. We can breathe out. It’s OK.
You know, valleys don’t last forever. Psalm 23 says ‘…when I walk through the darkest valley… (Psalm 23:4). We walk through the valley – it is temporary and He will not leave us there.
Today we don’t have a prayer song or an altar call. But I love Leslie Brandt’s paraphrase of this psalm and I ask you to read it and mediate on it as we finish.
Psalm 23, From "Psalms/Now" by Leslie F. Brandt.
The Lord is my constant companion.
There is no need that He cannot fulfill.
Whether His course for me points
to the mountaintop of glorious ecstasy
or to the valley of human suffering,
He is by my side.
He is ever present with me.
He is close behind me
when I tread the dark street of danger;
and even when I flirt with death itself,
He will not leave me.
When the pain is severe,
He is near to comfort.
When the burden is heavy,
He is there to lean upon.
When depression darkens my soul,
He touches me with eternal joy.
When I feel empty and alone,
He fills the aching vacuum with His power.
My security is in His promise to be near me always,
and in the knowledge that He will never let go.
May the knowledge of God’s nearness bring you comfort today. Robyn
Sermons For The Moment
Do not be afraid - Matthew 1:18-21
Luke 2: 4- 15
Luke 1: 26-33
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Ruth Chapter 4
Ruth 3
Ruth 2
Commitment from Love, Ruth 1: 1-18
This is an interesting Psalm – another psalm of ascent. We spoke about these Psalms of Ascent a few weeks ago. They were songs the Jewish people sang as they made their way to Jerusalem to go to the temple, through the forest, along the tracks, camping by the roads. And I believe songs like this kept them focussed and kept their spirits up. I can imagine days of walking together, tiring, boring, hot and dusty. And singing some of these Psalms keep them focussed on the faithfulness of God. Much better then eye spy for the kids. Journeys are not all their cracked up to be even if the destination is worth it. As you know, when I was growing up we always holidayed at Bawley Point past Ulladulla, and in those days it was about a 4 hour drive from Sydney. We always left later than we meant to…and the last 20 mins was on a dirt road. One year when I was probably about 4 years old it was dark by the time we got to the dirt road, and half way along the dirt road, was a dodgy wooden bridge over a river. I think part of the bridge had been damaged and we had to wait a bit in the pitch black darkness before we could proceed. Dad was out with a torch ensuring the bridge was safe to drive on and mum and us 4 kids were sitting in the darkness – no street lights, no moonlight. Of course, you might be able to guess what I said to mum in that car, with fearful crying…you’ve probably heard it from kids before. I said ‘I want to go home’. Mum said to me, ‘we can’t go home Robyn, we’re almost there’. In truth, after the bridge we had the last 10 minutes of a 4 hours journey left. We safely crossed the bridge and we were OK. But I remember it. I remember the feeling of being scarred in the darkness. I remember not liking this journey at all. Even though I always loved the destination. Well this psalm celebrates the end of the journey and the arrival at the destination. Psalm 126:1-3, “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” Before we can understand the laughter and joy of the Israelites, we have to understand their journey. This Psalm looks back to when they arrived back in Jerusalem after 70 long years in Babylon. The captives had experienced great sorrow and mourning in exile. We read these heartbreaking words in Psalm 137: “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” (Psalm 137:1-4). Their tormentors demanded they sing joyfully, but they were like – that’s impossible, it doesn’t come from our heart. So they just sat by the waters of Babylon and wept. But now by an amazing work of God they were suddenly back in Jerusalem. And so their joy came from their heart. The wait was over, the journey was complete. “We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.” The journey is the hard bit though isn’t it? I was reminded of this, this week. An Officer couple I was speaking to, said that their teenager said some very hurtful things to them. Stuff like, ‘you make my life worse’. As they spoke to me, I did very little but listen and pray with them. They do have other supports in their life as well, already seeing a psychologist. But what I was thinking in my head as they were speaking was ‘oh the teenage years, I’d forgotten them’. Though we have 2 wonderful young adults in P and K, they were times when it was more than tense. K wears her heart on her sleeve, and to this day apologises for some of the things she said to me. And P, you wouldn’t know what he was thinking, and then all of a sudden all his thoughts and feelings for the last 3 years would come out like molten lava everywhere. A few days later I checked in to see how the couple and their teenager were going. I mentioned in passing about teenage years and very briefly about our experiences. I didn’t want to make it all about me. But I said teenage years can be painful and those years can really hurt everyone in the family. Teenager included. They know that we have a good relationship with P and K and they said to me, you know, this is helpful. It gives us hope. I was like, yep, this too shall pass. Because when you’re in the midst of the journey of pain and sorrow, you sometimes wonder if there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If you’ll laugh again or experience joy again. You begin to wonder, “Is this all that God has for me? Will I ever be happy again?” And here’s the promise in Psalm 126:4-6, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” When you are going through a time of deep sorrow, Psalm 126 is strong medicine for your soul. It carries a powerful message of hope. It tells you that times of trouble and sorrow do not last. It tells you that God will turn your sorrow to joy and your tears to laughter. If you are going through a challenging time right now, I pray that this psalm will speak to your heart this morning. Let me tell you right up front, whatever you’re going through, it will get better. God will change your tears to joy. This week I found something I wrote about 10 years ago. I had written it on a piece of paper and there was a whole reflection about my life. At the time we had my mum living with us, she had dementia, and mostly I remember the good times and the fun times with her. I was also the Corps Officer at Glebe and Bob was the manager at William Booth House. After a page of writing I had written something like this “I’m often anxious, I’m usually stressed, I have eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth. I always feel pressed.” I went out to Bob in the lounge room and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness, eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth’, often anxious, usually stressed. The thing is, my life feels a long way from that now, and I’d forgotten what that part of my journey felt like. I’m sure when I was there I couldn’t look ahead and see a time of joy…but the truth is that “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” This too shall pass. ‘Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!’ says verse 3. God is faithful – he does the healing, the restoring, he brings the streams in the desert that renews and brings fruitfulness. I don’t need to tell you – it takes time. Today, I’m praying for a work of healing in your life, a gradual restoration of joy, of laughter. Like me as a kid, sometimes we don’t like parts of this journey at all. Even though we know our destination is good. And ultimately, we have a destination like no other and that’s the promise of God. A home in heaven made possible through Jesus. May God bless you this week as you look to Him, listen to Him, find your hope in Him and find courage and healing in your journey.
Jesus speaking to the disciples says, ‘Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me. The Thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John is a high velocity chapter, in my opinion. Headline after headline, The Last Supper is the feature article we know best, but then, there is Jesus washing the feet of the disciples to very mixed emotions. Then comes Jesus teaching regarding sacramental service and how he anticipates the disciples proper treatment of others. Iscariot’s predicted betrayal was mentioned, then Jesus speaks of The New Commandment followed closely on the same evening by Jesus warning and prediction of Peter’s denial of Jesus. A big night around the dinner table for everyone there, and a momentous series of events to unfold within the following few days. A lifetime of indelible memories for the disciples as the plans and purposes of God are revealed in the next few days. For the crowds who were present to witness this occasion many people must have found it mind blowing simply too hard to grasp…..all the events were miraculous, certainly, other worldly, certainly, and still today a full comprehension still eludes us without the exercise of a simple faith. I may not completely understand the ways of God…but I do trust God to be God. I’m okay with that and so is God! Earlier this week the media was full of conversation and speculation about how people were going to celebrate ‘freedom day’ (Monday 11th) the stroke of midnight was overwhelmed by pictures of mobs going to licensed premises to make pigs of themselves at the bar, the pokies and other gaming tables and screens. I’m afraid for me seeing the behaviors of people within the first twenty-four hours of so called freedom day was just a concentration of many days in the past 5 to 18 months. We saw many distorted ways for people to tell others how bad off they are and how tough their life has been at the hands of an uncaring and indifferent Government be it State or Commonwealth. The elusive quality many should be turning their attention to is their lack of ‘insight’. I find it sad even tragic when so many fail to recognise within themselves widespread disregard, disrespect and even indifference for human life, who are being driven by fear and selfishness. The restrictions introduced Internationally we call ‘lock down’ or stay at home directions, work from home, home schooling, click and collect, shopping on line for anything and everything on a shelf or in a shop. GP’s consultations on line, pharmacy requirement, prescriptions on line and chemists delivering. Most of what we needed and wanted was accessible one way or another with one important exception in my case….haircuts! Robyn offered…several times….and so did my daughter Keren. Freedom week got me a seat at the hairdresser on Thursday following several visits and several hours in a queue. The last haircut was just before the hairdresser went on maternity leave, she was back at work this week, her child is learning to drive now….its been a while. All four of my grandparents had died by the time I was in my twenties with only one of them really known by us and she was amazingly patient, durable, gracious, kind, and very warm and loving. A grandfather had served in both world wars and with some of his family migrated from a poor place to Australia during the Great Depression for a better life, and got it. There’s nothing unique about my family and nothing peculiar to Australia, this story of overcoming hardship, grinding poverty, widespread sickness and misery was known to millions upon millions over the world. You and I do not hail from the hordes of angels, we hail from the ordinary everyday variety of people who have populated the earth, not from those who live a charmed life. We however have a nature and a soul bestowed upon us by God the Creator of All, capable of kindness, compassionate and loving service. If you haven’t seen the real unspoiled nature of humanity at work, seek out the stories of your family, if you have grandparents, great grandparents, uncles and aunties who were born before the 1950’s talk and research and discover the strength and fiber of your inherited humanity. This does come with a warning however, be prepared for a surprise. The old expression, ‘I am today, what all my yesterdays have made me’, carries a great truth, but at best it can only convey part of your story. We are human with all the accompanying peculiarities……BUT we are more, much more. We are reading from the Gospel of John today, and I must admit, this is the Gospel I always turn to first. John 8:12 ‘when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ Please take some time to ponder these words and how they are directed to you, this is personal. If you don’t think Jesus words are directed to you today…..then who is He speaking to? We have a guide to lead us so we can find our way. Our wisdom is to look to Him, and absorb His Spirit and apply that to all our circumstance of life. **We do have a guide for life and life for us each would be not only more **harmonious but we would be more fulfilled, we would truly know from **personal experience what Jesus means by applying the bowl of water and **towel in the Sacrament of Service. With such a sure guide in the world in does seem odd to me why many, many more people don’t follow the light of God. Humanity might have made greater progress faster than we have. Let’s get back to John 13: 21 before someone pulls the Zoom plug out of the wall. Before going in to hospital, I decided to help myself a bit by sorting and packing our books (700). However, there is one shelf still crammed full. No prize for guessing, they are cook books also I watch cooking shows on TV, UTube etc. Cooks often ask the guests on the show about their favorite meal, even what would they ask for if they knew this was to be the last meal. Two surprises, Ice Cream is a biggy, a multitude of flavors and trimmings. The second surprise has been simple meals like mum or grandma used to cook. This is when you discover food is a lot more than for just eating. I’ve never heard of anyone asking for Brussel sprouts or Kale. During these conversations about favorite foods we often hear about the significant people in their life, who were their great influences, those that bough much joy and kindness, those who were able to console, challenge and encourage even those who inspired love and gently directed people on to life in its fullness. Rarely do we hear about those who instilled fear or humiliation, distrust or dislike. Generally, we don’t gather people to the table who broke our hearts or spirit, crushed our dreams or betrayed our trust. Just before Jesus went to a garden to plead with His Father for another way out of His looming death, He invited 12 of His closest friends to join Him for Dinner, one last time. As the wine was being passed around the table Jesus dropped a bomb by announcing to them all, He knew one sitting at the table would betray Him and another would deny Him. What a stir, what a turmoil within each one as they declared their innocence, they all said it wasn’t them. Jesus knew in a few short hours He would be handed over to be crucified. A final meal together and Jesus could have chosen others but He chose the group closest to Him, including the ones He knew would soon betray and hurt Him. My last meal. Your last meal. Who would be on the invitation list? Why Jesus? What does this mean? This is what love does.