Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 AMPC
In times of uncertainty what helps to comfort and strengthen our hearts is to know that we are not alone. In this passage, Jesus is reminding us that even when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, there is nothing to fear because HE IS WITH YOU and He is leading you through it. Very important to know that in this verse it says that you walking through the valley of death, you not camping and staying there. As we learned in Psalm 23:1 he wants to lead and guide us out of our circumstances and problems and that he doesn't want us to stay there. Also a shadow speaks of something that isn't the real thing, which means the shadow of death is just trying to intimidate you, but Jesus said you have nothing to fear because He is always with you. Another awesome reminder for us is that Jesus also represents our light and light is stronger than darkness and darkness does not overcome light(John 1:5), so wherever we go we bring light into that dark places or into the valley's of the shadow of death. Darkness disappears where light is.
Jesus also shows us again in this passage that He wants to protect and comfort our hearts and lives, and he also shows us how He does it. He says your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me. A shepherd uses His rod and staff to protect His sheep from danger but at the same time to lead a guide them in the right path.Jesus's rod and staff (that it talks about in this verse) represents God's Word, His Word is The Bible. This means He will use God's Word to comfort and to protect our hearts and our lives. Very important God's word should always bring comfort to our hearts not fear. So now we can see that, if Jesus is light and He leads us by His Word, that means the words He speaks to us is light that causes darkness to leave. So His Word will set you free from fear, anxiety, depression, inferiority, and it will show you the power you have, how loved you are and restore to you a sound mind(see 2 Timothy 1:7).
Meditate on this today
I don't have to fear anything because, Jesus my Shepherd is with me, leading me, protecting me, and comforting me through His Word.
Because Jesus is in me and with me and He is The Light, I have already overcome the darkness.
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