THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.

SERIES: THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS

TEXT: PSALMS 23:4

King David is a great man, in the Bible. In Psalms 23 he spoke about walking through the valley of the shadow of death. It may occur in a pilgrim’s journey to pass through a dark time of passing through this valley. Valley come in all shapes and patterns. Even people putting on cheerful faces could be passing through the valley. The valley is a place characterized by:-

SOLITUDE: You pass through the valley alone. Often friends and companions leave. Job’s close friends left him alone and turned against him and misjudged him without mercy, even his wife-(Job 2:9).
DARKNESS: Stars refuse to shine. Uncertainty come in, you do not know the way ahead. The sun is eclipsed. It’s a dark passage.
FRUSTRATION: You move slowly, you can’t run, you only walk.
FEAR: Fear sets in and you lose confidence and even personality.
MYSTERY: You do not understand why things are happening, you live in total guess work.

More about this valley:-

SOME SAINTS WHO PASSED THROUGH THIS VALLEY.

David- King David passed through great hardship. After he was anointed, King Saul had sworn to kill him. He escaped death narrowly many times and fled for his life.
Job- Satan asked for permission from God to try the faith of Job. He lost all his wealth and family.
Moses- From the palace of pharaoh to the wilderness for 40 years as a shepherd.
Joseph- Thrown into the pit and later into the prison, he suffered rejection, betrayal, loneliness and hardship.
Jonah- He was in the belly of the fish for 3 days.
Apostle Paul- He passed through this valley severally in shipwreck, stonings, imprisonment flogging etc.

COMMON VALLEYS OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.

Sickness- Sickness – prolonged is a real valley, pain incapacitation etc.
Loss of employment- Loss of job can be a real valley.
Bereavement- Loss of family people subjects one to sorrow and misery. Sometimes it is the loss of a bread winner.
Fall of business- Liquidation of one’s business is a real valley.
Loss of property- Property can be stolen e.g. land.
Family breakdown- Marriage issues are painful and they put people in a dark valley.

EVERYTHING IS NOT BAD ABOUT THE VALLEY.

The God of the mountain is the God of the valley. If you can trust God in the valley you are a true believer.

Pilgrims have collected diamonds in this valley.
Pilgrims have met with angel in this valley.
God draws closer in the valley than when you are out of it-(Psalms 34:18).
God’s voice is louder in the valley. At other times He carries you on his shoulder.
After crossing the valley the Lord promote the pilgrim to a higher rank. These are some ranks in the kingdom God does not give to pilgrims who have not gone through this valley.

WHAT GOD WHISPERS IN THE VALLEY.

When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze-(Isaiah 43:2).
“See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands, your walls are ever before me. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast…. Though she may forget, I will not forget you-(Isaiah 49:15-16).
“If God were not on our side now Israel say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us”-(Psalm 124: 1-3).
It is by the mercies of God that we are not consumed-(Lamentations 3:22-23).
“It came to pass” -valleys are not forever. This is repeated many times in the Bible.
“Fear not” – mentioned. The word ‘fear’ is mentioned 350 times in the Bible. “Fear not” appears 175 times, God knows there are situation that cause fear.

CONCLUSION