Psalm 23 is probably one of the most quoted passages of the Bible.
The LORD is our shepherd, and we love how He leads us on green pastures, the image of tranquillity, the peace, the overflow, the goodness.
Somehow, those are the pictures I associate with Psalm 23.
But actually, the middle part of this psalm is not so warm and fuzzy.
The middle part, in fact, is quite challenging.
“He restores my soul. He leads me on paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:3-4)
In other words: we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
The psalmist doesn’t doubt that. He simply states it as a fact.
I always thought that this means we will walk through hard seasons of circumstances beyond our control: sickness, the death of a loved one, betrayal, … things like that.
And most likely, that is also included in the list.
But it has never occurred to me that sometimes, the Good Shepherd will lead through a valley of death to lead us unto greener pastures on the other side. It never occurred to me that there are things that may need to die in my life so that I can be brought unto greener pastures, and that it is His very rod that leads me there.
Until I experienced it.
It’s what is sometimes called a season of pruning, of cutting off branches that no longer bear fruit, or that may even prevent the vine from bearing fruit, or at least more fruit.
Pruning is not fun, it’s incredibly painful. Pruning means that there are parts in you that need to be cut off, to die, and death is always painful.
And most likely, the things that need to die are not things that are just kind of hanging unto the fringes of our lives. Sometimes, branches are like that: already partially broken off, just kind of hanging onto the tree. Those are easy to tear off, and it’s not very painful to do.
Then there are the small branches, those that with a tiny little twist, you can tear them off. It may sting a little, but not for long, and it will quickly be forgotten.
But then there are also branches that are big, old, fully engraved into us, deeply a part of us.
And sometimes, those need to be pruned, and cutting them off can look or feel like we are cutting off half the vine.
It may seem like we have to cut off half of us, or at least a big part. It may feel like there is not much left, and it can leave us scrambling because branches we usually hold on to are no longer there.
And it’s that kind of pruning I am talking about, that kind of death that is painful, often slow to come, and that can almost feel like we are dying.
Because in reality, part of us is dying.
It needs to die.
And we find ourselves in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death.
But the Good Shepherd leads us through it because He knows that on the other side of that valley, there are even greener pastures, fresher herbs, cleaner water. And more beautiful flowers, flowers we may not yet know.
And so He starts the long, difficult walk down into the valley, right ahead of us.
He never leaves us, but the Good Shepherd walks ahead. His rod and staff comfort us. He is right there with us.
He doesn’t just send us ahead, as lonely sheep, hoping we will find the way on our own. Sometimes it may feel like that, because sometimes, on those difficult roads, we choose to look at the rocks more than the Shepherd, and we lose sight of Him.
But no – He walks through the valley with us. He knows the valley well, because even long before He chose to lead us through it, He chose to walk through it Himself. All alone.
He chose the valley of the shadow of death, quite literally, and has tasted death itself.
He knows all the ups and downs of that valley. He knows its paths, the dangers, the rocks that may make you stumble, and He knows the shadows. And with his very own light, he lights them all up and he will guide us right through it and unto paths of righteousness.
And in all the dying, all the pain, all the pruning, all the confusion and the tears: He comforts us. This is what the psalmist knows. That is what I know.
And this is His promise: no matter what we go through, even if it feels like a whole part of us is dying, cut off, gone, and not much of us is left … He restores our soul. And He will lead us on paths of righteousness, unto green pastures, to still, safe waters. He will prepare a table in front of our enemy, anoint our head with oil and make our cup overflow.
If we led him. If we follow Him even in the valley of the shadow of death, and lift our eyes to Him, we will not get lost. And even if we do, He will always come and find the one that gets lost.
As long as we follow the Good Shepherd, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives. And we will live in His house forever. (Psalm 23:6)
