By Martin Morrison
Psalm 23:1 – 6
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever.
I read a wonderful article on The Gospel Coalition Africa website called “Christ, COVID-19 and the Christian” by Daniel Gachuki from Nairobi, Kenya. I would strongly encourage you to go and read the whole article; it will lift your soul and mind. Let me glean some key thoughts from his article. He is quite brilliant. He quotes from Psalm 23 and says that sometimes the good Shepherd graciously leads his sheep in difficult places. Some dark and dreary places. Gloomy places where death feels imminent and despair is near inevitable. These are the chilling circumstances of life. It would be a grave error to suppose that Christians won’t find themselves in gloomy places together with the rest of the world. But it is equally true that the Christian is safer than them all. The never-ending presence of our good Shepherd emboldens us to say, defiantly, that we will fear no evil.
Commenting on this verse, Matthew Henry says that “There is a difference between shadow and substance….the shadow of a serpent does not sting and the shadow of a sword does not kill”. Similarly, the shadow of death does not kill. The Corona Virus can ravage the body, but it can’t ruin the soul. The Christian is eternally secure, not from physical death, but from eternal damnation. We are at peace with God. We are not under his condemnation. Should the worst happen and we end up succumbing , even then we can rest assured that our eschatological hope will not be dashed. For I am persuaded that nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Don’t misunderstand me. Death is devastating and disease is destructive. In fact, we as Christians ought to sanitise our hands, practise social distancing and take the advice of our leaders and experts. But as we join with the rest of humanity to do these things, may it not be lost on us that in all these things, Christ is Sovereign, the Christian is eternally safe and God can use COVID-19 to make us better Christians. For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God. Romans 8:28. The smart thing to do right now, is to make sure that you are in Christ and that you love God!