Psalm 23 washes over the grief in my soul to help restore peace. The pastoral picture of God as Shepherd and His people as sheep strikes at the hardened heart of my desire to survive on my terms in my strength. In the depths of a wounded heart, I find comfort in knowing He guides and cares for His own. As I revel in the green grass and still waters of His restoration, at peace from recent strife, I’m aware that further down the road new adversaries will threaten to transform a quiet journey into a walk through the ‘shadowiest’ shadows.

Psalm 23 offers the secret to victory and rest for sheep trusting their shepherd

David encountered more than his share of overhanging darkness and wickedness hiding in those shadows before writing Psalm 23. I wonder exactly which foes pounced anew in his mind as he penned the words. Lions? Bears? Goliath? Oh, my! And lest we think our current situation is vastly different, go ahead and add to the list his future challenges of political turmoil, a crazy boss, war, rebellious children, and physical temptations. Sounds like today’s headlines or a page from our personal journals, doesn’t it? As I set aside David’s list, I begin to number my own. What forces are at work to steal my peace? Exchange anxiety for trust? Rob sleep from a restful mind? What giants do we face and are we prepared when we meet them?

Goliath’s name is forever coupled with David’s as the ultimate depiction of underdog versus odds-on favorite. When they faced off in the valley of Elah, Goliath seemed to carry victory in his back pocket. At least that’s the way it appeared day after day when his verbal challenges were met with stony silence from the opposing sidelines before David’s arrival. But do we get the story exactly right? Did Goliath’s massive size and skill present such an obstacle that David’s only chance was a miraculous, one in a million shot? David had faced hairy beasts before – and won. He had slung his stones countless times until he achieved warrior status as an ancient artillery expert. Truth be told, Goliath was probably the underdog with his cumbersome attire and weighty weapons relying on his own brute strength. The giant’s defeat was the safer bet that day unless he could freeze David in his tracks with fear and doubt, not by his intimidating exterior, but with the tongue he used to taunt David.

Goliath has a thousand twins that loom large in our valleys. They often bear human faces, rear their heads with a diagnosis, result from poor choices, enter our arena as outside forces or internal fears, or creep in through our sin nature. Cancer. Alzheimer’s. Debilitating pain. Loss. Depression. Disappointment. Temptation. Bitterness. Regret. They mock us with questions and foster doubts in the One who sends us into battle. Your God is not big enough, strong enough, wise enough, concerned enough to deliver you. You think you have the proper tools to beat me? “Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?” (1 Samuel 17:43)

David took Goliath’s life with a stone and a borrowed sword. Those are the tools we associate with his victory. But his first success was winning the war of words and battle plans. “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.” (1 Sam 17:45)

And there were two more weapons with David that day. Those sticks didn’t escape Goliath’s attention, so they shouldn’t escape mine. David’s rod and staff? The same rod and staff of Psalm 23? Maybe David carried them to battle for comfort, a tangible reminder of the Good Shepherd who counts, rescues, and protects His own. Today they remind me that my battle is not fought on a single plane with one weapon. In the same way a shepherd numbers his sheep as they walk beneath the rod, God numbers the very hairs on our heads and bids us not to fear (Luke 12:7). And with the staff, He searches and rescues me from the end of my own path and cliff of my own despair. With such a Shepherd, my valley of darkest shadows becomes a place of deepest trust and overwhelming victory.

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

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