Psalm 23:1-6
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;e
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Psalm 23:1-6 KJV
As a child, I recited Palms 23 every day like a nursery school rhyme without any understanding of the actual meaning of the words and how important it is to my life and destiny. I’m sure like me, you may have recited the words in this bible verse without understanding too, however for this article we will focus on verse 4 which says “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.”
The Book of Palms is King David’s love letter to God, it was David’s special way of communicating his worries, hopes, pains and joy to God. we have access to David’s most intimate moments with God because the spirit of God knew that you my dear reader will need these words of encouragement in life just as an assurance that you are never alone on your journey to destiny and you always have a shepherd that watches over you.
On the journey to destiny, you will come across “The valley of the shadow of death”, this valley is a valley of hopelessness, darkness, and despair, nothing lives in this valley, most of you if not all of you my dear readers know what I’m talking about. The valley where nothing seems to be going right, where you’re struggling to make ends meet, where you’re frustrated, in pain and everyone around you seems to be betraying you, yeah “that valley”. If you’re in that valley right now, I have good news for you; FEAR NO EVIL. I need you to understand that this valley is a very necessary part of your evolution, growth and destiny, This valley is the defining moment that leads you to the table that has been prepared for you, this valley leads you to your overflowing cup where Goodness to and mercies shall follow you all the days of your life.
Stay with me, I understand that being in that valley might make you feel like you’ll be there forever but the great thing about the valley is that you are walking through it, you are not sitting in it or standing in it, you are walking, you are only passing through and if you’ve ever passed through any forest you know that leaves will touch you, insects and bugs might jump on you, you might hear scary animals and most likely be attacked by one but your assurance is that you are getting out of the forest. It’s the same thing with the valley of the shadow of death, shadows can’t hurt you, they appear scary but they are as light as air and cannot do any physical harm to you, shadows only exist in the night and as soon as the sun comes up, shadows disappear and everything is gone like it never happened.
If you’re reading this and you are in your season of the valley of the shadow of death, I want to encourage you like David encouraged himself, FEAR NO EVIL. The rod and the staff of the lord are his guidance, correction and protection which is your comfort and your haven, so have nothing to fear cause God is with you.
Remember, my amazing readers, You are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, so keep moving, no matter what you hear, no matter what you see, keep moving, your table has been prepared and it’s waiting for you.
Love always,
Uduakabasi
