Psalm 23:4 - Communion With God In Darkness

When times are pleasant and enjoyable in our

lives, I believe that it's often easy to remain

aloof or indifferent to the presence of the Lord

in our lives, to the things of God in our lives.

When things are pleasant and enjoyable in our

lives, it's very easy to be forgetful of God

and to neglect the fact that God is, in fact,

with us as his people. Why is that, brothers

and sisters? Why is it that when times are good

and pleasant, It's so much easier for us to be

neglectful of the Lord and the fact that he is

with us. Well, it's because the good blessings

that God has given to us in this life, the kind

things that God has given to us in this world,

steal our affections away from the one who has

given them to us. The earthly comforts, the earthly

pleasures, the earthly things of this world steal

our heart's affections away from the living God

who has given them to us. Then comes suffering

into our lives. The earthly comforts are stripped

away. The earthly pleasures and enjoyments are

peeled back so that all that remains is the Lord.

So that all that remains is Christ. So that all

that remains is faith. So that all that remains

is strength from God. Suffering we will see today.

can actually be very, very beneficial in the

life of the believer because it brings us to

a place of intimate communion with God himself.

David says in Psalm 23, Even though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no

evil, and listen to what he says here, for you

are with me. The first thing we have to consider

this morning is the intimate communion that David

has come to enjoy in the darkness of his life.

In verses 1 -3, David is talking about the Lord.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He

makes me lie down. He's not using direct speech.

He's not having direct interaction and fellowship

with the Lord. He's talking about the Lord being

his shepherd. But then in verse 4 and following,

we read that he says this, You are with me. It

becomes direct. He speaks directly with the Lord.

He comes to a place when the trouble comes in

his life that he experiences and enjoys intimate

communion and fellowship with God. We see that

he's no longer talking about the Lord. Now he's

talking to the Lord directly and intimately.

This communion with God coincides with and is

simultaneous to the arrival and the appearance

of the valleys and the shadows. Is it not, brothers

and sisters? So we see that the arrival of suffering

in his life, the appearance of affliction in

David's life, incurs and invokes and brings about

and puts him in a place and brings him to a place

where he's in an intimate fellowship with the

living God, his shepherd. The affliction brings

this about. You see, something that suffering

does in this life, in the life of the believer,

is that it brings them nearer and closer to the

Lord. Now, one thing that we have to recognize,

and we'll see this, Lord willing, we'll see that

it's not that the Lord comes and goes so much,

but it's the fact that in suffering we are driven

to the Lord because we are distant. We are further

away. We fluctuate in our nearness and our closeness

to the Lord himself. It's not the Lord so much

as it is us and our feeble affections and our

feeble hearts and our feeble minds. Because we

go up and down. We come and go. Not the Lord.

So suffering can bring us to a place That is

beneficial because it brings us closer to the

Lord. It makes God real to the believer. It makes

their faith real to the believer that suffers.

No longer are these theoretical realities. No

longer are these theoretical ideas and concepts.

that we can merely talk about. But now when hardship

comes in our life, our faith, our heart religion,

is put to the test. Our religion is tested and

tried. Does our faith really work? Do we really

trust in the Lord? Do we really believe His promises?

Do we genuinely have hope? Our religion, our

heart religion, is tested and tried. And the

effectiveness and the invincibility of faith

is demonstrated time and time again as the believer

suffers. We see in 2 Corinthians chapter 12,

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

this very thing takes place in the life of the

Apostle Paul. We read in 2 Corinthians chapter

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

12. Starting in verse 7. Because of the surpassing

greatness of the revelations, because of the

surpassing greatness of the revelations, for

this reason, to keep me from exalting myself,

there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger

of Satan to torment me. To keep me from exalting

myself. Concerning this I implored the Lord three

times. That it might leave me. And he said to

me. My grace is sufficient for you. My power

is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore

I will rather boast about my weaknesses. So that

the power of Christ may dwell in me. In verse

10. Therefore I am well content. with weaknesses,

with insults, and distresses, with persecutions,

with difficulties, for Christ's sake. For when

I am weak, then I am strong. What do we see in

the Apostle Paul's life? That the Lord is creating

weakness in his life to make him strong in the

Lord. The Lord brings about pain and suffering

in his life to make him more useful in Christ.

That his power might shine forth through the

apostle. He's making him reliant upon faith.

He's making him reliant upon the Lord and not

himself. You see, suffering, brothers and sisters,

is the great... Pride crusher. It demolishes

pride in the life of people. It crushes pride

on the head and smashes it and obliterates it

to a million pieces. It does away with self -confidence

and arrogance and pride and haughtiness in the

life of God's people. And it brings them low

so that they are cast on faith in Christ. and

the need for His power, and His strength, and

His might. They're brought to a place where all

the human reliances they have in their life,

the human dependencies, the worldly and earthly

dependencies in their life, are taken away and

ripped away from them. They don't have them anymore.

So what do they have left? They have faith in

the Lord Jesus. And they grow strong in that

faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, suffering is

beneficial. Now we see that this is what takes

place when we see that this is a reality in David's

life because of this communion that he's enjoying

with the Lord. So we also have to consider that

the communion that David is enjoying is built

on the fact that God is with him. David says,

for you are with me. Now the imagery presented

here, we can imagine it. I'm sure you have it

in your mind's eye already. You have the sheep,

and you have the dark, deep valley. You have

the gloom. You have the frightening imagery and

the frightening darkness approaching. You're

in it, but the sheep are not alone. The shepherd

is with them, guiding, directing, and providing

all the while. David says, you are with me. This

leads us to the inevitable question, one I'm

sure that many of us have asked through our lives,

and we've asked time and time again as we read

the Bible and the Scriptures, what does that

mean exactly? That God is with me. I know what

it means when my mom or my dad or my brother

or my sister or my child is with me. Because

they're present with me. But what does it mean

when the Bible says that you are with me speaking

of God? Now, to answer this, we must first understand

the nature of God. And we must understand that

men are always in the presence of God, as it

were. Men are always before God. And this is

because of the nature of the living God. We could

look at Proverbs chapter 15, verse 3, which says

Proverbs 15:3

this, The eyes of the Lord are in every place,

watching the evil and the good. God sees all.

God observes all. God watches all because God

is omnipresent. Everything, whether a person

recognizes it or not, is quorum Deo, before the

face of God. Every single thing is quorum Deo,

before the face of God. There's no escaping that

reality, whether you're a believer or an unbeliever.

What you do, what you think, how you live, your

actions, your thoughts, everything, is quorum

Deo, before the face of God, because he's a holy,

righteous, infinite, spiritual being. He sees

and knows all. Nothing is concealed from him.

Nothing is kept from him. We read in 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 16 · chapter mention

Chapter 16. Verse 9. Oh, I'm sorry. Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

4. Verse 13. Which says this. And there is no

creature hidden from his sight. But all things

are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with

whom we have to do. Everything is open and laid

bare before the sight of God because everything

is in the presence of the living God. Everything

is set before him. Everything is in front of

his face. Now to help us understand this, I want

to read a quote. from a theologian, John Frame.

He says this, and this is really, really important

with our understanding of who God is. God is

not a vague, abstract principle or force, but

a living and true God, as opposed to all the

deaf and dumb idols of the world. Knowledge of

him, therefore, is also a person -to -person

knowledge. God's presence is not something that

we discover through refined theoretical intellect

or intellectual thinking. And here it is, brothers

and sisters, listen to this. Rather, God is unavoidably

close to His creation. We are involved with Him

all the time. Do you know why that is? Because

God is omnipresent. God is an infinite, eternal,

self -existent, sovereign, spiritual, personal

being. A person. Not a force or a principle who

is everywhere all the time. He is always. and

we are always set before him. The deepest secrets

of our heart, brothers and sisters, can you conceal

those from the living God? The most subtle thoughts

in your mind, which nobody else around you knows,

are those kept from the face of the living God?

No. Now what we'll find is that this is incredibly

comforting. for the believer in suffering, but

this ought to be incredibly frightening and terrifying

to the unbeliever who doesn't know Christ. The

believer ought to find comfort in the fact that

the living God is with them. The unbeliever ought

to be terrified and frightened out of their boots

that they are in the hands of the sovereign God,

that He sees and knows all that they do. He knows

that they reject Christ. He knows that they love

their sin or are unwilling to forsake it for

the gospel of His Son who gave His life. Believers

ought to find great encouragement and strength

and the character and nature of the living God.

And unbelievers ought to consider this reality

that everything is laid bare. And they ought

to be frightened and fearful. I've seen something

recently going around that says, When Jonathan

Edwards wants to encourage believers, he reminds

them that they are in God's hands. But when Jonathan

Edwards wants to instill fear in the unbeliever,

he reminds them that they are in God's hands.

You know why that is? Why does that bring encouragement?

To the believer. With faith. Who has been given

the righteousness of Christ. And why does that

instill fear. In the heart of the unbelieving

man. Encouragement for those in Christ. Because

he is a loving father. Who cares for us. Who

is present and involved. In our hardships. But

for the unbeliever. They don't have the righteousness

of Christ. They don't have faith. God is a holy

and a righteous God. And they are in His hands

and they hate Him. And there's enmity with this

holy and righteous God. He can drop you at any

moment into the pits and depths of hell because

He's a sovereign God. It should incur and bring

about and stir up the longing for repentance

in your life. It should create an urgency in

your soul because God could drop you at any moment.

You are in His sovereign hands. the believer

will never be dropped. They will be carried to

the celestial city. They will be carried by the

sovereign, powerful, mighty right hand to the

great city of God. And he will never drop the

believer. So we have to understand the fact that

God Is an infinite. Eternal spiritual being.

Who is omnipresent. And he is personal. But we

also have to understand. And we must grasp. That

David is speaking. Not in a general way. David

is speaking in a unique way. That God is with

him. In a covenantal sense. The Bible. does not

say that God is with the unbeliever. That is

something that is unique and distinct to those

in covenantal relationship with God. We see it

that God was with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac,

and Jacob. We see that God was with Israel, the

nation. His covenant people. We see that God

was with Moses. We see that God was with Joshua.

We see that when the birth and the announcement

of the Messiah is announced in the Gospels early

on, what is the name of this God that would take

on flesh? Emmanuel. God with us. In a redemptive,

covenantal sense, brothers and sisters. So David

isn't speaking about the fact that all men are

with God and God is with all men. No, he's talking

about the fact that God is uniquely and distinctly

with His covenant people in their suffering.

Psalm 34 .15 says this, The eyes of the Lord

are continually toward the righteous and His

ears open to their cries. Whose eyes are the

Lord's toward? Who is the Lord's eyes toward?

Who is his gaze set upon? The righteous man.

Those who are God -fearing. Those who have faith.

Those who are in covenant relationship with God.

The people of God. Whose cries does he hear?

His people. He's in covenant relationship with

them. We read in... 2 Chronicles chapter 16,

2 Chronicles 16:9

verse 9. For the eyes of the Lord move to and

fro throughout the earth, that He may strongly

support those whose heart is completely His.

The Lord in all His sovereignty, in all His might,

in all His infinity, brothers and sisters, in

all His omnipresence, is for the believer, is

for the righteous man who has been given faith

and made new by the power of God. He's speaking

in a covenantal sense. The Bible explains many

ways that the Lord is with his covenant people.

He is with them to help them and strengthen them.

We read this in Psalm. 46, 1 -2 and verse 7.

He is a very present help in times of trouble.

He is with his people in trouble. He is with

his people to uphold them and sustain them by

his mighty right hand. Isaiah 41, 10 -14. His

sovereign hand exists and serves the people of

God by upholding them, bearing them up, sustaining

them. He is with them in that capacity. He is

with his people to support, care for, provide,

lead, and protect. We could look at Psalm 73,

23, or 45, verses 16 through 17. He is with his

people to give them victory and to fulfill his

promises in their life and to fight on their

behalf. You remember when Joshua... was getting

ready to go into the promised land. And he's

obviously fearful of the enemies of God. Now,

these promises were given through Moses, and

Moses told Joshua these things earlier on, but

then God reiterates these same things to Joshua

himself. And what's the justification that God

gives to Joshua for not being fearful? I am with

you. The Lord will go ahead of him. The Lord

will conquer the enemies. The Lord will drive

out the enemies on his behalf. The Lord will

give him success. The Lord will fight for him.

The Lord is with him. And Joshua girded up his

loins and obeyed the Lord and led the nation

of Israel into the promised land. God is with

his people. So when we consider the answer to

this question, this inevitable question of what

does it mean that God is with us, or what does

it mean when David says, for you are with me.

What does this mean? It means the Lord, because

of his covenantal promises, his gracious promises,

His love for His people, means that He, as a

gracious and loving Father, in the darkest, as

a gracious and loving Father, is intimately present

and actively involved in the darkest hours of

your life as a believer in Jesus Christ. Intimately

present and actively involved. And what's He

doing? He's strengthening you. He's preserving

you. He's sustaining you. He's protecting you.

He's fighting on your behalf. He's working for

you in your life. His mighty right hand is with

you. Psalm 73 talks about how the Lord has taken

hold of my right hand. Now the Lord has strengthened

Asaph, I believe. Now the Lord has given him

strength in his life. That's how the Lord is

present and with his people. He helps them in

their trials, in their sufferings. Now I want

to encourage you with this, brothers and sisters.

When we think about this and the fact that God

is with David in his trial, In the valleys and

the shadows. David always had people around him.

He always had the royal court. He always had

faithful friends. He always had individuals around

him. But listen, in this text, David doesn't

say, Bathsheba is with me. He doesn't say that

his advisor is with him. He says, for you are

with me, the Lord. is with me. There are some

trials and there are some sufferings and afflictions

in life, brothers and sisters, which are so severe

that it seems as though there isn't anybody else

with you because nobody understands. Nobody knows

what I'm going through. Nobody can feel what

I'm feeling. Nobody can endure what I'm doing

because it's so hard. But listen here, believer.

Hear me, the Lord is with you in those moments.

When nobody else can get into your soul and know

what's taking place, hear me well, God is with

you. You can say as those with faith, you are

with me. Some of our sweetest moments. of communion

and fellowship with the living God are often

taking place in some of the darkest moments of

our lives. Have you ever thought about that?

Some of the times when you enjoy God the most,

some of the times when you... You enjoy the presence

of God and you know that He's real and you know

that He's working and you know that He's helping.

Some of the sweetest moments of communion with

the Word of God and prayer and the fellowship

of the saints and the preaching of the Word and

the gathering of the church. When are some of

those moments, brothers and sisters? Often when

are those moments? In the darkest moments of

our lives. Now this does not mean... That we'll

always have the sensible presence of God. This

does not mean that we'll always have the felt

presence of God in our lives. Job knew that God

was with him. He knew and he believed that God

was working his purposes. But Job, in Job 23,

it's clear and evident that he could not sense

God's presence with him. But he believed. That

God was with him. He knew that God was in the

midst of his suffering. He knew that there was

a purpose in the pain. He knew that there was

a purpose in the affliction. It was by faith.

So, don't cast off the darkness. Don't cast off

the suffering in your life. Let it cast you down

onto Christ. Don't push it away. Embrace it,

brothers and sisters, and let it do its work

in your life and drive you to Christ by faith.

To rid yourself of the vanity and the pride and

the arrogance and the ingratitude and the sin

and the corruption and to bring you to a place

where you are more reliant and dependent on the

living God by faith. That's one of the grand

purposes. Of suffering in the life of God's people.

So, David has this communion because the Lord

is with him. We also must consider that David

enjoys this communion. Because he recognizes

that God is with him. For you are with me. What

is he doing? He's consciously recognizing the

fact that God is with him. He has the knowledge

that God is with him. He's setting the Lord before

himself. In a sense, we could say David is putting

himself into the presence of God. By recognizing

that God is with him. Psalm 16 .8 says, I have

set the Lord continually before me. What's he

mean? He means that he is recognizing that God

is with him. We are always before the face of

God, right, brothers and sisters? We know this.

We are always in his presence. But that does

not mean that we always set the Lord before us.

That does not mean that we always put the Lord

in front of us. It does not mean that we always

recognize and remember and recall the fact that

God is with us. That's what David is doing here.

He's recognizing that God is with him. And this

knowledge that God is with him is a source of

great strength. It is a source of great confidence

and boldness. What does he say? Your rod and

your staff, they comfort me. He derives comfort

from the reality that God in his sovereignty

and his power is with him in the suffering. But

we also find in the second half of Psalm 16,

8, he says, because you are at my right hand,

I shall not. be shaken. What about when David

says, I fear no evil? What's the basis for that

statement? The fact that the Lord is with David.

He derives great comfort, peace, hope, and confidence

to endure and press on in trial from the fact

that God is intimately involved, intimately with

him. and actively present and working in his

situation. Knowing who is with you has a great

effect on our confidence in life, I believe,

brothers and sisters. Yes, trials can be large

and big and expansive. Suffering can be and seem

overwhelming. Hardship in our lives can seem

continual, like a battering ram that picks us

up and whacks us down all in one movement, over

and over and over, and we think, what is going

on? They seem like giants at times. They seem

insurmountable at times in our lives. When the

darkness is all around us and we're in the midst

of the valley, it can seem very, very frightening

and very, very overwhelming. But this is when

it's important to remember who is with you. To

remember who... is at your right hand in the

midst of your trial, in the midst of your suffering,

in the midst of your affliction. Yes, this affliction

may be severe, but is it bigger and greater and

mightier than God himself? No. God is with me.

Is this suffering or this trial so expansive

that it cannot be controlled and it cannot be

used for your good? No, God is with me, brothers

and sisters. The knowledge of who is with you

has the distinct ability to strengthen you in

this life. To bolster you for the suffering and

to face the suffering that you're presently in,

in your life. All of this should encourage us

to seek and enjoy communion with God in our lives

all the time, but especially in suffering, brothers

and sisters. When trials come in your life, that

is not the time to throw away your Bible. That

is not the time. To stop getting on your knees

and seeking the face of God. When the darkness

arrives, that is the time to seek out the face

of God more than you ever have. That is the time

to fellowship with Him more than you ever have.

That is the time to lean into your fellowship

and your communion with the living God by faith.

We will not. As stated earlier about Job, we

will not always have the sensible or felt presence

of God in trials. At times you will, and you

will enjoy that blessing. At other times, you

will not. So what do we need to do in the darkness

and in the suffering? When it arrives, we need

to look to the Word of God. Over and over and

over. Because these are promises. The fact that

God is with David, that's a promise, brothers

and sisters. And that means that we have to go

to the word of God and we have to believe that

promise and we have to lean on that promise like

Jacob leaned on his staff. We have to cast ourselves

on it. We have to bring those promises before

God. Lord, you said you would be an ever -present

help in my times of trouble. Bring them to the

Lord and recognize that God will never leave

you and he will never forsake you. And do you

know why? Because Christ died for sinners. No

promise of God will be revoked. And no promise

of God will be left incomplete or unfulfilled

in the life of the believer. That means that

he will always be with the believer. That means

he will always be present. And that means he

will always be actively working in your life.

In the dark moments and in the pleasant moments

of your life. Because Christ died. He secured

the guarantee of God's promises. All the promises

of God are yes and amen in Christ, brothers and

sisters. So, when we're tempted to doubt that

God is with me or with you, look to the cross

of Calvary. Christ died for me. The Spirit of

God makes those promises effective in me. God's

providence supports me in my life. Look to the

cross when you are threatened to doubt. Look

to the cross and be reminded of God's faithfulness

and the fact that He will fulfill every promise

to His people.