"Let's take a walk" Psalm 23:4
4. "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
Ok, so I think this may be the most well known verse not only in this Psalm, but in the bible. I wonder why. Part of it has even been rapped about. This verse is very profound to me on many levels. You see, I suffered with anxiety most of my life, and only in my bond with Christ did I find freedom from it. But let's take a walk through that valley anyway, shall we?
First of all, let me touch on the fact that we are in a valley. I know this is never a fun place to be. The peaks seem to be so much more exciting, but think about this for a minute, where does the grass grow on the mountain, I don't think so. When we are in the pits of our despair, that is where we grow the most. We may not feel like it during that time, but God uses all things for good (Romans 8:28). That is the place where we are left with nothing but our circumstance and a choice to make; trust or not. Once we choose to trust, we can look back and see ourselves halfway up that mountain without realizing we are even climbing.
The valley we are in happens to be the shadow of death, yikes! This is where I lived most of my life. As I have shared in past devotions, every day I faced death in one way or another. So I have spent much time here. One thing that I want to point out is that this death spoken of is but a shadow. Do you see it? It's not death at all, just a shadow of it, a mere threat. Think about this, when you are out on a sunny day, you have a shadow with you. That shadow looks like you, it walks like you, but that's where it has to end because it's not you. So this impending death is nothing more than a shadow, a lie from the enemy.
So when we walk and grow through our circumstance that looks much like death, we fear no evil. John 10:10 says that Satan is a thief, he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Don't think for a second that the lies aren't being slung in your direction, but we have a God who is able and ready to fight for and with us. He holds a rod and staff that can protect His sheep from any predator. Psalm 91 tells us if we dwell with God, He will cover us with His feathers. Our God will walk next to us as we walk through the valley, if we can leave room on the path for Him to do so.
Ok, so I think this may be the most well known verse not only in this Psalm, but in the bible. I wonder why. Part of it has even been rapped about. This verse is very profound to me on many levels. You see, I suffered with anxiety most of my life, and only in my bond with Christ did I find freedom from it. But let's take a walk through that valley anyway, shall we?
First of all, let me touch on the fact that we are in a valley. I know this is never a fun place to be. The peaks seem to be so much more exciting, but think about this for a minute, where does the grass grow on the mountain, I don't think so. When we are in the pits of our despair, that is where we grow the most. We may not feel like it during that time, but God uses all things for good (Romans 8:28). That is the place where we are left with nothing but our circumstance and a choice to make; trust or not. Once we choose to trust, we can look back and see ourselves halfway up that mountain without realizing we are even climbing.
The valley we are in happens to be the shadow of death, yikes! This is where I lived most of my life. As I have shared in past devotions, every day I faced death in one way or another. So I have spent much time here. One thing that I want to point out is that this death spoken of is but a shadow. Do you see it? It's not death at all, just a shadow of it, a mere threat. Think about this, when you are out on a sunny day, you have a shadow with you. That shadow looks like you, it walks like you, but that's where it has to end because it's not you. So this impending death is nothing more than a shadow, a lie from the enemy.
So when we walk and grow through our circumstance that looks much like death, we fear no evil. John 10:10 says that Satan is a thief, he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Don't think for a second that the lies aren't being slung in your direction, but we have a God who is able and ready to fight for and with us. He holds a rod and staff that can protect His sheep from any predator. Psalm 91 tells us if we dwell with God, He will cover us with His feathers. Our God will walk next to us as we walk through the valley, if we can leave room on the path for Him to do so.
