The Joshua Code

"Removing the Fear of Death" - Psalm 23:4

Yea, 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. - Psalm 23:4

Death is the single common denominator of all men. This fact is illustrated every day in the morning newspaper. The business section of the paper highlights only those who are successful in their vocational endeavors. The social section contains pictures and stories only related to the social elite. The sports section is filled with articles about those teams and individuals who excel in their athletic fields. Then we come to the obituary section. There, listed side by side in alphabetical order, are the rich and the poor, the known and the unknown, the prominent and the not so prominent. We are all equal in death. It is our common denominator.

A lot of voices and volumes today tell us how to live. Motivational and self-help books flood the marketplace. But there is only one book that tells us how to die. And there is no one verse in that Book of books which is more pertinent to the subject than our verse today. Tradition tells us that King David penned these words about the “valley of the shadow” while sitting in the Judean wilderness between Jerusalem and Jericho. The spot is known today as Wadi Kelt. It is a long valley about four and a half miles in length, and its canyons run as much as fifteen hundred feet in depth. The sun casts a shadow over the canyon on the sheep trails across the way, which snake their way up, down, and through the rugged terrain. It was here that David said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” This one verse reveals three important facts about the appointment that awaits each and every one of us.

Fact #1: Death is a Sure Thing

Death is sure. It is certain. We deal with death in many ways. Some attempt to flee it. Some go to the extreme of cryonics, freezing their bodies in hopes that future medical breakthroughs can bring them back to life at some later date. Some forget it. They simply reject the idea, assuming it will somehow go away. Others fear it--and they live paralyzed lives with no hope or security in Christ. Then there are those, like David, who face death. These people realize their days are numbered, and that we all have an appointment with death.

Note carefully David’s words: “I walk through the valley.” He walked. He didn’t run toward death. This is King David, not Dr. Kevorkian. He didn’t crawl, as though he wanted to postpone it as long as possible. He was not dragged toward it. He simply walked. He knew death could not be avoided; it is a sure thing.

Fact #2: Death is a Sojourn

David indicated that he walked through the valley. It was not his final destination. It was only a temporary passage, a sojourn. He knew this road was not a dead end with no way out. He knew it was not a cul-de-sac that got him nowhere. For David--and for us--death is simply a sojourn. We do not walk in the valley. We do not stay there. We walk through the valley.

The story is told of a caterpillar crawling along a limb on its belly. Along comes a friend with a philosophical view that says, “Someday I believe we will no longer crawl around like this but we’ll be able to fly and soar and feast on milk and honey.” How idealistic, thought the caterpillar. Then one day came his inevitable appointment with death. So he was buried in a shroud called a cocoon and attached to a twig on a tree. By and by, when spring came, the grave burst open, and out of it emerged a magnificent creature with delicate sails called butterfly wings. With our superior intellect, we know this is the process of metamorphosis. But do we know as much about our own destinies? Death is a sure thing, but it is also only a sojourn. It is not our final destination.

Fact #3: Death is a Shadow

Solomon reminded us in his Proverbs that “every word of God is pure” (30:5). Note carefully what David said: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” No believer in Christ ever walks through the valley of death, only the valley of the shadow of death. The Lord Jesus, though, walked through the valley of death. For three days and nights He walked that valley and then emerged from the empty tomb and said, “Behold . . . I have the keys of death and of Hades” (Revelation 1:18 nasb).

Thus, the believer only walks through the valley of the shadow of death. A shadow might horrify you, but it cannot harm you. And the only way you can have a shadow is to have a great light shining. David said he walked “through the valley of the shadow of death” because that is what we do with a shadow; we simply walk through it.

While death is a sure thing, it is only a sojourn through a shadow. It is, in a sense, stepping into the light. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Is it any wonder David went on in this verse to exclaim, “I will fear no evil”? He knew death would be defeated; that although it was a sure thing, it was but a temporary sojourn through a shadow into the light. David could fear no evil because he knew the Lord was with him: “I will fear no evil; for You are with me!” Up until now in this great 23rd Psalm, David had been speaking in third person: “He makes me . . . He leads me . . . He restores me.” But when it comes to the subject of death, David got very personal. All of a sudden in verse 4, he changed to second person: “You are with me . . . Your rod . . . Your staff . . . You prepare . . . You anoint.” Death has its own way of making Christ more personal.

No wonder we too need fear no evil. Why? Because the Lord is with us, and He has conquered death, hell, and the grave. The apostle John got a glimpse of Jesus’ glory from his lonely island called Patmos where he was exiled. Upon seeing the vision of the exalted Christ, John formed the best description he could with our limited vocabulary and said, “When I saw Him, I fell at his feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:17–18). Yes, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me.”

As you memorize this verse, meditate on the fact that, through His own death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus made a way when there was no way for us. We need not fear death. We only walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . . and Jesus is with us!