Psalm 23:4 is a verse known by almost every Chrisitan. It beautifully says, in the King James Version of Scripture … “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

I was almost asleep. (I’m writing at 1:33 in the morning, an hour past midnight.) Yet somehow the Holy Spirit had my mind trained or focused on this short Passage.

Here’s when the following thought seized my heart …

It does not say “IF I walk thought the valley …!

It does not even say “PERHAPS” I’ll walk through the valley …!

It certainly does not say anything about “AVOIDING” the valleys of life as well! (As the Prosperity Gospel advocates would tell us.)

No, no, no!

It says “THOUGH” I walk through eh valley …!

The word is a conjunction! (Hence the Lesson’s Title!)

“THOUGH,” spelled “KIY” (pronounced “KEE” in English) does not carry the idea of conditionality!

My point … it’s not “IF” I go through those valleys … it is “THOUGH” (as “WHEN”) I go through the valley!

Yes, the valley is coming!

In each of our lives!

So … one point of this great verse is that though the valley is unavoidable … I WILL NOT ENTER IT ALONE! Back to our Text … “FOR THOU (MY SHEPHERD) ART WITH ME!”

He, my dear Saviour, is (a new term for me anyway) a Valley Walker!

A “FEAR” Remover! (“I WILL FEAR NO EVIL.”)

He is also a “COMFORTER” in those dark (“SHADOWY”) days! With His “Rod” and “Staff!”

Wow!

I guess we need some valleys … in order to experience His Guiding Presence!

And if so … Jesus (in His Greatest Valley) taught us how to pray … “FATHER, THY WILL BE DONE!” Matthew 26:42.

Yes, spiritual boot camp!

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

Think about it a while.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Oh, the nuggets of Truth in Psalm 23!

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