In the Footsteps of David: Exploring the Wadi Qelt and Psalms 23:4

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I love that this is being sent out into the world during Spooky Season! Becasue what is more terrifying than the Valley of the Shadow of Death!

Imagine an enlightening exploration through the valley of the shadow of death itself. This episode takes you into the heart of the Wadi Qelt, a canyon connecting Jerusalem to Jericho, offering a comprehensive understanding of the verse's cultural, historical, geographical, and sociological contexts. Step into the shoes of King David himself and experience his switch from a third-person account of Yahweh to a first-person plea.

Discover the intriguing shift in the Psalm's tone and perspective, revealing the profound insight into David's mindset during a challenging period in his life. The shepherd's rod and staff take a central role in this tale, serving as instruments of discipline and grace, offering comfort amidst turmoil. This episode is not just a scripture deep-dive, but a journey through the darkest valleys and a reminder of the comforting discipline and grace of God. Get ready to traverse through the valley of darkness and come out with a new appreciation for this timeless verse.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week, we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological

(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.

(01:01):
I'm Vic and I am so excited tocontinue our series on the most
recited verses in ScripturePsalms 23.
Just like the last few times,we dive into verse number 4 and
breaking it down and findingthis amazing history behind this
famous Psalm, psalm 23.4,.
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I

(01:23):
will fear no evil, for you arewith me, your rod and your staff
.
They comfort me.
So sit back, grab your cup ofcoffee or something to drink and
let's get ready to dive intoPsalms 23.4.

(01:45):
If you grew up in church, youprobably have heard this Psalm
many, many times.
You probably memorized it, oreven if you didn't grow up in
church, you have probably heardthis a few times.
But there are a few things thatI think are interesting and
will help shape the context ofthis story.
First location Our story takesplace in and around the valley
of the shadow of death.

(02:05):
Some translations will saydarkest valley or death valley,
but the Hebrew really translatesclosest to darkest valley or
dark shadows.
Most scholars agree that thevalley David is referring to
here is the Wadi Quilt.
This is a real place, a canyonthat connects Jerusalem to
Jericho.
It gets its name because thecanyon is so deep that sunlight

(02:28):
cannot be seen inside, exceptfor when the sun is directly
overhead, which fits the name ofthe valley of dark shadows.
There's more on that in amoment.
Last episode we talked about thestanza shift between him to
your.
The first stanza is solelytalking about Yahweh, whereas
here in this stanza, david istalking to Yahweh, and this is

(02:52):
an important shift, because hispsalm turns into his prayer.
Now you may be asking why wouldDavid do that?
Why shift the focus of thepsalm?
It was a perfectly good psalmabout a sheep and a shepherd.
Well, many scholars suggestthat when David was writing the
psalm, he was literallytraveling through the Wadi Qwalt
, or the valley of the shadow ofdeath.

(03:14):
Okay, let me explain.
We talked about how David wrotethis psalm sometime during his
kingship.
So by this point David haskilled Goliath, became king of
Israel, taken advantage ofBathsheba, killed her husband,
uriah the Hittite, and God tellsDavid, through the prophet
Nathan, that I will rise up evilagainst you from your own house

(03:35):
.
And this is where we picked upour story in 2 Samuel 15.
David's son, absalom, attemptsto take over the crown.
Absalom is so aggressive thatDavid has to flee Jerusalem to
save his own life.
And when he flees, he comes tothe Wadi Qwalt.
It is a very interesting storyand I highly recommend you go
read it.
But the reason so many scholarsbelieve this was the place that

(03:58):
David was talking about isbecause of the verb walk.
Okay, go with me on thisgrammar lesson really quick.
The word walk, or halech inHebrew, in this passage is in
the imperfect first personsingular, which is to tell us
that it is continuous orincomplete.
So we get this idea that Davidis saying that he is in the

(04:18):
middle of actively walkingthrough the valley of death.
He is literally talking aboutwalking through this valley, the
Wadi Qwalt, because he isstanding in it.
So back to the reason as to whythere is a shift in tone from
the first stanza and the secondstanza, as we talked about in
the last episode.
The first stanza is about agood shepherd and his sheep, and

(04:42):
David intimately knows thatrelationship between his
shepherd and his sheep.
But in the second stanza we getthis shift and for the rest of
this Psalm we're going to seeDavid reminding himself of the
character of Yahweh, who hasseen him through every step of
the way, even though he findshimself in this predicament

(05:03):
running for his life through thevalley of shadow of death.
Yahweh is still with him and hedoes not need to fear.
Now it is important for us tonote a couple things in addition
to how David is now viewingYahweh in this Psalm,
specifically with the valley ofthe shadow of death.
So this valley was verydangerous in and of itself.

(05:23):
Travelers would have to treadvery carefully for fear of
falling, as the path was verysteep.
Even to this day, the path getsvery narrow and steep at parts.
Travelers must also look outfor wild animals and, of course,
thieves.
Because of the dark shadows,thieves would hide in many caves
and attack travelers as theymade their way through the 15

(05:44):
mile canyon.
This is the location Jesus usedwhen he tells the parable of
the Good Samaritan talking abouta man walking down the Jericho
road.
That is this place, the WadiKelt.
The other thing to note is, ifyou remember a few episodes ago
we said a shepherd would never,ever, typically bring their
sheep to a wadi, preferred theflash floods that would wipe out

(06:08):
the sheep and the whole flock.
So why would David mentiontaking sheep through the valley
of the shadow of death?
Well, possibly for a couplereasons.
One could be the coolness thatthe valley provides the Wadi
Kailat is actually so deep thatit would offer shepherds and
their flock were preved from thedaunting summer desert sun.
And the other reason shepherdswould lead their flock through

(06:30):
this valley because at thebottom of the canyon was a
desert oasis that had water andgreen pastures that the sheep
could eat and drink from andrest in the cool temperatures.
The most part of the verse is Iwill fear no evil, for you are
with me.
The other thing we must noteabout sheep going through the
valley of the shadow of death isthat sheep aren't aware of the

(06:52):
concept of death, but they areaware of the concept of darkness
and danger.
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, sheep are incredibly skittish.
If a little babbling brook cansend them running, what do you
think deep darkness of the WadiKailat would do to them?
But they trust their shepherd.
In the Wadi Kailat, theshepherd takes on even more
responsibility for the sheep,not just keeping the flock on

(07:15):
the path so that no one fallsdown, but also warding off wild
animals that could harm thesheep, protecting them from
thieves that could want to hurtthem as well.
The sheep do not fear whilewalking through this deep
darkness because their shepherdis guiding them.
But, unlike on the mountainside, a shepherd doesn't lead by
just his voice.
Instead, he uses his tools, hisrod and his staff, which leads

(07:39):
us to the last part of the verseyour rod and your staff.
They comfort me.
A shepherd will carry both a rodand a staff as they walk
through the Wadi Kailat.
We sometimes think of thesethings as the same thing, but
they actually have differentuses.
A shepherd's rod is theirweapon against wild beasts.
It's how they protect theirflock.
It shows their power andauthority, but it can also be

(08:02):
used to discipline.
However, the shepherd's staffis used to guide.
The staff is used exclusivelyon the sheep.
It is intended to be used tobring back a sheep that has
stepped off course and needs tobe brought back into the fold.
The curve on the staff is usedto loop around the sheep's neck
and gently guide them back oncourse.
This is an example of grace.

(08:23):
The shepherd could use the rodand discipline the sheep for
stepping out of line, butinstead the shepherd will most
often use the staff displayinggrace to the sheep by not giving
the sheep what they deserve,but rather what they don't
deserve, and letting them backin.
In this verse, david says thatboth the rod and the staff

(08:43):
comforts me, meaning both thediscipline of God and the grace
of God comforts him.
Let me say that again Both thediscipline of God and the grace
of God comforts him.
David is literally on the runfrom his son Absalom because of
his actions with Bathsheba.
God is disciplining him, butGod is also showing him grace by

(09:06):
guiding him back to where he issupposed to be.
David knew that God wasdisciplining him for his actions
, but he did not fear the valleynor the man chasing him,
because he knew that Yahweh waswith him and while on the run,
he also was comforted by theactions that Yahweh did not take
.
God could have stripped Davidof his kingship, just as he had

(09:26):
with Saul, but instead Yahwehacted out of grace and gently
guided David back into the fold.
So how does all of this point toJesus as our shepherd?
Even in this moment that feelslike the darkest valley, he is
with us and we don't have to beafraid.
He is leading us and comfortingus.
But what I love most about theWadi Kelt is that Jesus took

(09:48):
this road.
He often made this trip betweenJericho and Jerusalem.
The Jericho road that Jesustalks about is this canyon, the
Wadi Kelt.
And, just as we have said everyepisode, jesus is our shepherd
and we can trust him to lead usthrough even the darkest valley.
His discipline and his graceboth comfort us in these dark

(10:13):
moments, and we trust theshepherd because we know that he
is good.
So, before we go, I want toclose our time together by
reading the scripture in Psalms23.
And I hope that, as we listento all that we have talked about
, that this passage will beilluminated for you.
Let's read the Lord is myshepherd.
I shall not want.

(10:34):
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths ofrighteousness for his namesake.
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for you arewith me, your rod and your staff
.
They comfort me.

(10:54):
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our H&Future
Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me, vic Hartman.
Music is embarking on anadventure by Evan McDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and

(11:14):
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye, music tief paining you,you, you.