You Are with Me

Carla: Hi, I’m Carla from Illinois, and I’m a Revive Our Hearts Monthly Partner. One reason I support this ministry is the life-giving and life-changing power of the Word of God being clearly taught, and how it's affected my life! Enjoy today’s episode of Revive Our Hearts, brought to you in part by the Monthly Partner Team.

Dannah Gresh: Do you feel like you’re walking in a deep dark valley? Colin Smith encourages you to remember: God is with you in the darkness as much as He’s with you in the light.

Pastor Colin Smith: God rules the night as well as the day. God rules the storm as well as the calm. Never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light.

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of The Quiet Place, for March 8, 2023. I’m Dannah Gresh. 

No passage of Scripture has brought more comfort to hurting souls, I think, than the twenty-third Psalm. Earlier in the week on Revive Our Hearts, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth showed us how our Good Shepherd renews and restores our lives! 

Today, Pastor Colin Smith reminds us of our Shepherd’s presence with His sheep, even in the darkest, most difficult moments. Colin was our keynote speaker last summer at our annual staff conference. We call it Seek Week.

You may recognize him from his radio ministry, Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. Here’s Nancy with a further introduction.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Colin, I’ve known you for a lot of years; my husband has known you for even more years! So, we have trails and ways that we’ve connected over the years. But, for a number of years before we even met, Colin was my “treadmill pastor,” because I would get on the treadmill and I’d listen to some of his messages. I just love the way he opens the Word! So, you’ve heard that he pastors The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

[To Pastor Colin:] But you weren’t always in Chicago, because as soon as you open your mouth, people are going to know you’re not a Chicagoan.

Pastor Colin: I don’t have a very good Chicago accent! I’m from Edinburgh, Scotland. I was born and raised there and then served in London for sixteen years as pastor of a church there, and then the last twenty-six years here. But, I haven’t picked up the accent; I don’t think it’s going to happen!

Nancy: I actually Googled this afternoon, because I’ve been in Edinburgh. I wasn’t sure how you say it. Google said there are many different ways to say it, but if you’re a Scot. You need to forget the vowels and say it fast, or something like that.

Pastor Colin: Yes, you want the burr, so [he rolls the r] “Edinburrrgh!” So, you got it just right.

Nancy: Oh, sure. Our Spanish-speaking friends will be able to do better on that than I can! So, the Lord brought Colin over to the States. My late father-in-law—Robert’s dad—at that time was a part, was on the staff of the church that you now pastor. He played a little part in your coming over to the States to become the pastor.

Pastor Colin: Yes, I think more than a little part. Sam and Grace Wolgemuth—Robert’s mother and father—played a very special role in Karen and my life. They are wonderful servants of the Lord, now with the Lord, and they’re just so esteemed in the church that I serve for faithful missionary service, for loving other people, for enterprising evangelism. I thank God so very, very much for them. And Sam was the interim pastor between my predecessor, his leaving and our coming, which was a year later.

Dannah: So all that to say, Pastor Colin Smith has a neat Revive Our Hearts connection! When he spoke to our staff last summer, he worked his way through Psalm 23. We’re picking up in the second half of the psalm. Here’s Pastor Colin Smith.

Pastor Colin: The greatest blessing you can ever know is to be wholly owned by the Son of God! And in this psalm we are seeing together what the Good Shepherd does for all of His sheep. 

When you are bought and born into the flock of God, Jesus Christ will lead you and, Jesus Christ will restore you! These things are givens; they are what the Shepherd does for His own sheep.

David says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). And here’s why, because He leads me into rest, and He leads me into righteousness, and He restores my soul (see vv. 2–3).

Now, today we’re going to look at a third wonderful gift that belongs to all who are in Jesus Christ. The Good Shepherd who leads you and the Good Shepherd who restores you is the Good Shepherd who, thirdly, will guard you. 

I want to read just verse 4 of this wonderful psalm today.

Even 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.

Now here, David speaks about something that all of us must face in this room. We’re going to have very different experiences in life. What happens in your life will in some ways be quite different from what happens in the life of the person sitting next to you.

We have varying experiences in life, but every path—whatever the path the Lord leads you on—eventually goes through one valley. And this is true of those who believe, it is true of those who do not believe.

Someone says, “Well, I’m going to choose my own path; I’m going to live my own life!” Well, whatever path a person chooses, that path sooner or later is going to pass through this valley, the dark valley that David is speaking about here.

We all go through it. He doesn’t say, “Even if I walk through the dark valley of death.” He says, “Even though . . .” He knows that it’s going to happen, and he’s looking it square in the face. Now, I want to make three observations from this important verse of Scripture today.

I want us to see, first, that we will all walk through this dark valley. We’re going to look a little bit at what the Bible says about walking in darkness. And then we’re going to look at this wonderful truth that Jesus has walked through the dark valley.

I’m going to spend some time looking at what Jesus accomplished in the darkness on the cross, which is right at the very center of our faith. And then, at the end, we’re going to look at this wonderful truth that David affirms here, that Jesus will walk through the dark valley with us.

So these are the three things, then:

1. We’re all going to walk through this dark valley.
2. Jesus has walked through this dark valley.
3. Jesus will walk through the dark valley with us.

So, first then, we must all walk the dark valley. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

Now, notice that David refers here to the “shadow.” Death casts a shadow. If you think about light on an object, the shadow goes beyond it. What David is speaking about here is what leads up to death. 

He’s speaking about the prospect of death. He’s speaking about what comes before death. That is the dawning realization that comes to a person that, “I am actually going to go into this valley, and there is no way I can avoid it!” And, of course, it is the shadow that is the problem!

If you belong to the flock of God (I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this), the moment of your death will be the most glorious experience you have ever enjoyed! Because in a moment you’re going to be not only “away from the body,” you’re going to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8)—instantaneous!

When that moment comes, it will be the most glorious moment you have ever enjoyed, without question! All of this world with its pain and its conflict and its tears and its sorrow, it will all be behind you. In a moment you will be face to face with the Son of God who all your life you have loved and trusted and served!

So if you are in Christ, death itself will be glorious for you! But getting there will likely be another business. Ach, your body declining, your world contracting, your control of your own body and your control of what is around you gradually and increasingly diminishing. 

That’s why people often say, “It’s not death that scares me. It’s the process of dying. It’s what I might have to go through in the journey to actually get there.” So you see, it’s not so much the valley itself that frightens us; it’s the shadow. It’s what comes before. It’s what you have to go through in order to get there. And that’s what David is talking about here.

Now, in my ESV Bible, there is a footnote that tells us that this phrase, “the valley of the shadow of death,” can be translated, “the valley of deep darkness.” And what that reminds us of is this important truth that, while death is the last dark valley in this life, death is not the only valley that casts a shadow over us. There are other dark valleys that believers walk through along the way.

Some of you may have known from your own experience the dark valley of depression. It’s a very hard and dark valley to walk through! Some of you have known the dark valley of a serious illness. It’s not a place you want to have to walk through. And some of you have known the dark valley of a sudden and an unexpected bereavement. 

The Shepherd leads us. And what we are seeing here in this psalm is that part of our experience is that He will lead us through some dark places. And so, I want to spend a few moments today because this is part of the reality of life. He leads us through some dark places. You can’t avoid this. If you haven’t discovered it yet, you soon will. 

So, I want us to ponder together what the Bible says about darkness. Let’s start in Genesis, in chapter 15. You’ll see there in Genesis 15 and verse 12 that there was a time when Abraham experienced great darkness.

Let me read it to you, Genesis 15:12:

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

What a phrase that is! “Dreadful, deep darkness fell on him!”

But I want you to see this from this Scripture. God was there in that darkness, and it was there in that darkness that God made a covenant with Abraham. Let me give you a second picture, and then I’m going to try and apply it to our situations here. 

In the book of Exodus—we started in Genesis, now here’s Exodus—God came down on Mt. Sinai to give the Ten Commandments. And you remember that when God came down, the whole mountain was covered in what? Was it bright light, in daylight? No. It was covered in darkness; the scene was quite terrifying!

There was thunder and there was lightning breaking through the darkness. The whole mountain shook. In Hebrews we read that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear!” (see Heb.12:21). And then out of the darkness, God spoke in an audible voice!

And the people were so terrified at actually hearing the audible voice of the Almighty that they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but don’t let God speak to us or we will die!” (see Ex. 20:19). And so, Moses climbed up the mountain.

You remember, and then we read in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 21, “Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” The thick darkness where God was! It was there in the darkness that God made a covenant with His people Israel.

So do you see there’s a pattern here? You have this dreadful great darkness that comes down on Abraham and God cuts a covenant with Abraham there. You have this thick darkness where God was, that comes down on Mt. Sinai, and God makes a covenant with His people Israel there.

Now we know from the New Testament, 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 16, that God dwells in “unapproachable light.” But I want you to remember that, in line with what we’ve seen from the story of Abraham and the story of Moses at Mt. Sinai, that God said to Solomon at the time of the dedication of the Temple, the great temple that Solomon built . . .

This is 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 12, God said to Solomon that He would “dwell in thick darkness.” So God dwells in unapproachable light, but the same God is also present in the thickest darkness! That’s what we’re learning here.

Think about Psalm 139, that beautiful psalm where David asks this question, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (v. 7). And of course the point of this question is not that David is trying to get away from God. The whole psalm is just full of his love for God. It’s full of his worship of God who so “fearfully and wonderfully” made him.

It’s an expression of worship. And in his worship David asks this question: “Where shall I go from your Spirit?” He’s saying, “Is there any place in life or in death where You, Lord, will not be with me? Is there any place?”

And he lists four possibilities. He says, “What about heaven?” And then He says, “Oh, if I go up to heaven, obviously You’re there!” And then he asks the question, “What about death? What if I make my bed in Sheol?”—which is the place of the dead in the Old Testament—“You are there!”

“When I slip away from this world,” David is saying, “Your presence will still be with me.” And then he says, “Well, is there some remote corner of the earth where in some way I might be hidden from You?”

He says, “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand will hold me” (vv. 9–10). You see what he’s saying? 

“Wherever I go on air, on land, on sea, You will be with me and Your strong hand will hold me! You’re going to be there in heaven. You’re going to be there in death. You’re there wherever I go on the air, land, and sea in this world.”

And then he raises one more question; that’s really the big one: “What about the darkness?” What about when I walk through the dark valley? What about when I’m in the place where I can see no light!? What then?!”

And he says this, “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you [Isn’t that wonderful!] the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you” (vv. 11–12).

Here’s what I want you to remember from this. You will go through some dark valleys, we all do, and God is with you in the darkness as much as He is with you in the light! God rules the night as well as the day; God rules the storm as well as the calm. Never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light. We must all walk through the dark valley. That’s the first thing.

Second, I want us to get our gaze now, for a while, on the Lord Jesus Christ, and on Jesus walking through the dark valley. Jesus has walked through the dark valley. Let me read the verse again: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me . . .”

Now, remember, Jesus knew and loved the psalms! He would have used them in His own prayer time. He would have made these His own prayers. And you will find that one of the ways to study the psalms is to say, “Now, what would this have been like on the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ?” So, I want you to think about that with me for a few moments together.

Jesus could say to the Father, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with Me!” Can you hear this text now, as it were, on the lips of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? 

Well, of course, death cast a lo-o-ong shadow over the life, and indeed, the ministry of the Lord Jesus. He had known from the beginning that the Son of Man had come to give His life a ransom for many (see Matt. 20:28). Jesus knew that He had to go through this dark valley.

Three times Jesus told His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, that He must suffer, and that there He must die (see Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22). And our Lord entered into the shadow of death in the Garden of Gethsemane where He prayed, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup [be taken] from me” (Matt. 26:39). 

Jesus recoiled with a sense of horror at what the dark valley would mean for Him! And so, don’t be surprised if you find within yourself a sense of recoiling at the prospect of dark and difficult days. When Jesus considered the cup, He said this: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow” (see v. 38).

Now, John Stott in a wonderful passage in his book on the cross of Christ . . . (By the way, that’s a marvelous book to read, that gets to the very heart of our faith. John Stott. The Cross of Christ.) He has a remarkable passage in which he raises this important question: “Why was Jesus so overwhelmed with sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane?”

He asked the question, and I quote: “What made this cup so overwhelming to Jesus?” Stott says,

Is it physical suffering from which He shrinks? The torture of the scourge and the cross, together perhaps with the mental anguish of betrayal, denial, and desertion by His friends, and the mockery and abuse of His enemies?

Was that what was making Jesus recoil? Boy, I for sure would have recoiled at that! But Stott says,

Nothing would ever make me believe that the cup Jesus dreaded was any of these things, or even all of them put together. His physical and moral courage throughout His public ministry had been indomitable!

To me it is ludicrous to suppose that Jesus was now afraid of pain, insult and death. Socrates in the prison cell in Athens—according to Plato’s account—took a cup of hemlock. Without trembling or changing color or expression, he raised the cup to his lips and very cheerfully and quietly drained it.

He died without fear, sorrow or protest. So was Socrates braver than Jesus? Or were their cups filled with different poisons?

That’s the question. What was in the cup that Jesus had to drink? Now, friends, the Bible speaks about death in two ways. I’m going to call them the first death and the second death.

The first death is simply death as we know it, physical death, where your soul is separated from your body. But the Bible also speaks repeatedly about what it calls the second death. It’s very clear in Revelation in chapter 20 and verse 14, and it’s repeated again in Revelation chapter 21, that the second death is the lake of fire.

In other words, the second death is the judgment of God that will be poured out on the last day. If someone does not obey the Son, the wrath of God remains on him. It’s an awesome thing; it’s a fearsome thing!

Now, Jesus experienced the first death and the second death at the same time! No one has ever done this before, and no one will ever do it again! He experienced the first death and the second death at precisely the same time.

He experienced the first death: wicked men nailed Him to a cross. He hung there for six hours, and during these six hours gradually life drained from His body. But remember—and this is the most important thing about what happened at the cross—that at the same time as He was entering into what I’m calling the first death, He was also experiencing in Himself the second death.

That is, God laid our sins on Him and He endured in His own body the punishment that was due to us! He bore our sins in His body on the tree! That’s from 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 24. Think about what that actually means! Jesus endured all that hell is on the cross.

Now, we can have a discussion about whether Jesus made a visit to hell after His death and before His resurrection. There are different views on that, and I’m not concerned about that today. This is the thing that really matters: everything that was due to us—the wrath of God, the divine justice in relation to the penalty of sin—that was actually poured out on Jesus, spent on Jesus, in these hours of darkness as He hung there on the cross!

Nancy: Wow, such a powerful thing to think about! Thank You, Lord, for that amazing grace! We’ve been listening to a powerful message from pastor and author, Colin Smith. It ministered deeply when he shared it with our staff some months ago, and I know it’s been an encouragement to you today. You’ll want to be sure and listen to the rest of this message tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts.

Isn’t it a comfort to know that no matter how deep, no matter how dark our valleys are, Jesus has already been through the deepest and darkest valley! 

That's what we remember and commemorate on Good Friday, isn’t it? He took the punishment you and I deserved. Hallelujah! What a Savior . . .and what a good Good Shepherd He is!

Dannah: Amen! You know, one of the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ death on the cross was the thief who was crucified next to Jesus. In an amazing act of grace, that thief received the beautiful gift of salvation! Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Colin Smith wrote a book from the perspective of that thief on the cross. It’s titled Heaven: How I Got Here. Think about it: what if you woke up one morning knowing it was your last day on earth? That’s what happened to the thief on the cross who died a few feet away from Jesus.

Heaven: How I Got Here is his story, told from his perspective, as he looks back from heaven on the day that changed his eternity . . . and the faith that can change yours. This week we’ll send you a copy of this book by Colin Smith as our thank you for your donation of any amount to Revive Our Hearts.

To give online you can go to ReviveOurHearts.com, or just call us at 1-800-569-5959, and be sure you request Colin Smith’s book about the thief on the cross when you make your donation. 

Nancy: Tomorrow, we’ll hear more from Colin Smith. He’ll explain how the double death of Jesus turns our death into a mere shadow. It’s so good! I hope you’ll be back for Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is calling you to worship your Good Shepherd in His freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness.

All Scripture is taken from the ESB unless otherwise noted.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.