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“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me…” (Psalm 23:4).
“Into Your hand I commit my Spirit” (Luke 23:46, Psalm 31:5).
“…in the Christian’s career the life of God can only flow in blessing through valleys that have been carved and cut into our own lives by excruciating experiences.” W. Phillip Keller
Holy Week is here. A week foreshadowed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), a week that points to the full measure of God’s devotion, love, care, and commitment to those He loves dearly — me and you. A week that starts with a parade invites those who follow Christ closest to partake of a meal, painfully displays the full perversion of human sin, and peaks in the most unbelievable — yet entirely factual — event in the history of God’s Creation. It is a week of contradictions and confounding moments. A week in which what is said and then what is done don’t seem to make sense. Consider how quickly the circumstances and the situations change during Holy Week — the paradoxical reality that exists.
The people’s shouts of "hosanna" turn to screams of "crucify Him" (John 12:13, Mark 15:11-13); disciples gathered for a celebration meal become those who scatter and hide out of fear (Mark 14:14-15, John 20:19); Pilate judges Jesus as innocent, and yet he hands Jesus over (Luke 23:4, Matthew 27:24-27); Peter promises readily and yet denies quickly (Matthew 26:33, 26:74-75).
But considering it all, perhaps we take time to remember what Jesus called to mind in the moment of His glory. Much has been said of the seven things Jesus said from the cross — each significant, each impactful, each showing the nature of the darkest valley imaginable. It is two of these final words that are direct quotations from Scripture itself, both psalms. The fifth word from the cross points us to Psalm 22 (Matthew 27:46), but it is the last word from the cross, known as the seventh word, that points us to the final psalm, the final remembrance of God’s Word Jesus drew from as He died. That word was drawn from the words of Psalm 31 (Luke 23:46, Psalm 31).
Psalm 31, written by David, is a beautiful psalm to consider in your own devotional life during Holy Week. Much like the events and people of Holy Week, this psalm seems incongruent. David declares God’s promises to save but is in the midst of agony and distress. David asserts God is victorious but then is seemingly absent from the situation. David thanks God for his protection and security, then assesses that he is forsaken. He declares, “How abundant is Your goodness” (v. 19), and yet is dying from the sorrow (v. 10). It is all chaotic, all confusing.
How true all that David describes would be for Jesus throughout Holy Week. It is why this psalm came to Christ’s mind in the final moments before He breathed His last. He experienced the full reality of a wicked, sinful world and walked through the valley, the deepest valley, the Valley of the Shadow of Death. But He did so with you in mind. Our congregational journey through the book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 reminds us this week that “...there is, even in the dark valley, a source of strength and courage to be found in God.” It is the strength and courage that comes from knowing what Christ endured so you would never be forsaken, what He went through so you would get through.
Let us rejoice that we know the tomb will, by Sunday, be empty. He is risen! This week we see Jesus bring His redeeming and eternal light into the darkest valley, the shadow of death, and defeat it. Christ dies at the hands of sinful men, but by doing so He provides for you the way to overcome sin, death, and the devil so that you would have an everlasting relationship with your Heavenly Father. Jesus experiences the pain of Holy Week to bring comfort to the world, and thus “His paradoxical reality is ours.” He came to bring us true life — life that experiences a Psalm 31 world and yet lives interwoven with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
This Holy Week, as we prepare our hearts and minds, consider Christ’s last words on the cross. Let us remember the psalm Christ turned to, and with confidence unfading, let us remember who it is that guides us through the valley: the Good Shepherd, Christ Jesus our Lord.
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