Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley...
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me!”
Valleys are beautiful. At least, in the daylight, they are beautiful. From the top of the valley you can often see lush meadows, fertile plains, and usually a river rolling along at the bottom of it all.
But valleys can be dangerous. They are prone to flooding. Predators like to hang out there. And if we are talking about mountain valleys, they have sharp cliffs and experience sudden severe weather, avalanches, and rock and mud slides. And at night, when the deepest shadows fall, valleys are a different story altogether. Oh, they still have the same physical features, but nighttime is when the predators are active, as well as our imaginations. There’s something about the darkness that makes people afraid.
As a shepherd, David was well acquainted with guiding flocks through valleys. You see, in Israel, often the best summer grazing ground was in the high country, and the only way to get there was through the valleys. It was there, in the valleys, where David developed the skill to fight off the bear and the lion with a slingshot and a staff. He knew that danger lurked, yet he said confidently, “I will fear no evil.” And David had a great reason – the BEST reason – to fear no evil. “For You are with me,” he said, referring to his God.
It’s hard to think of a greater parallel to the Christian life than this one verse of scripture.
Our lives are full of high points and valleys. We want to experience the high points of life, but we aren’t all that keen to go through the valleys. I don’t mind looking down at a valley and contemplating life from my vantage point on high, but I’d rather not go through it, if you don’t mind.
But that’s not reality for anybody. Every single one of us is going to go through the valley. Like David, it is in the valley where we are going to develop the skill to fight off the lion. As the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Yet even knowing this, we can still be confident in the face of evil. “I will fear no evil; For You are with me!” Or, as David says in Psalm 121:1-3,
“I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
And for the Christian, it is NOT the valley OF DEATH. We don’t stop there. We don’t die there. It is the valley of the SHADOW of death. Shadows can’t hurt us. Shadows can’t touch us. In our mortal minds, shadows may make us uneasy, but we can still recognize a shadow for what it is: shade that is caused when something obstructs our view of the light. Shadows may seem real, but they aren’t. That’s why David called this the “Valley of the Shadow of Death.”
For the one who puts their eternal trust in Jesus Christ, even death isn’t real. W. Phillip Keller writes, “Death is but the dark valley opening out into an eternity of delight with God.” My wife likes to say that the death of our physical bodies is actually a blessing, because it sets us free from the curse that arrived in Genesis, and it frees us to be in the presence of Christ.
So, will we go through valleys? Yes, we will. Living in a fallen world, we are guaranteed to encounter our share of lions and shadows. Yet Jesus says to us, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Yes, He has overcome the world. And He is our Good Shepherd. Follow Him!
In Christ,
Pastor Bryan
P.S. As we go through the valleys, we grow in our faith and become equipped to handle the valley experiences. Don’t forget to look for others who are going through the valley. It always helps to go through the valley with a friend.