Articles
Even Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I Fear No Evil, For You Are With Me
The nightingale has been evoked by famous poets for hundreds of years. Its song is spontaneous and it is creative. But more than that, when the hustle and bustle of nature dies down as the evening approaches, the nightingale can be heard singing its sweet sound. In truth, the nightingale sings its sweetest when the night is at its darkest.
Sheep herders from Basque country actually describe a Valley of the Shadow of Death in Palestine. This valley leads from Jerusalem all the way to the Dead Sea. It is a very narrow and dangerous mountain range pathway. A sheep being led through this rough path is always in danger of falling to its death at any moment. But though it is a forbidding journey for anyone to take, the sheep are not afraid. The shepherd is there.
The “valley of the shadow” is more than the actual experience of physical death. It essentially refers to the gloom and doom of life. It is every tough and terrifying experience, every bitter disappointment, and every moment of loneliness and despair. It is the path Abraham took to Mt. Moriah where he would offer his son Isaac. It is the journey that led Elijah to the juniper tree. It is the prayer of Jehoshaphat as the Ammonites and Meunites stood on his doorstep. Whatever our unique experience may be, one thing is common in them all: we must pass through it.
And so when we find ourselves in the “valley of the shadow”, it would greatly benefit us to go off to a place of solitude and watch and pray. It is here that we will hear the sweet song of the nightingale, not of the feathery variety, but of the God variety. His presence is there. He hears our prayer. He encourages us and strengthens us in ways we cannot quantify. His help may be a ram caught in the thicket by its horns (Gen 22:13); or perhaps it is in a gentle blowing of a voice (1 Kings 19:12-13); or perhaps we need not even fight the battle (2 Chron 20:17). Whatever it is, we overcome because “You are with me.”
