#320 - Kyle Thompson // From Death to Life: For You Are with Me

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit,

the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts

are Jobimarton and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's

sharpen up.

Welcome back, happy Tuesday. If you listened yesterday, then you know that I have dedicated

this batch of the Daily Blade episodes to the memory of my Uncle Kevin, who just passed

away here recently. So just hours before he died, I was at his side, and I was able to read

the Bible to him. And I chose a couple of Psalms, and then I shared some personal thoughts and

feelings with him. And the first song that I read to him was Psalm 23. And to me, it just seemed

like an appropriate song to read to him as he was preparing to enter eternity. So I'll read the

entire song again now again, Psalm 23, a Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil,

my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall

dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So yesterday we talked mainly about verses one through three.

We talked about how David acknowledged God or Yahweh as his shepherd. And from that we see that

David had put his full faith in God. And he was not just simply relying on himself at that point.

And that since David had put his faith in God, that allowed for him to find his ultimate fulfillment

in God. And God showed his divine provision by giving David rest, restoration, renewal, and a lot

more. And today I want us to key in on verses four through six. But before we get there, I want to

address something that I used to be guilty of and that I still see all over the place today.

If you don't read Psalm 23 carefully, you might come away with wrong ideas about what God is

doing with his sheep. Okay. So what a lot of people think, including myself in the past, is that God

delivers us from the valley of the shadow of death. That God prevents us from experiencing the valley.

That's what we think it says. And even if we can't elucidate that clearly, that's how we act,

though, right? And many of our prayers reflect the expectation that God's provision comes in the

form of shielding us from anything bad or dark or difficult. But that's not what Psalm 23 says.

Let's go back to verse four. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will

fear no evil for you are with me. I mean, if you can just get that one line through your head. I

mean, if you don't really understand that one line, you kind of miss the entire point of the

Psalm, to be honest, for you are with me. And that's the point. It's when we are in the valley of

the shadow of death. God does not just snap his cosmic genie fingers to deliver us from the valley.

No, he is there with us. I mean, guys, this is huge. He is there with us. And guys, that's awesome

news because I just got to tell you, we're either in the valley about to come out of the valley or

about to go into the valley. There's really not another option this side of glory. And how does

that cause us to act? Verse four, I will fear no evil. Why not? For you are with me, you're rod

and your staff. They comfort me. And what is God doing while he's there with us? Verse five,

you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You annoy my head with oil.

And is that enough for David? I mean, his answer is emphatic. It says, my cup overflows.

Also, what this means is not only that God will allow you to experience pain and difficulty,

but because he is a good shepherd and a good father, he plans to use your experiences of pain

and difficulty to bring him ultimate glory and you ultimate fulfillment. That's so big. I mean,

and believe me, it doesn't feel like that's possible when you're in the darkest parts of the valley,

though, does it? I mean, it's so dark that you can't even fathom how going through what you're

going through could possibly lead to God's glory, nor your personal fulfillment. But let verse six

ring in your brain today, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now, we may not understand why we're in the valley.

We may not think that it's fair. We might not get why God seems to save some people's lives while

taking others and we're confused by the timing of everything. But he is with us and he seeks to give

us his goodness and mercy. Amen and amen. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you

go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a

five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.