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MAY 25, 2008
Yea, 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.
Psalm 23:4
On February 3, 1998, the notorious pick–ax murderer, Karla Faye Tucker, was executed in Huntsville. But she did not die as an unbeliever. She had come to know Jesus as her Savior during her imprisonment. As she laid on the gurney in the execution chamber, she was asked if she had any last words. She did. Turning to the families of her victims, she said, “I am so sorry. I hope God will give you peace with this.” To her own family she said, “I am going to be face–to–face with Jesus now. ... I love all of you very much. I will see you all when you get there.”1
I suppose some will say that she couldn’t possibly be in heaven, for her crimes were too horrible. But mark my words: God does not share that opinion. In God’s eyes, there are no categories of sinners, such as good, medium, bad, or reprehensible. Even if you were so good that you committed only one sin in your lifetime, that one sin marks you as a transgressor of all of God’s laws and, therefore, makes you a sinner deserving damnation.2 The Scriptures are clear: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”3 Yes, Karla Faye died a sinner; but she died a forgiven sinner through faith in Christ alone. But even the world’s most virtuous person is doomed if he dies without trusting in Christ as his Savior.
It is not true that he who dies with the most toys wins. It is not true that he who dies with the most money wins. It is not true that he who dies with the most faith in Allah wins. It is not true that he who dies as the world’s greatest humanitarian wins. It is not true that he who dies with the most trophies from Greenpeace and PETA wins. But it is true that he who dies in Christ wins. He wins eternal life and salvation.
But why have I begun this sermon on King David’s 23rd Psalm with such a frank discussion about our equality before God as reprobate sinners — and our equality before God as forgiven sinners? I have done so, because, as human beings, we are inclined to exalt King David and put him into the ranks of Christian superstars. After all, God so blessed him that he became the King of Israel. He even wrote the beautiful 23rd Psalm and 72 others as well. But let’s remember that David was also a great sinner, maybe even “worse” than Karla Faye Tucker. Didn’t he commit adultery with Bathsheba? Didn’t he also commit murder when he arranged for Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to be killed? But, behold, God forgave his sins. And of this great sinner, God says, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.”4 See, then, how greatly God loves to forgive sinners!
The reason that the 23rd Psalm is so beloved and beautiful is because David magnifies the grace of God that moves the Almighty to forgive his sins and protect his way. And he lives knowing that God forgives such a great sinner as he. David does not stand before God based upon his own merits, but upon the Messiah’s merits. To whom divine mercy has forgiven sins, that man cherishes the Forgiver of sins.
David, then, fears that nothing evil will befall him when he traverses “the valley of the shadow of death.” But he fears no evil because, as he says, “the LORD is with me.”
But I have a question. Was King David “closer” to the LORD than you and I are now? While we might think so, the reality is that he was not. Just look at this man of God: He is simultaneously a sinner and a saint (a forgiven sinner).
He is 100% saint and 100% sinner. According to his sinful nature, he is evil and he fights against God. And what’s worse, his sinful nature, the old Adam, cannot be reformed, renovated, or made better in this life. It stays with him until he checks into heaven. But, David according to his new nature in Christ is a new creation of the living God. St. Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”5 His new nature in Christ is perfect. It can’t get any better than it currently is.
As David was then, so we are now. We are 100% saints and 100% sinners. Not 50% one and 50% the other. It’s 100/100. Do not try to resolve the paradox, or you will fall into error. We are both as sinful as Adam and as perfect as Christ. So does God see us as sinners or saints or both? Ah, he sees us only as saints, for when he looks at us, he sees us “in Christ,” i.e., as wrapped in the robe of Christ’s righteousness. By faith, Christ’s righteousness is credited to our accounts. The perfect, sinless life of Jesus is imputed to us. So, to speak theologically, we are accounted righteous by God. But the righteousness we possess is an “alien righteousness,” i.e., it is righteousness of Christ.
So, in every single way, we are like King David and he is like us. He does not walk closer to God than we do, for we are both walking in the valley of the shadow of sin and walking on the mountain of God’s forgiving grace. So, David can say, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you, O God, are with me.” He fears no evil within because he possesses Christ’s righteousness. He knows that what comes from his sinful nature is richly forgiven in Christ. He fear no evil without because he knows that the LORD walks with him every step of the way through the valleys of this life.
But you will say to me, “I don’t feel righteous; I don’t feel close to God; what I feel inside of me is a spiritual battlefield. I know what is right and I try to do it, but it seems like sin permeates everything I think, say, and do.” To you I say, “Satan wants you to focus on the battle within. He says, “Do you call yourself a Christian? Just look at your sinful life. God will never accept you!” Satan is a liar. Instead of listening to him we cling to God’s Word. And God’s Word tells us that Christ is our Savior. The only thing we contribute in the equation of our salvation is our sins. And these are 100% forgiven in Christ. So far as eternal life is concerned, it’s Christ’s righteousness, not ours. It’s his work not our works. It’s his perfect life, not ours. Christ did not say, “Whoever measures up, him I will save.” No, he said, that “whosoever believeth in me shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”6 The righteousness that saves is Christ’s righteousness not ours. Thank God, it is not ours!
Now in this Psalm, King David also says that the Good Shepherd’s rod and staff comfort him. The rod is like a club. The shepherd uses it to strike any man or beast that would prey on his sheep. He also uses it to discipline his sheep. Philip Keller in his book A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm, looks back on his days in Africa and says:
I could never get over how often, and with what accuracy, the African herders would hurl their knob–kerries [rods] ... If the shepherd saw a sheep wandering away on its own, or approaching poisonous weeds, or getting too close to danger ... the club would go whistling through the air to send the wayward animal scurrying back to the bunch.7
God disciplines his children too. He hurls the rod of the Law at us when we live on comfortable terms with our besetting sins. The Law does its work on the inside. My friends, God knows your lies and the way you try to justify your actions. And he is not deceived. So turn away now lest you further provoke the Almighty’s wrath. God uses the Law so as to make us “repentantly hungry” for the Gospel.8 The Law is a frightening rod, indeed! God has yet another rod: Affliction. Whether it’s sickness, marital woes, or financial trouble, the Lord afflicts us so that we will forsake our sin and turn to him for consolation and rest.
He also uses the shepherd’s staff. The staff is a long, slender stick, often with a crook or hook on one end. The shepherd uses the staff to manage his sheep — to keep them together and to lift them up and out when they fall and break a leg. So we see that the Good Shepherd uses both the rod and staff to get us through life’s valleys and keep us on the straight and narrow road when we go astray.
The story is told of the famous American author William Saroyan. He was terminally ill. In 1981, when he knew his time was short, he placed a call to the Associated Press. After identifying himself to the reporter who answered his call, he posed a searching question. It was a final statement to be used after his death. “Everybody has got to die,” he said. “But I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?” And then he hung up the phone.9
Sadly, there are no exceptions. The mortality rate in each generation is exactly 100%. That is why we cherish our baptisms when we were reborn and became a new creations in Christ. That is why we cherish the Word of God, for it is the truth upon which saving faith is founded, feeds, and grows. That is why we cherish Holy Communion, for Christ comes to us hidden in the forms of bread and wine. And he gives us his very own body and blood to forgive our sins and strengthen our faith.
So, my dear friends in Christ, we shall safely “walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” We shall fear no evil for two reasons:
Don't you see? In him, sin can no longer condemn us; death can no longer claim us. Therefore, we need fear no evil. We are Christ's, and where Christ is, there we shall be! And for all eternity. As God’s people, then, we can say with the sinner/saint King David, “I shall fear no evil!” And we can do so confidently for our Champion has defanged the Serpent of old. In the name of the Good Shepherd who has laid down his life for us sheep.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Endnotes
2 James 2:10 says, “Whoever keeps the whole Law but fails in one point, that person is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:10, New Evangelical Translation.
3 See Romans 3:23.
4 See Acts 13:22 which quotes 1 Samuel 13:14.
5 Taken from 2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV.
6 Taken from second half of John 3:16, KJV, set grammatically in the first person (original is set in third person).
7 Taken from Phillip Keller, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970), p. 95.
8 I first heard the term “repentantly hungry” from Dr. Steven Hein. In this writer’s opinion, Dr. Hein is a gifted, yet gracious, teacher and theologian. For those so inclined, visit http://www.kfuoam.org/ie_main.htm and do a search for “Steven Hein.” About 29 audio files will come up.
9 Adapted from Michael P. Green, ed., Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989), p. 98 as cited from Reader’s Digest, Dec. 1981, 136. Short quote at http://www.higherpraise.com/illustrations/death.htm.
10 In 1 John 1:7, we read, “. . . and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
11 See John 10:28.
12 See John 11:25-26.
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