The God of the Valley

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me" (Psalm 23:4). Notice what changes in the valley. On the green pastures, David talks about the Shepherd — "He maketh me, He leadeth me." In the valley, he talks to Him — "Thou art with me." The valley turns theology into intimacy.

In 1 Kings 20, the Arameans concluded that Israel's God was a god of the hills but not of the valleys. They were wrong, and God proved it on the plain. Beloved, our God is not a fair-weather deity, powerful on the summit and absent in the pit. He specialises in valleys.

The table is not set after the valley. It is prepared "in the presence of mine enemies" — right in the middle of it.

Are you walking through a shadowed place? Shadows require a light source — and the shadow of death cannot fall on you unless the light of His face is shining behind you. Fear not. The Shepherd's rod beats back the wolves; His staff pulls back the wandering sheep. You are attended in the valley, not abandoned in it.