The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23)
I’ve started using the app YouVersion in the mornings for my meditation/devotion time. It’s pretty cool and they have daily plans that I’ve been using to study the word of God and how it applies to me. It can be hit or miss, but sometimes a devotional turns how I look at the world on it’s head. That happened this morning when I heard a comment in a bible study plan by Darlene Zschech.
The devotional wasn’t on Psalm 23 but she spoke about the famous verse: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me…“
She said that in order for there to be a shadow, there has to be light. We cannot be in the valley of the shadow of death if God wasn’t above us shining his light down on us.
I’d never thought of it that way. When we hear about the valley of the shadow of death, there’s always just….well….death. And death is this big, bad, scary thing for many people.
What is the valley of death? There are three ways of looking at it.
- It’s a real valley. In David’s time, there were at least two valleys that I’ve found that could be referenced in this Psalm. Either the Valley of Elah (where he fought Goliath) or Kidron Valley (David passed through this as he fled from his son after the coup). OR
- It’s metaphorical. OR
- It’s both.
I’ve always considered it to be metaphorical until I learned about the valleys in and around Israel – valleys that King David would have known about and personally experienced.
I’m holding back right now, friends, because I want to launch into a discussion of death and this Psalm and how I never understood why it was used at funerals – I think it just continues to set up death as this big scary THING and to me it isn’t. BUT I’ll be good and focus on the main point of today’s blog post.
The focus of today’s post? There is no shadow without light.
Even in the darkest times, the moments when I think there is no escape, there is no safety, God is there. Always. Even in those times when I reach out to God and don’t feel his presence instantly, he is there with me.
I couldn’t see the darkness around me without God. I wouldn’t be able to know that I was in the darkness if it wasn’t for God’s light shining on me.
I love knowing this. I love acknowledging this.
See, I had a pretty rough time of it recently. I was driving home from work a few weeks ago when I was consumed with a terrible feeling of worthlessness. I felt I might as well kill myself because I wouldn’t be missed. I was nothing. I was horrible and no one really cared about me. I sat there at a red light and could actually picture how I could die if I wanted.
I sat up straight in my seat, tears streaming down my face and said out loud “NO!! That’s not true. None of it. It’s all lies!”
I thought of my children. My fella. My family. My friends. And I started praying for all of them. (That includes you – if you are one of the people who read this blog, you were in my prayers that day.) I prayed and talked to God. I wasn’t sure if He was there – I didn’t get a sense of Him and peace right away but I didn’t care. I kept talking – all the way home. Finally I was filled with God’s presence and peace, but I still kept talking to him.
I felt like I’d run a marathon by the time I got home. I was exhausted – and I’m sure I looked a wreck – tear tracks down my face, hair a mess….but I didn’t care. I’d made it through that ugly voice whispering those horrible things to me.
Psalm 23 isn’t about Death. Psalm 23 is about that darkness in your soul, when you are struggling to survive – whether that attack comes from within or without doesn’t matter. David was in one of the lowest points of his life when he wrote the Psalms. Yet he still managed to praise God – because even with all his burdens he knew the truth – that God’s light was shining down on him.
I am so grateful that I not only pushed through that ugly moment a few weeks ago but also because I’m not the only one who has moments like that. It’s easy to believe you’re all alone when you hear that ugly voice whispering lies. Knowing that people throughout time have heard it, including King David, helps a lot. I’m not alone. I’ve never been alone.
And because of God’s light shining down on me, I can see every shadow on that path. What a wonderful blessing that is, my friends.
Dear Lord, thank you for reminding me that I am never alone, that your light shines on me through every moment of every day. Thank you also for reminding me that others have walked this path as well and if they could push through it then I can lean on that knowledge and push through as well. Glory be to you, God. Amen.