If Psalm 23 is the most famous Psalm, verse 4 of that Psalm is perhaps quoted more than any other verse. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

I have walked through some very hard times in my life. One of the hardest was a hospital stay of 45 days, 30 of which were in the Intensive Care Unit and on a ventilator. The list of complications was long including MRSA pneumonia, multiple system failure, a failed mitral valve in my heart, heart rates of 200 plus beats per minute, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome where you literally start to drown in your own fluids and I could go on. Hard, tough times are part of our lot in life. In fact, in the aftermath of that event which took me more than a year to recover from, I wrote a book called, When Life Comes Undone, walking by faith when life is hard and hope is scarce.

Think of those times in your life when life came undone, when life was hard and hope was scarce. I call these tsunami shifts in our lives when we realize life will never be the same. These are real and they test our faith. Notice that David acknowledges that we will face these times. He says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. It will happen, he says, but it does not need to be a place where we surrender to fear. Because you are with me. We never walk through tough times alone as Christians. The Good Shepherd is always there as our unseen but present guest. We are never alone. Ever.

One year after I was discharged from the hospital I was admitted to another. This time in Thailand with virtually the same issues. But this time I was awake on a ventilator knowing my odds were small of surviving. The one thing I could ask of God was that He would be with me and as I meditated and prayed for his presence He gave me a deep peace even if I did not survive. It would be fourteen days where every hour seemed like 24 hours but He was there with me the whole time.

David goes on to say, “your rod and your staff, they comfort me ” in these times of trouble. The rod and staff are one and the same. On one end, the walking stick end, the shepherd can defend the sheep from wild animals as well as prod the sheep in a certain direction. The other end of the rod has a staff which is a rounded portion that extends the reach of the shepherd to rescue a sheep that is in trouble. He can even lift it out of a crevice by its neck in the staff. In other words, the watchcare of the shepherd in the moments when life is hard and hope is scarce gives us confidence and hope that He will be and is with us. Our Shepherd is not a passive onlooker but there to help and protect and care for us. We are never alone. That, says David, comforts me. And it should us.

Father, thank you that we are never alone. No matter how dire our circumstances may seem, you are there with us and will protect and comfort us. Even today with the issues I face, I ask for your protection, presence and peace. Amen.