The Shepherd Who Walks Me Through the Dark Valley

(from Psalm 23)

There was a boy named David,
out in the fields at night,
keeping watch over the sheep.

He knew what sheep were like,
how they wandered and worried,
how they could never find their own way home.

And David knew something else.
He knew that God was a Shepherd too,
and that David was one of his sheep.

So he sang.

The Lord is my Shepherd, he sang.
There is nothing, nothing I need.
He lays me down in soft green grass.
He leads me to the still, quiet water,
where I am not afraid to drink.

Sheep are easily frightened.
A little noise, a little dark,
and their hearts go fast.

But this Shepherd stays close.

When I am tired, he finds me.
When I wander off, he turns me back.
He walks me down the right paths,
because he is good,
and he loves me too much to lose me.

Then David sang the bravest part of all.

Even when I walk
through the valley of the deepest dark,
through the place where the shadows feel like death,
I will not be afraid.

Do you know why?

Because you are with me.
Not far away, but right beside me in the dark,
your shepherd's staff to guide me,
your shepherd's rod to keep me safe.
I can feel that you are there.

And David sang on, glad now,
because the Shepherd was not finished.

You set a table for me.
A feast! Right where my enemies can see.
You pour oil on my head like a king.
My cup is so full it spills over the sides.

Surely, surely,
your goodness and your mercy
will run after me
all the days of my life.

And I will live in the house of the Lord
forever and ever and ever.

That was David's song.
And hiding inside it was a promise
bigger than David knew.

David was a shepherd who became a king,
the same David who once begged God
to wash his heart new and clean.
And long after David,
the true Shepherd would come.
He would not stay safe on the green hill.
He would walk straight down
into the darkest valley of all,
the one even David was afraid of,
the valley of death itself.

His name is Jesus.

He is the Good Shepherd.
When the wolf comes for the sheep,
a good shepherd does not run.
He lays down his own life
so the sheep can live.

That is how much he loves you.
He would walk into the dark to find you,
and he would walk you through it,
all the way out into the morning.

So when you are afraid in the night,
when the shadows feel too big,
remember David's song.

There is a Shepherd who knows your name.
He is with you right now, in the dark,
his staff in his hand,
leading you home.

And at home he has set a table,
with a cup filled to spilling
and a seat saved just for you,
forever and ever and ever.