Dark Valleys
Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me.
Psalm 23:4, CSB
The valley was truly dark and deep you know, the valley of Jacob’s mourning for his favorite son Joseph. The brothers had deliberately done the dastardly deed of dipping Joseph’s multi-colored robe in the blood of a slaughtered goat and taken it to their father, letting him think Joseph was dead. Meanwhile they had sold him to some Midian merchants for a meager twenty shekels of silver—the price of a slave (Genesis 37:26-35).
King David was no stranger to those darkest valleys when he wrote the 23rd Psalm. Yet, in the midst of such darkness he did not live in fear of danger. For you are with me—what could be more comforting than the presence of the LORD.
Years before King David the LORD was with Joseph and he prospered in the dark valleys of Egypt—in Potipher’s house, in the prison, in Pharoah’s palace (Genesis 39-41).
If you have ever been engulfed by total darkness, its physical oppression is overwhelming. When the blackout of 1965 occurred in the northeastern United States and Canada, I was on my way home from work in Toronto. Fortunately I had a ride that evening as the subways and streetcars were at a standstill. And thank goodness good Samaritans were at the intersections keeping the traffic moving as the stoplights were not working. When I reached our apartment building the elevator was at a standstill, of course. I have never experienced such total blackness as in that stairwell on my way up to our 4th floor apartment. How many floors, how many turns did that stairwell make between floors, counting, counting, a right or a left at my floor?
Even more intense are the blackouts of our emotional lives. Where to turn; how long will this last; I want some light.
Unless we have the LORD with us, that is. With Him there is nothing to fear! The darkness will not overwhelm us. He becomes our light: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness” (John 8:12).
Nancy P
All Scripture quotations are from the NIV Translation 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted
