Day 24 – I Walk
The Shepherd is no longer someone David is talking about. He is Someone David is talking to:
Day 24 – I Walk
Psalm 23:4 — “…though I walk through the valley…”
Walk—Is there any word that better characterizes the life of the believer?
The Hebrew word halak means “to walk,” but it also describes much more than that. It refers to the pattern of life—how we live, where we go and with whom. God tells us repeatedly to walk “in His ways”, “in obedience and “with Him”.
It suggests progress. A person who is walking hasn’t given up or become paralyzed by fear. He continues moving forward, one step at a time.
That’s how God gets us through dark times.
So many times I wished that He would remove the valley! Instead, He gave me the strength to take another step. Then another. Then another.
The Christian walk has never been measured by how fast we go but by whom we follow.
There’s a subtle change in this verse that we overlook. In verses 1-3, David writes about God and what God is doing.
He makes...
He leads...
He restores...
He guides...
But as soon as he enters the valley, something changes. Suddenly David becomes the subject.
“Even though I walk through the valley…”
The Shepherd is no longer someone David is talking about. He is Someone David is talking to: “You are with me.”
Isn’t that your experience? In the green pastures, we enjoy God. We study His Word and sing His praises. But when things get dark, our walk suddenly becomes intensely personal.
Theology becomes prayer. Knowledge becomes hope.
We stop talking about the Shepherd and begin talking to Him.
The valleys have a way of drawing us closer to the Shepherd than the mountaintops ever could. A child walking through an airport might run ahead of his parents, but when he finds himself in a crowd, he instinctively reaches for his parent’s hand.
Difficult places shouldn’t push us away from God. They should draw us to Him. God uses the valleys to build a closeness that the mountaintops rarely produce.
Are you going through a valley that God is asking you to walk with Him? Don’t underestimate the value of the next step. He is building your trust. As you walk with Him, you will learn that the blessing of the dark valley is knowing the Shepherd more intimately than you ever did before.
