Where are thy merry companions, I say again? All fled? Where are thy darling pleasures? Have all forsaken thee? Why shouldest thou be dejected; there's a poor man in rags that's smiling? What's the matter?
There's a question with all my heart, to ask a man that must appear before God tomorrow morning. Well, then, it seems your heart misgives you. What then did you mean of talk of joys and pleasures? Are they all come to this?
Why, there stands one that now hath his heart as full of comfort as ever it can hold, and the very thoughts of eternity, which do so daunt your soul, raise his! And would you know the reason?
He knows he is going to his Friend; nay, his Friend bears him company through that dirty lane. Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for God and the soul to dwell together in unity! This it is to have God for a friend. James Janeway.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Any darkness is evil, but darkness and the shadow of death is the utmost of evils. David put the worst of his case and the best of his faith when he said, Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; that is, in the greatest evil I will fear no evil Again, to be under the shadow of a thing, is to be under the power of a thing Thus to be under the shadow of death, is to be so under the power or reach of death, that death may take a man and seize upon him when it pleaseth.
Valley of the shadow of death. A valley is a low place, with mountains on either side. Enemies may be posted on those mountains to shoot their arrows at the traveller, as ever was the case in the East; but he must pass through it. The psalmist, however, said he would fear no evil, not even the fiery darts of Satan, for the Lord was with him.
The figure is not primarily, as is sometimes supposed, our dying moments, though it will beautifully bear that explanation; but it is the valley beset with enemies, posted on the hills.
David was not only protected in that valley, but even in the presence of those enemies, his table was bountifully spread Psalms The Bedouin, at the present day often post themselves on the hills to harass travellers, as they pass along the valleys.
John Gadsby. It hath been an ancient proverb, when a man had done some great matter, he was said to have "plucked a lion by the beard;" when a lion is dead, even to little children it hath been an easy matter.
As boys, when they see a bear, a lion, or a wolf dead in the streets, they will pull off their hair, insult over them, and deal with them as they please; they will trample upon their bodies, and do that unto them being dead, which they durst not in the least measure venture upon whilst they are alive.
Such a thing is death, a furious beast, a ramping lion, a devouring wolf, the helluo generis humani eater up of mankind , yet Christ hath laid him at his length, hath been the death of death, so that God's children triumph over him, such as those refined ones in the ore of the church, those martyrs of the primitive times, who cheerfully offered themselves to the fire, and to the sword, and to all the violence of this hungry beast; and have played upon him, scorned and derided him, by the faith that they had in the life of Christ, who hath subdued him to himself.
Martin Day, Thou art with me. Do you know the sweetness, the security, the strength of "Thou art with me"? When anticipating the solemn hour of death, when the soul is ready to halt and ask, How shall it then be? Can you say, "O death, where is thy sting"? It is said, when a bee has left its sting in any one, it has no more power to hurt. Death has left its sting in the humanity of Christ, and has no more power to harm his child. Christ's victory over the grave is his people's.
He has carried over so many depths, that I know his arm to be the arm of love. How can it be dark to come in contact with the light of life? It is his rod, his staff; therefore they comfort. Prove him -- prove him now, believer! And so, David says that as God leads him in right paths, sometimes those paths create an occasion to fear. Sometimes those paths lead through deathly-dark valleys. The right paths can feel wrong because of this kind of danger.
But in these dark valleys, God our shepherd provides protection. He fears no danger. There is danger. His rod and his staff are there for us. A shepherd uses his rod with the crook at the end to pull a sheep out of pits. The word occurs besides only in the following places, in all of which it is rendered "shadow of death:" Job ; Job ; Job ; Job twice ; Job ; Job ; Job ; Psalm ; Psalm , Psalm ; Jeremiah ; Jeremiah ; Amos The idea is that of death casting his gloomy shadow over that valley - the valley of the dead.
Hence, the word is applicable to any path of gloom or sadness; any scene of trouble or sorrow; any dark and dangerous way. Thus understood, it is applicable not merely to death itself - though it embraces that - but to any or all the dark, the dangerous, and the gloomy paths which we tread in life: to ways of sadness, solitude, and sorrow.
All along those paths God will be a safe and certain guide. I will fear no evil - Dark, cheerless, dismal as it seems, I will dread nothing. The true friend of God has nothing to fear in that dark valley. His great Shepherd will accompany him there, and can lead him safely through, however dark it may appear. The true believer has nothing to fear in the most gloomy scenes of life; he has nothing to fear in the valley of death; he has nothing to fear in the grave; he has nothing to fear in the world beyond.
For thou art with me - Thou wilt be with me. Though invisible, thou wilt attend me. I shall not go alone; I shall not be alone. The psalmist felt assured that if God was with him he had nothing to dread there.
God would be his companion, his comforter, his protector, his guide. How applicable is this to death! The dying man seems to go into the dark valley alone. His friends accompany him as far as they can, and then they must give him the parting hand. They cheer him with their voice until he becomes deaf to all sounds; they cheer him with their looks until his eye becomes dim, and he can see no more; they cheer him with the fond embrace until he becomes insensible to every expression of earthly affection, and then he seems to be alone.
But the dying believer is not alone. His Saviour God is with him in that valley, and will never leave him. Upon His arm he can lean, and by His presence he will be comforted, until he emerges from the gloom into the bright world beyond.
All that is needful to dissipate the terrors of the valley of death is to be able to say, "Thou art with me. The image is that of a shepherd in attendance on his flock, with a staff on which he leans with one hand; in the other hand the "crook" or rod which was the symbol of his office.
Either of these also might be used to guard the flock, or to drive off the enemies of the flock. The "crook" is said see Rosenmuller, in loc. It is often bent or hooked at one end, which gave rise to the shepherd's crook in the hand of the Christian bishop. With this staff he rules and guides the flock to their green pastures, and defends them from their enemies. It is so powerful to me because of the metaphysical meaning. But I have wondered for years what this part of the passage means?
I am really struggling with feeling worthy of "Divine Abundance" and I would love to "play" with this :. The 23rd Psalm is certainly one of the best-known passages in all the Bible.
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