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 road turns dark in this verse, yet the psalmist says he will not be afraid. Two questions follow: what is this valley, and why does one Person's presence take the fear out of it?
The valley as the character of the road
One writer reads the valley as the character of the whole journey, not as one hour at the end of life. He then names the one defence against fear.
The valley of the shadow of death is not so much passing through death, as the character of our pathway through this scene. We are passing through a judged world. Death hangs over it like a funeral cloth; and so to the believer, who enters into God's thoughts about it, it is the valley of the shadow of death. But what is his defence against fear? It is that "you are with me."
Another writer traces that shadow back to the death of Jesus:
This world is just the tomb of Jesus, and the more faithful we are to the Lord, the more the world will be to us the valley of the shadow of death. The shadow of His death lies on the fairest prospects that present themselves to us here.
Only passing through
The first reason for courage hides in one small word. The psalmist is not settling in the valley; he is crossing it.
First, he was only going "through" the valley. We do not fear a tunnel, because we know we will come out the other side. We are going "through," and on the other side is the bright sunshine. The valley indeed is dark, for over it is the shadow of death, but on the other side is the everlasting day — the morning without clouds.
Only a shadow
The second reason turns on the difference between a shadow and the thing that casts it. The Shepherd met the thing itself.
Second, we must not forget it is only the "shadow" of death. When the good Shepherd took His lonely way down into the dark valley of death, it was to bear the "substance" of death in all its terror, as the wages of sin. If the believer must go through the valley, he meets only the "shadow." The Shepherd has paid the penalty of death, and the sting of death is gone.
"You are with me" — the Shepherd who went alone
The third reason is the contrast between His journey and ours. He had no companion; we do.
When the good Shepherd took the way of the valley there was no man with Him… But if we pass that way we have company, and such company! The One who has already been through death's dark flood travels with us. No wonder we can say, "I will fear no evil, for YOU ARE WITH ME."
The psalm's wording shifts at this very point.
When the Psalmist comes to the valley of the shadow of death, he changes the pronoun. Up to this point he has been speaking about the Lord; now he speaks to Him, showing how near the Shepherd is to the sheep. He says "You."
The rod and the staff
The fourth reason is the Shepherd's equipment. It meets the two things a frightened sheep needs:
The rod is for defence, and the staff is for support. Does the enemy make a last attack upon the believer as he enters the valley of death? The believer need not fear, because the Lord is there with His rod to defend His sheep and drive the enemy off. Is the sheep afraid because he is weak in the face of death? He need not lose heart, because the Lord is there with His staff to hold him up.
Another speaker saw a wider range of meanings in the rod, but said the difference does not matter:
The rod may speak of power, or, as is generally supposed, of correction, while the staff is for support. But whether His power, His correction, or His support, all are for our "comfort" in difficult circumstances.
Obedience can lead into the valley
One speaker pointed to the three men thrown into the furnace in Babylon:
The path of righteousness led Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the valley of death. But the flames that surrounded them only untied their ropes and put them in the company of the Son of God. This matches the word that says: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned" (Isaiah 43:2).
What steadies the heart
The confidence of this verse rests on a Person, not on a supply of good things.
Its subject is "The LORD is my shepherd" — the constant, unfailing care He shows… It is not what He gives that assures the heart, but Himself… Does the soul go through the valley of the shadow of death? Does death cast its dark gloom over the spirit that must go down into its shade? He is there, greater than death, to guide and sustain.
Summary
- Through — you cross the valley, you do not live in it; like a tunnel, it has sunshine on the far side.
- Shadow — the Shepherd met the substance of death as the wages of sin, so His sheep meet only the shadow.
- You — at the darkest point the psalmist stops speaking about the Lord and starts speaking to Him.
- Rod and staff — the rod drives the enemy off, the staff holds the weak sheep up; both are there for the sheep's comfort.
- Himself — the assurance is not what He gives but the Shepherd Himself, greater than death, walking the valley with you.