By 
Where do you start to speak about this crazy year of 2020? Who knew at Christmas of 2019 that within a couple of months the Wuhan flu would become the pandemic that changed the world? Certainly, fear and panic were the name of the game for the first few weeks. We thought we were all going to die—alone, entrapped, forgotten, untended. We were literally walking through the shadow of death. During these kinds of trials, the 23rd Psalm comes to mind and meditation becomes my prescription for the day.
The first phrase of the fourth verse of Psalm 23 resonated with the times and provoked my thinking: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Taking each word into consideration clarified for me the solutions to contemplate.
First, the poet alerts the reader with the one word: Yea. “Pay attention!” he is saying. “What I am about to assert is important.” He continues with the word though, implying that in spite of the circumstances that surround and endanger him, even though all is not well, he need not panic nor flee.
I, not we, is the subject of this determination. The psalmist is not pledging a nation or a tribe or a family group to an action, but himself. He is indicating a personal relationship to the One he is describing that supersedes all other connections. Everything he sets out to do expresses trust and obedience in the Shepherd of whom he speaks.
The next key word is walk. I was struck with the calmness of this action. There is no fear or rashness in just walking. It is forward movement that is deliberate and sure footed. It shows confidence and courage. In combination with the word through, it expresses hope for the future and an expected light at the end of the tunnel.
We have all faced valleys in our lives. Perhaps the best lesson we have learned is that there is usually a river in its depths with waters that revive. Because we are walking, not running—seeing with observant eyes—we find, drink, and are refreshed. The psalmist does not deny that the valley of the shadow is a low place full of potential harm; but it is a shadow, not the real thing. Shadows are but vapors and mist, air that is gloomy and bereft of light.
Death itself is a real thing and its portent hangs over man from his first breath to his last. We fear death, even though we have been assured from the first text of Scripture to the last that Jehovah is Lord of all. This Covid-19 Pandemic has brought the lurking menace of death into focus and its presence seems more ominous than ever. Perhaps that very fact will turn our hearts to our Shepherd and Lord whose presence in our lives provides protection, provision, and peace. We can walk. We can do it without fear. We can find joy in the Lord’s Table and His blessings. We can be assured that we will dwell in His house forever even as we walk through dark days.
The LORD Is my shepherd; I shall not want…
Linda Williamson
Linda Williamson is a long time Womenary student and a recent board member. She has a passion for the Word of God, both to learn it and to teach others to love it. She has taught a Sunday School Class at Colonial Hills Baptist Church for twenty years, worked in the BSF school program five years and prior to moving to Tyler, enjoyed being a Precept Bible Study Leader. Womenary is her Seminary. She is grateful for the opportunity to take advantage of theology classes conveniently located and reasonably priced. It is her heart’s desire as a teacher to “accurately handle the word of truth…”. (1 Tim. 2:15) 
