Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
Psalm 23:4a
I fear no evil, for You are with me.
What an accurate picture of our current world madness! Many thousands of people are touched by the “shadow of death”. Fear has gripped the world and, for some, God may seem far away!
Isn’t it interesting that in our language the idea of “valley” is used as a metaphor for a bad season of a person’s life, because most valleys that I have seen, like the ones throughout America, are quite breathtaking. If I stand on top of a hill or hike on a mountain pass and look out, the valleys below are beautiful whether they are lush green or desert. The sure vastness of the scene is enough to take my breath away. I stand very still and am quiet. I want to hear the river rushing on its course below me. I want to imagine the wildlife hanging out in the valley and wonder what their day is like. I scan the sky for the eagles and hawks soaring high above the valley looking for their next meal. I simply want to take the whole valley in. In short, I am in awe of what lays out before me.
So why the negative in equating valleys with all things bad in our human experience?
A valley is a valley because hills and mountains surround it. Beautiful and majestic at first, these massive boundaries can become haunting like sentries of a prison as time goes by. The valley may be massive, but the claustrophobic feel of said “prison” if you are lost and it is very real when there seems to be no way out day after grueling day…after grueling day. This is especially true if you are in a valley you are not familiar with. Even the most lush valley will become tiresome if there is no obvious way of escape. The valley may seem like a fine place to hang out at first and even be pleasant, but as time passes, an exit to somewhere else is important to one’s sanity.
If there is no exit or the exit is not easily found or seems too hard to access, despair will ensue and fear can overwhelm even the most stout of heart.
In the valley you cannot see beyond the formidable mountains. You cannot see the whole picture of what is really around you and the truth of reality becomes blurred. All you know is the valley. There may be civilization just on the other side of the mountains, but you cannot see it. You may even know it is there, but like a dream, you cannot quite fathom your life there because you are “stuck” in the valley. The valley consumes you and consumes every minute of your day.
You can actually be in one of these massive valleys and not realize that there is anyone else there; that there is anyone looking for you or trying to help you. Often in rescue stories you read of hundreds of rescuers being sent out, even planes and helicopters being used and yet the lost parties believe they are all alone and have no one looking out for them, no one to bring them home.
These reasons and more are why our shepherd, King David, uses a valley to describe the shadow of death.
We all have experienced this shadow of death. If you are reading this you obviously have not died yourself. But the shadow of death has been your experience. Death of a parent or grandparent or a child. Death of a friend or even a coworker we barely know will bring death’s shadow to the door of our soul.
We cannot escape it. We cannot put it off. And we have no say in it. Death is the one thing we humans cannot control.
Some of us have experienced our own shadow of death; the confirmation of cancer or heart disease brings the shadow swiftly into our path. Even the prospect of these diagnoses and the ensuing tests bring us body and soul deep within this valley of the shadow of death.
And even in this, David boldly proclaims, that we do not have to fear!
…for You are with me!
Our God is just as much with us in our valleys as He is with us on our mountain tops! It is sometimes hard to accept and believe, but it is God, Himself, that put us in that valley, but He is with us through every minute of every day that we walk in the valley. Fear wants to overtake us, but in Jesus the Christ, we not only can conquer that fear, we can thrive in that valley! Not because of any special skills or attributes we may utilize, but because God’s compassions never fail and His faithfulness is GREAT!
For the LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:23
One Another Living 