Darkest Valley and Deepest Intimacy

Last week I shared that God is doing a new thing in me. I am noticing an awakening in my soul. I don’t know exactly where God is leading, but I am following. I taught our online Bible study last week on Psalm 23, and I shared some of my learning with you here. We looked at the way God is a Shepherd to us, and we learned that God leads and provides for us because that is Who God is! This week we are getting a bit personal.

Verses 1-3 of Psalm 23 speak of God, Yahweh, the Shepherd, in third person. The psalmist is talking about God. Beginning in verse 4 though, the pronouns shift to first person. Let’s review the verse before we look deeper:

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I fear no evil;

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff—

they comfort me.

Why does it matter that the pronouns change in verse 4? It matters because it shows us the shift to a personal relationship. As the psalmist walks through the dark valley, he turns to God and finds God present and steady. Isn’t that what we need too? When we enter into a dark valley, we want a personal God who is attentive and steady and present to us. And that is exactly why the psalmist is expressing thanksgiving and trust. Instead of the cries for help that we see so often in the psalms, we see unwavering confidence in God’s care and God’s power to deliver. The psalmist’s problem is no longer front and center. He instead provides concrete testimony to answered prayer and to God’s trustworthiness.

The New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary related the idea that the theology we learn about God shifts into a deep relationship with God when we move through dark valleys. The author referred to the paradox that God’s care becomes known in suffering (page 316).

I will be honest. I have found that to be absolutely true. The times in my life when I have been in deep grieving and pain have been the very times when I found God to be most present. I thought at first it might be that God was all I had left - at least that is how I expressed it in the moment. But now I am not sure that really gets at it. In my most desperate moments of grief and suffering, I found God present in a way that I could not imagine before my great loss. God met me there and held me there and stayed steadfastly beside me there. I am not sure I would have been open and capable of experiencing God’s presence in the same way had I not been in deep darkness. I believe God gives a special grace to us when our suffering is deep and when we call on God in that suffering.

And then the psalmist states that he fears no evil - even though the darkness is deep and all-encompassing.

Verse 4 is the structural and theological center of this psalm. We hear the psalmist say that even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew words for evil (ra’) and shepherd (ra’ah) are very similar. The commentary related this as pitting evil and the shepherd against one another. The threat is real, but not to be feared because the Shepherd is enough.

And then the psalmist pivots to explain why he is not afraid in the midst of the darkest valley.

for you are with me

This is a personal and intimate statement. And it calls us to recount another advent word we are familiar with.

Emmanuel - God with us.

We can walk through the darkest valley that life throws at us and not be afraid because God is with us. Emmanuel is with us and among us.

Here is my testimony of that truth: All though my adult life, my most desperate fear was losing my husband. It is kind of hard to even say. I had a very real, crippling fear of being widowed. I’m not really sure that I’ve ever shared that in my story before. But I can remember moments of absolute terror as I struggled with the panic of being left alone as an adult. And then it happened - the very worst thing I could imagine came true.

And God was present.

I grieved deeply. My heart felt like it was shattered into a million pieces. The road has been long and painful and lonely. And also, God has been present with me in every moment. Both are true. God being with us doesn’t remove the pain or the fear or the grief, or even the long agonizing road we walk through those dark valleys. But God is present with us. The Shepherd who leads us is Emmanuel, God with us.

Next week, we will look at the big wide table God has set for us and we will learn more about God’s character. Until then, remember that wherever you find yourself right now, God is with you.