I
recently realized I'd gotten into a bad habit of not bothering to look up Scripture refer-
ences I come across in my reading. If you've read a lot of Scripture in your life, that
may be true for you, too. Until the Holy Spirit made me aware of it, I reasoned that "l
probably knew what it said, so why look it up?"
Why? Well, for one thing, I may not know what it says, or whether it fits the use the
author put it to. It's not wise to take for granted that an author is using a verse or passage
correctly.
Besides, as I know full well, when I re�read a familiar passage I find new inspiration
from it more times than not. Looking up a reference gives the Holy Spirit a chance to
speak to me afresh.
So there I was, nose in a Christian book, trying to establish this good habit, when what
Scripture did the author want me to read? Psalm 23:4�6! Pu leeze! I know the whole
Psalm by heart (sometimes accurately). I wavered. I recited verses 4�6 out loud. Then I
opened my Bible to it anyway. Go ahead, look it up yourself. Now.
Starting at verse 4, instead of verse 1, made me newly aware of a connection between
"the valley of the shadow of death" and "in the midst of my enemies." Sometimes the
shadow of death does apply to the actual dying process. Believers take great comfort in
knowing that, even as they are about to pass from earthly existence, the Good Shepherd
is right there with them.
The New English Bible renders "valley of the shadow of death" as "a valley dark as
death." I have been in that dark valley; perhaps you have too. It is a place of deep sad-
ness, a pit of gloom. There our enemies surround us and they are not always physical or
spiritual foes. The enemies I'm more familiar with are fear, depression, loneliness, and
such perspectives as negativity, suspicion and arrogance, which distort our vision and
destroy relationships.
Still, in that valley, felt or not, God is pre-
sent. And right in the midst of the enemies
camped around us, God spreads a table
before us. God provides for our needs. And
more! We are anointed with "oil," a symbol
of blessing and healing, of God's loving
touch.
The valleys come to an end, but "good-
ness and mercy" do not. They come from
God's hand as long as our life goes on. And
even then, the glorious promise: "I shall
dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
I'm so glad I read Psalm 23 again.
Dolores Klinsky Walker lives in Walla Walla, WA.
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THE WAR CRY/MARCH 17, 2012
Psalm 23
Again?
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