Hills & Valleys - Psalm 23 - Dr. Andy Chambers

Grief. Hope. Doubt. Expectation. Depression. Celebration. Loneliness. Joy. Together, these words may feel chaotic or disjointed, but in reality, they are true to the full human experience and what it is like to journey through life. The poetry of the Psalms is treasured scripture filled with words of life: "You make me lie by still waters" or "as the deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you." And yet, it also includes phrases like, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," or, "My tears have been my food day and night." Throughout the Psalms, we see the writer's inner tension of light and dark, pain and deliverance, mountain tops of joy, and valleys of deep depression. The Psalms have an honesty that is both foreign and yet brutally familiar. This is because of the writers intimacy with God mixed with the divine inspiration from God to shape us through these words. For us, the Psalms often give language to joys we didn't know how to express and language to our sorrows that we were hesitant to name. And at the same time, they widen our view of who God actually is and how he is working in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Throughout history, the Psalms have "penetrated the hearts and imaginations" of shepherds and saints, presidents and priests, monks and moms, kings and kids, and even Jesus himself. In our quest to be with Jesus and become more like Jesus, we are spending our summer in Jesus' hymnal and prayer book and prayerfully asking the Holy Spirit to meet us, heal us, and transform us.