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Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear
no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

The shadow that is cast from death can be thought of as sin. It is the
looming gloom that surrounds us as we walk towards its punishment. From
the moment we sin against God we are charged with the punishment of
death. Death is right in front of us and we are walking toward it in its blinding
shadow of sin. In this verse the writer (most likely David) references a valley.
With this metaphor we can think of death as a mountain that is lying at the
end of the valley and casting the shadow over the valley. This mountain of
death is unsurpassable by our own human efforts, and is the inevitable final
circumstance of humanity apart from God. It is in these circumstances that
the writer of the Psalm (most likely David) shows that he will have no fear.
The reason for this lack of fear is that God with His mercy chose to Have a
relationship with us and forgive us of our sins while we were still sinners. This
lack of fear shows bold confidence that despite the fact that we have been
overcome by sin in our lives, God has overcome that same sin. God chose to
forgive us regardless of our circumstances. The rod and the staff in this verse
are symbolic of God being our shepherd. The writer refers to himself
metaphorically in this verse as a sheep. We are all like His sheep and with
Him guiding us we are comforted. This shows complete faith and trust in God
and that He will lead us in the right direction. This shows that though we are
in the shadow of death God has come to rescue us and guide us with His
staff and rod back to Him. This verse was written long before the birth of

Christ but in doing so it shows the need for Him. There is a giant mountain of
death and a shadow of sin in our path standing between us and God. Jesus
came to provide a way of escape for all through His death and resurrection.
No amount of sin can keep us from God, but of the choice to deny Him of His
powerful mercy. It is not by works of righteousness that this mountain of
death can be defeated, but rather by the grace of God by the life, death and
resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We are powerless to do anything
to overcome the mountain, we are like sheep going out against wolves. We
can only accept Gods mercy by acknowledging Christ as our savior and
shepherd. We can only surrender our lives to the guidance of His staff and
rod. If we surrender our whole lives to Him, like a sheep to a shepherd, He
will guide us back to His presence. If we do not surrender our lives to Him, if
we live the way that we want to and do the things that we want to and refuse
to submit our lives to His guidance, then the only thing that lies before us is
the mountain that is death, and we will surely die. It is through surrendering
our lives to Christ that we find refuge and life. Surrendering requires no
longer living by our own will but rather submitting to Gods will. This requires
a deep self-sacrificing change of heart. Many people claim salvation with
their mouth and yet their hearts are far from Him. That is not salvation. If
you accept the gift of salvation from the Lord and submit to the guidance of
His staff and rod then you will be His sheep and receive His forgiveness. For
us to be His sheep, He has to be our shepherd.

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