“Even though I walk through the darkest valley…” (Psalm 23:4).

The way I learned to memorize the 23rd psalm is, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death.”

The NIV translators instead go with, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley.”

Darkest valley.

Valley of the shadows of death.

Both places sound pretty scary. Both sound like unpleasant and frightening places to be. I

prefer the older translation. If you do too, you would be closer to what the Hebrew actually says because that’s exactly the words the Hebrew uses.

What I find interesting about this portion of the psalm is that the location of one of the most beloved psalm is in one of the most frightening places. The peace that God offers his sheep isn’t only in green pastures and quiet waters. The peace that God offers is also present in the valley of the shadows of death. And, that is what makes this psalm so amazing.

It’s easy to experience peace in green pastures and beside still waters. But that’s not when I need God’s peace the most. The place I need God’s peace the most is when life is scary, hard, threatening. And, this is when you need God’s peace the most too.

The good news is that even in the valley of the shadow of death, even when death is staring you in the face, you need not fear for God’s peace is there too. In fact, the New Testament writers tell us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. There is not a square inch in the created universe where God’s peace is not present.

Life, because it is life, has moments of delight and happiness:

• the birth of a child
• the moment you discover the love of your life
• the moment when you graduate from school

Life, because it is life, has moments of terror and pain:

• the death of a loved one
• when you hear the words, “It’s cancer”
• every failure you’ve ever experienced

No matter what you are facing in life, in both the green pastures and quiet waters and in the very midst of the valley of the shadow of death, God is there. God’s peace is with you.

That’s good news. That’s great news.

“He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3).

Sheep are defenseless and helpless. Sheep can be mean-spirited and stubborn. Sheep can be quite selfish making life miserable for others.

To top it all off, sheep aren’t the smartest animals in the animal kingdom. Sheep are dumb. Not only that, sheep are inherent followers.

Sheep herders train one sheep to break from the crowd to make its way into the slaughter house, and just as the trained sheep reaches the slaughter house, the herder takes that one out. By then, all the other sheep have followed the trained sheep to the slaughter house. The herders don’t even have to work to herd the sheep. The sheep are natural followers.

This is the reason why sometimes the shepherd has to break the legs of a sheep that wanders off. That one sheep will lead all the other sheep away.

Sheep are defenseless, helpless, mean-spirited, stubborn, selfish, stupid, and inherent followers.

Now do you understand why the bible refers to us sheep?

There is absolutely no reason why the shepherd should love and care for the sheep. But the good shepherd does.

There is no good reason why God should love and care for us. But God does.

Why?

For his name’s sake. That’s what our psalm tells us.

God not only cares for us, but he guides along right paths for his name’s sake.

Thanks be to God..

“He refreshes my soul” (Psalm 23:3).

Owning a house is not the same thing as having a home.

It’s quite possible to sleep and still get no rest.

Someone can have lots of money and still not be rich.

A home, rest, being rich are things money can’t buy.

Because the LORD is our shepherd, he provides us with everything we need for an abundant life. He gives us the security we need to find rest, and he leads us to quiet waters to refresh us.

The Hebrew word for “refresh” is shub. The “b” is pronounced as a “v” – Shoove. This word literally means to restore, to turn back, to return.

You see, the peace we lack is something that has been stolen from us. God created us in shalom – peace. God provided everything we need for an abundant life, everything for shalom, everything for peace. But sin wrecked all that. Sin stole that peace from us.

What God promises in this beloved psalm is to return, restore God’s shalom, God’s peace, God’s abundant life.

One more thing about the Hebrew: this verb is written in the imperfect tense. What that means is that the action described in the verse is incomplete, it is on-going.

God not only restores, refreshes, returns the peace and the shalom of God, but God continues to do so. You see, we leak peace and shalom. We’re not very good at keeping peace and shalom. So, God continues to restore, continues to return, continues to give us his peace and shalom. It’s there for the taking. But you must choose God’s shalom and peace. You have to make time to encounter God’s presence.

Just as we leak peace and shalom, we are prone to miss God’s peace and shalom. Even though it may be staring us right in the face, unless we are actively looking for God, we will miss God’s peace and shalom.

Take the time to seek God’s presence. God’s peace is there for the taking. But you must choose it.