I think winter has finally arrived.
Even though we’ve had a relatively mild winter, we’re heading into the Winter Doldrums. And hopefully, we’ll see sunshine and a little bit of warmth, but we’re still hunkered down, not a lot to do, not a lot of places to go, life gets to be a bit so-so this time of year, and after having put together some heavy sermons, I’d like to do something light and cheerful and focus on God’s comfort.
I’ve been thinking lately about how we are to comfort others, and I’ve been led today to how we can be a comfort but also be comforted by God.
I’m not going to go to one particular passage this morning. Instead, I’m going to be bouncing back and forth between the Old Testament and The New Testament rather quickly, so you might not have time to go from one to the other.
I’m going to start with the most famous Psalm of all. I’m sure you know it without even looking it up and you may have it memorized. Normally, I read from the NIV, but I actually like the way the Amplified Version phrases this: maybe because it’s a little bit different and it doesn’t sound so rote.
1 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want.
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
3 He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed and refreshed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.
This is a Psalm that is all about God’s comfort, His peace, and His guidance. And I don’t know about you but I can feel God’s presence and comfort wash over me just reading it.
It talks about God being our shepherd. I can just picture in my mind that painting that has been around for a long, long time of Jesus being a shepherd in the field holding his sheep. It’s a calming, soothing picture. And we see a kind and loving, gentle Jesus.
I’m sure you’ve seen it. I’m sure you can picture it in your mind. The artist did a tremendous job portraying Jesus as a protecting, guiding, and comforting shepherd. The pasture is green with flowers, and there is a river nearby. There are peaceful yet majestic mountains in the background. It is a lovely picture.
I don’t want to get too bogged down with this scripture, but right off the bat, in verse 1, you’ll notice God is a shepherd and a provider. “I shall not want.” I’ve heard that scripture my whole life and it took me into my young adulthood before I realized what that meant, which goes to show you the importance of a good translation, I guess. It means, “I shall lack nothing,” or “I shall not be in want.” It doesn’t mean that I don’t want The Lord as my shepherd. That’s how I read it my whole life, wondering why it meant that. But God, our shepherd, is also our provider. In Hebrew, you may have heard these phrases before, Jehovah Jireh–God our provider; and Jehovah Raah–God our Shepherd.
He, being both, does certain things for our benefit. If you look closely at this Psalm, he:
- Causes us, lets us, or makes us lie down in green pastures.
- Leads us beside still and quiet waters. Later down, he Leads again to paths of righteousness.
- Refreshes and restores our soul.
In one moment, we are in a place of comfort–green pastures, beside still waters, at peace, at rest; but the next moment, we’re in a place that David describes as “the valley of the shadow of death.” Wow. What a contrast. In a place of peace to a place of trouble. It happens–the calm before the storm.
When we’re in that place of trouble, it’s not a sin to fear. It’s only natural. But, when we face that trial, we should not fix our eyes on the trouble. We should fix our eyes on Jesus our shepherd, and ask, “What is God’s promise in this moment?”
Does he leave us and forsake us? No. He is still there to comfort us. Notice he’s not preventing us from going through the valley of the shadow of death–but instead, as we go through whatever we are going through, he promises to comfort us.
Can God prevent us from going through the valley? Yes. Does he? Sometimes. But not always. Why do we go through these valleys? We don’t always know, but here’s another promise:
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Here’s another promise. Just before Jesus ascended back to Heaven after his resurrection. He left his disciples with these words:
“16 And I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;” and a little ways further, he says, “18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
There are times when we may have to go through something: The death of a loved one; maybe it’s a loss of a job or other financial situations; a crumbling marriage; a troubled child, anything. God, our shepherd, and provider does not prevent all evil or all bad things from happening to us. But God is our comfort. He is our peace. He is our source of hope. And I believe that one of the reasons why God allows us to go through things is so that we can be a comfort to others because we know what it’s like to be in need.
Now, I hope that preaching something like this doesn’t mean that God is going to take away someone valuable, so I don’t preach in theory but by experience. But…
One night while conducting an evangelistic meeting in the Salvation Army Citadel in Chicago, Booth Tucker preached on the sympathy of Jesus. After his message a man approached him and said, “If your wife had just died, like mine has, and your babies were crying for their mother, who would never come back, you wouldn’t be saying what you’re saying.” Tragically, a few days later, Tucker’s wife was killed in a train wreck. Her body was brought to Chicago and carried to the same Citadel for the funeral.
After the service the bereaved preacher looked down into the silent face of his wife and then turned to those attending. “The other day a man told me I wouldn’t speak of the sympathy of Jesus if my wife had just died. If that man is here, I want to tell him that Christ is sufficient. My heart is broken, but it has a song put there by Jesus. I want that man to know that Jesus Christ speaks comfort to me today.”
Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 10
I want to go to another set of verses in Romans 8. If we go a few verses down from what I just read, verses 31, 35-39, Paul is quoting from the Psalms in this, so this is a tie-in to not just the Romans verse I just read, but also the Psalm we began with. I also read this in another sermon just recently. Let’s take a look at it again:
“31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul is stating something very similar to what David said in his Psalm. What can we go through that God is not there alongside us? His love is there with us. Again, He is our comfort.
Paul used the phrase “More than conquerors.” We can apply that in any situation. Including “the valley of the shadow of death,” can’t we?
It’s God’s love that gets us through these things. His love, comfort, provision, and power bring us through “the valley of the shadow of death.”
I hate to say this or to think this way because it’s negative thinking, but I suppose it’s a possibility. What if we don’t make it through the valley of the shadow of death? What if this is it? Like that terrible line in the original Ocean’s 11 movie,
“Give it to me straight, Doc. Is this the Big Casino?”
Well, for the Christian, even death is victory. In what is another great chapter, 2 Corinthians 15, Paul again quotes the Old Testament when he describes the victory Christians have over the grave.
“54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Isaiah)
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” (Hosea)”
And to the church in Philippi, Paul expresses how he actually looks forward to death.
“21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”
Like I said, even death is victory to the Christian. It is actually the ultimate victory. That’s when we thumb our nose at Satan. Like I just read in Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Or another related verse, actually stated twice in Psalms–also once in Hebrews, is the phrase, “What can man do to me?”
I know. Man can do a lot. But we have the promise of comfort even when we face death.
There are a couple of other verses I want to look at quickly: going back to the Old Testament again, this time to the books of Deuteronomy and the following book, Joshua. It’s the same words repeated. This is when Joshua is about to be installed as Israel’s leader to take the place of Moses, and I bet many of you can probably guess the words I am about to read to you.
Deuteronomy Chapter 31, verses 7-8 “7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Joshua 1:7-9 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Just like when God commanded Joshua and the people of Israel to “be strong and courageous,” God commands us to be bold as well. Why? Because our shepherd and our comforter will be with us. He will never leave or forsake us.
Our comforter commands us to be bold. Think about that. We live in a society today where we think that comforting equals coddling or comfort equals enabling. Comfort and being brave don’t go hand-in-hand in our societal way of thinking.
But God calls us to be brave and promises to be our comforter. It’s like when he promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples just before he left. He gave them a charge to go out into all the world and preach. He knew they would need to be bold because they were going to face great adversity and persecution, so he knew, because of that, they would need to be comforted.
Going through the valley of the shadow of death requires bravery. It requires our trust and faith in Him. And it requires his gentle shepherding and faithful comfort during times of trial.
We’re not superheroes who can withstand anything. Have you ever read comic books? Superheroes go through a lot without getting tired, hungry, discouraged…they get beat up and go right back at it again like nothing ever happened. We tend to think it’s the same way with our Bible heroes, but it wasn’t so with them. They were regular, ordinary human beings.
And I know the modern comic book heroes do get a bit emotional. But you’ve probably seen or read a few comics where the hero saves the day like it’s nothing. And you could insert a few other Hollywood heroes in there, too, not just the superheroes, but others.
That’s all well and good for entertainment, but in real life, God had to remind even his bravest and strongest leader, Joshua, to be strong and courageous. Everyone needs encouragement. Everyone will get down. Everyone will go through something where they will need comfort. And God promises comfort.
As God called Joshua to be strong and courageous, the charge comes with the promise, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” That alone gives us the strength and courage to move on.
Matt Slick, President and Founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, said: “Keeping your eyes on Jesus is the best way to be encouraged. In Him, you can have comfort and peace and encouragement. You need to find Him and His words, and by faith rest in Him.”
Whether it’s something God calls us to do or it’s a circumstance that is thrust upon us. Whatever we are going through, God will never leave or forsake us. That should be a comfort. But I also want us to look back at the many times when that rang true in our lives. How many times can we look back and say, “God never left me.” Through this, through that, God never left.
Before we close, I want to go back to a verse I referenced a few minutes ago. It’s in Hebrews, chapter 13, verses 5-6. The writer, quoting two different places in the Old Testament, said:
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
So today, I want to fill you with confidence in the loving promise of God’s comfort. God is there for us, by our side as our shepherd, lovingly guiding us to green pastures and through the valley of the shadow of death. And if we may end up not making it through that dark valley, then even death itself is victory. And He will promise to be there in our time of greatest need. To comfort us.
I want to leave you with this charge. To be that conduit of God’s love and comfort. How many times does God’s comfort come through another human being? How can you offer to pray for someone or just offer your presence and friendship to someone going through something–maybe you know someone going through loneliness, maybe someone going through grief, and they could use just your presence and joy as their comfort.
You would be surprised what small things can be a big deal to someone else.
In his sermon on The Sheep and the Goats, Jesus said, 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
You know what the word, ‘whatever’ means? It means, ‘whatever.’
No big Greek term here. It just means whatever––anything. Jesus gave these examples, “35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
This isn’t an all-inclusive list. Sometimes it’s just spending time with someone, praying with someone. And it begs the question, who is ‘the least of these?’ I don’t know about you, but I’d rather let God define that and just love one another as the opportunity arises.
A lot of times, comforting one another can come through simple, natural means. Maybe you can invite someone over for a meal or take them out for a meal so they can enjoy themselves and get away for a while and laugh a little. Maybe it’s just playing a board game. Or maybe it’s something like meeting a physical need, like offering them a ride somewhere or offering to do some errands or chores for them, or helping them with shoveling snow. Having a need met like that is a great comfort for a lot of people, isn’t it?
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on First Baptist Church of Watkins Glen
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