"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me."
Psalm 23:4
When I was younger, this verse reassured me that even if things are scary, I can trust God to be by my side. "Valley of the shadow of death" sure sounded creepy, but I (thankfully) had no real context for what that might mean other than darkness and vague fears. Now that I am older and have learned of the Holocaust, mass rape in the Congo, pedophilia within the Catholic church, slaughter of Koreans by Japanese and other horrors, I realize that the world is often a grim and brutal place. "Valley of the shadow of death" is more significant when you know some of the extreme trials inflicted by other people and by nature. Yet, a shadow is not a real object. It is a dark, misshapen representation of something real. So why did the Psalmist use this phrase? Was it just for poetic effect? Let's consider.
The Psalmist was a shepherd, renowned warrior, actively hunted fugitive, and king. He was often specifically targeted for death yet ended up living a long life, filled with valor and accomplishments but also dismal failures and griefs. In first Samuel, he tells King Saul that he wrestled with a lion and a bear in order to protect his father's flocks of sheep! He traversed the valleys of what is now modern-day Israel, a land with similar topography and weather to my own home of Southern California. This was a man who was intimate with life in the outdoors and with the immediacy and often unexpectedness of death. So, again, why the metaphor of shadows?
The context of Psalm 23 is that of a Good Shepherd caring for his sheep. The imagery likens the shepherd to God and the psalmist to the sheep. As a shepherd, David probably had experience herding his sheep down steep ravines into the lush grass of valleys and out again into new pastures. Doesn't life feel that way sometimes? Many of us use the modern metaphor of a "roller coaster" to describe this journey. What a relief that God leads us through the valley of the shadow of death--in but out again. At dusk and evening, the valley is much darker than the flatlands because the hills block out the light. Rocks and trees project shadows. Danger is imminent for the sheep in the form of thieves, wild animals, cliffs, and gullies. Yes, there is legitimate danger!
And that, I think, is the point of the phrase "the valley of the shadow of death". Death is real. It is inevitable. It comes to us and to those close to us. And it comes not only to our bodies but also to our relationships and aspirations and dreams. It is often cruel, but sometimes it is a mercy. We spend much time contemplating if and when it will come. Think you don't? Replace the word "death" with "failure". How many of us live in fear and anxiety and hopelessness about our circumstances or the future even if we know we are in no danger of physical death? Sometimes we dread the end of a relationship so much that we can't enjoy the process of building it. Or we bemoan our physical decay to the point of ingratitude for our health. Or we fear a confrontation with a friend so much that we never have an important conversation. We're starting at shadows. We're spooked like sheep. See, it's one thing to know that death is out there and that it might affect us, and it's another thing to know what it looks like. We're not going to know what it looks like or what it feels like until it comes.
Life is often scary. Sometimes our circumstances are dark and we can't see what is real behind the grotesque, shifting shadows around us. Often, I think we are not supposed to know. It's God's grace that hides it from us so that we will trust Him more and perhaps grow into being able to face it. Sometimes the hideous monster is really an overgrown shrub. Other times it really is a hideous monster. Either way, God is our Good Shepherd, leading us shifting, startled sheep through the valley of the shadow of death into green pastures. Even when death finally comes for us, if we are His children, we will arrive with Him into the greenest pasture of all. "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Amen.
