In one of the greatest hymns of all literature that of The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23), familiar to most of us from childhood days, We read these words: "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^ In Revised Version an arresting alternative reading is given to the phrase "he valley of {he shadow of death" which is rendered: "the valley of deep darkness" or "the en of gloom," and there is no doubt that this is the rore accurate translation. The—rendering "valley of the shadow of death," unduly narrows and restricts the meaning. Death is not the only "valley of deep darkness" into which we are led as we pass through life, and it is noe necessarily the gloomiest There are many other valleys of gloom, as, for instance. sickness and business anxieties and loss of friends. And what the Psalmist 15 saying 15 not simply that he will.not fear when death comes, but that he will not fear when he is called upon fo enter eny 'Wen of gloom' that may have to be traversed in the course of life's journey.
The picture is that of a shepherd leading nis sheep through some dark and sunless rave me, and the sheep following quite unafraid, because of their confidence in the shepherd. who, with his rod—his club to ward off attacks Of wild beasts-hanging at his side, and. his staff, for the guidance and help of his sheep. actually in his hands made himself responsible for their safety. In exactly the sam wav the Psalmist declares that he will be afraid of no valley of darkness through which he may be led, because he is absolutely sure of the guidance and protection of God. "Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy stáff they comfort me.
The Psalmist is writing of his own experience. He had passed through many a glen of deep gleans rana yet looking back he is con. Scious that in those "valleys of deep darkness" God was with him, guiding and protecting him. When he came to "he valley of the shadow oѓ death" he would face it without fear, knowing that God would be with him still to keep and to sustain. The major part of one's life is an affair of "green pastures" and "still waters" but it would be foolish to pretend that life is nothing but sunshine and song. Sorrow and trouble and pain and care come to all of us and they are very real things. Sooner or later we find ourselves in the glen of deep loom. It may be the valley of sickness when {he sunshine becomes a storm and the song becomes a sigh. It may be the valley of busi-hess anxiety when the blue skies turn to black ena brightness turns to darkness, the uplands, e "green pastures" "the still waters" are hidden from sight We are all in "the valley of deep darkness" just now. Today the world in which we live is rocking beneath our feet, and we do not know what is going to happen. And sore of you have experienced heavy and heart-breaking sorrows. Your nearest and best have been taken from" you: vou have lost the light of your life, the desire of your eyes. A few days ago some of us stood by the graveside of a dear friend and when we heard héart-broken sobs the warmth of the sun seemed to grow cold and the. day to turn dark.
The assurance of the Psalmist is that we need not fear any of these "valleys of deep darkness"—at least we need not fear that any evil will befall us. The psalm does not say that sickness and sorrow and death are not fearful things—they are; but it does say that God will lift us above our fear and make us Guite sure that these things can work us no harm. The Bible does assure us that whether it be the valley of sickness or business anxiety, or the passing of a loved one, or a world war. God will be with us, His rod and His staff will comfort us. In God's keeping men need fear no evil.
When Shackleton and his comrades were fighting their slow, hard way across that frozen land, chilled to the very soul, with heads bowed against the icy blizzards, with weak and stumbling feet, and half dead with fatigue, they came through, so later they confessed to one another, though at the time they said no word of it, only because each of them felt that "Some One else was there more than they could see." We, too, have come through so far because always there has been Some One else beside us, more than we could see. And so it will be during the coming days for wherever and whenever men deeply need the succour of His presence, He is near. LIB is a presence not localized, it transcends the limits of space, and is known, not by physical contact, but in spiritual fellowsbíp. Francis Thompson was aware of this when he wrote:
Yca. in the bight, my Soul my daughter Cry—clinzing Heaven by the hems And lo, Christ walking om the water Not of Genesareth but Thames!
God in Christ walks with us through all "the valleys of deep darkness" we will not fear.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.