Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Are you in a dark valley right now? A dark season for your soul? If you are, you're in the right place, because today's Verse of the Day has to do with that exact thing.
It comes from Psalm chapter 23, verse 4. It says, "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me."
It's a When, Not an If
There are a couple of pieces here that I want to pull apart. The first part of the Scripture says that even when I walk—it's not an if, it's a when. You're probably thinking, why is that an encouragement? Well, it's what comes after the “when” that encourages you. But the first thing we need to nail down is this: we don't have to wonder if we're going to go through dark seasons. It's only a matter of time before we do. If I'm guessing correctly, you're probably either processing through one now, have gone through one in the past, or you're looking at something that's coming. The “when” is there to point us to hope.
I Will Not Be Afraid
The next part of the Scripture says, "Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid." That's a powerful phrase. It's something that you have to believe internally even before you feel it. Sometimes I have to say the things that are true before I feel them—in my spirit, in my heart, in my gut. So maybe that's something practical we can do today. If you're feeling like you're walking through a dark valley, you practice saying this Scripture over yourself: I will not be afraid. Why?
The next piece tells us—"for You are close beside me." If you rest in that truth today, no matter what you walk through, the Good Shepherd is walking alongside you. It makes whatever you walk through a little more bearable. It doesn't mean that He takes away the pain immediately or that the darkness becomes light immediately. But I find hope in the fact that even when I walk through the darkest valley, He's right beside me.
The Rod and the Staff
And He goes just a step deeper, because the Scripture says this: "Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me." Those are two different instruments. If you look at the word and dig into the pictures being represented here, a rod was actually a really thick stick that was used to beat off wolves and enemies from taking sheep captive—and it was also used to make sure sheep didn't go too far off the path. Now a staff is very interesting. It's actually a crook—kind of looks like a candy cane, if you were to imagine it, without all the red and white stripes. It's something meant to go and pull a sheep out of a ravine or out of something they could have gotten stuck in. Not only are you walking through darkness to get to the other side because your Shepherd, Jesus, is with you—He has a stick in one hand to defend you from the enemy, and He's got a crook in the other to pull you out of things you might have fallen into.
Sit with Psalm 23
As you sit with this Scripture today, I'd actually encourage you to go read the whole chapter—Psalm 23, one of the most popular psalms in the Bible. Sit with the fact that Jesus will not let you walk through darkness by yourself. He will always be with you. He'll be your defender, and He'll pull you out whenever you need it most.
