In the Lord I Take Refuge: 31 Days in the PsalmsSample

This is perhaps the most famous poem in the history of the world. And justly so. It is a deep consolation for the people of God.

This psalm tells us that life with God means we have no lack (v. 1). A life walking with him is like “green pastures” and “still waters” (v. 2). But notice that David does not claim this about God when life is easy. This is how God cares for us when we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (v. 4). How can this be? How can life be green pastures and still waters in the enveloping fog of deep fears or bitter disappointment? In a sadness that refuses to lift, a habitual sin in which you feel trapped, a rejection by one you loved, or a deep sense that you keep disappointing God? The psalm tells us: “You are with me” (v. 4). Period.

Would you rather have the mountaintop experience without God or the dark valley with him?

How does the presence of God actually help me when I am in darkness? In this way: We know that Jesus Christ walked through the ultimate valley of the shadow of death, the darkness of condemnation and hell—a fate that should have landed on us. The result is that in our temporary dark valleys, we can know that despite our sins and failure, God will bring us, in full moral integrity, to be with him forever—where we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, where all the mess and darkness of our little lives will be found to have worked backward to make us more resplendent and happy than we otherwise could have been.