No Shadow Without a Light
“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.”Psalm 23:4 (KJV)
David wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” It is one of the most loved verses in the Bible, often read at funerals.
Think about what a shadow is. It has no weight. It can’t grab you or bite you. And it only exists because there is light somewhere. Where there is a shadow, there is a light source nearby.
That doesn’t make the valley easy. Shadows are dark and frightening, and David doesn’t pretend otherwise. But he says the reason he won’t fear isn’t that the valley is small. It is that someone is with him: “thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
John tells us who the light is: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” If you are walking through a shadow today, it means the light hasn’t gone out. He is close. Keep walking. The valley has an other side.
Read it yourself
Read Psalm 23. Notice where David switches from talking about the LORD to talking to him.
What shadow are you walking through, and where can you see signs of the light?
Lord, you are with me in the valley. I won’t fear the shadow, because you are the light. Amen.