"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." - Psalm 23:4
I'm guessing many of you are saying, "Wait! That's not how Psalm 23 goes; it's 'the valley of the shadow of death.'"
Actually, the King James Version did translate it as you remember. But the Hebrew is as you see in the verse above: "the darkest valley" or even "the valley of deep darkness."
King James was capturing what you feel like when you go through the darkest valley, through the valley of deep darkness, namely, you feel like death must be lurking near because it feels like the valley of the shadow of death.
Not too long ago, here in Birmingham, some of us had a deep darkness, maybe-death-is-lurking evening. We had torrential rain right as 70 kids needed to get into their parents' cars at church. The rain was accompanied by lightning which was more scary and majestic than the 100 best fireworks displays I've ever seen. The torrential rain contributed to multiple car wrecks in the eight miles from church to my home. The truly awesome lightning contributed to multiple power outages, including my home.
As brilliantly lit as the skies were, my house was equally as dark, especially in the basement. It was valley of deep darkness dark. It's a darkness so deep you literally can't see your hand in front of your face.
We had peace though. Because we have a promise. From God. Through David in Psalm 23. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, the deepest darkness, a darkness so deep that you can't see your hand in front of your face...I will fear no evil...for thou art with me, God...your rod and your staff...they comfort me."
Many of you, who I'm aware of, have recently shared things you're worried about, unsure about, wondering about, afraid about.
You're totally in the dark.
You have no idea what today holds, let alone tomorrow. How could you? You can't even see your hand in front of your face.
God has a promise for you. He says to you, "I am with you. I comfort you. With my rod and my staff, I'll protect you and guide you."
Even in the deepest darkness, trust God's promise, and you will see...
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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