Who Is Leading You Through the Valley?

Psalm 23 and the difference a good shepherd makes

By Pastor John Erickson

The first time I spoke to my youth group about Psalm 23, I was in tenth grade. I spent weeks preparing. I practiced, researched, worked on every detail. When it was all over, I asked a friend what he thought.

"Well, it was a little long."

There you go. Weeks of preparation, summed up in five words. Thanks, Bobby.

Years later, I keep coming back to that psalm, because I think David gives us one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of what it means to live in a relationship with God.

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." We recognize the words. They show up on coffee mugs, greeting cards, and at funerals. But sometimes familiarity causes us to miss how remarkable this image is.

David is saying, I am the sheep. God is the shepherd. And everything that follows depends on what kind of shepherd he is.

Sheep Need Someone Worth Following

The image begins with dependence. Sheep need guidance, food, protection, and a shepherd who knows where to lead them.

I know. It's a very flattering comparison for God's people.

But the point of the metaphor isn't to insult the sheep. It's to show how much their well-being depends on the shepherd.

And that's a question worth asking about our own lives: Who am I actually following?

Sometimes it is God. Other times, it's our anxiety. Or the opinions of people around us. Or the next accomplishment that promises to make us feel secure.

Psalm 23 invites us to put our trust somewhere better.

He Refreshes My Soul

David says the shepherd makes him lie down in green pastures, leads him beside quiet waters, and restores his soul.

When's the last time your soul felt refreshed?

I'm not asking when you last slept in. Or when you had a good cup of coffee. I appreciate those things as much as anybody. But physical rest and a restored soul are not always the same thing.

You can go on vacation, sleep late, sit on a beach, and come home just as anxious as you were when you left.

Our souls need a different kind of care.

The picture of green pastures and still waters isn't a sheep working tirelessly to earn the right to rest. It is a shepherd leading the sheep to what they need.

God's care is not a prize for people who have successfully managed their lives. We come to him because we need his care in the first place.

So perhaps the right question isn't merely, How can I get a break? Perhaps it is, Am I trusting the one who can restore my soul?

He Keeps Me Moving

Psalm 23 doesn't end at the quiet waters. The shepherd leads David along right paths. Then, surprisingly, those paths travel through the darkest valley.

Wait. I thought this was the good shepherd.

Shouldn't a good shepherd keep his sheep away from places like that?

Sometimes following God doesn't mean staying in one safe, comfortable place forever. It means moving, growing, and traveling through difficult terrain with someone who knows the way.

Shepherds move their flocks because the grass gets depleted. They lead them to new places where they can be nourished. Some of that journey is difficult. And the sheep couldn't navigate it alone.

There are seasons where we wish God would simply let us stay put. We understand where we are. We know what to expect. Moving means uncertainty.

Gina and I moved to Colorado after Bible college and thought we had found our forever home. We had great friends and a great church. Leaving was difficult.

Looking back, I am thankful for where that move led us. That does not mean I knew every step at the time, or that every hard change feels good while it is happening. It means I can look back at that season and see growth I could not see from the comfortable place I wanted to keep.

But the psalm doesn't say, "I will never walk through a dark valley." It says, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me."

The promise is his presence.

A good shepherd isn't someone who never takes you into a valley. He's someone who doesn't abandon you there.

His Goodness Is Pursuing You

The psalm ends with a phrase I love: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."

The Hebrew word translated follow can have a stronger meaning: to pursue.

Think about that. David isn't simply saying that goodness and mercy may happen to show up somewhere behind him if he's lucky. He's describing the faithful love of God pursuing him.

That reminds me of Jesus' story of the lost sheep in Luke 15. The shepherd doesn't shrug his shoulders and say, "Well, ninety-nine out of a hundred isn't bad." He goes after the one that's missing.

Some of us spend our lives chasing peace, joy, love, goodness, and satisfaction. We try to manufacture those things by working harder or arranging life exactly the way we want it.

But when we choose to follow the shepherd, we discover that his goodness and love are not things we have to chase down on our own.

They are expressions of his character toward us.

Maybe the Question Is Who, Not Where

It's natural to ask God, "Where are you taking me?" I ask that too.

Where is this job going? Where is this relationship going? How long will this difficult season last?

But Psalm 23 shifts my attention to another question: Who is leading me?

If the shepherd is good, the valley doesn't get the final word. If the shepherd knows me, I don't have to find every answer before I take the next step. If the shepherd pursues me with goodness and mercy, my failures don't place me beyond his care.

A life with God doesn't mean we never get tired, lost, frightened, or hurt.

It means we have a shepherd who refreshes our souls, walks us through difficult places, and pursues us with his love.

That sounds like somebody worth following.