The Valley

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . . 

The 23rd Psalm is one of the most beloved in Scripture. It's like the Lord's Prayer of the Old Testament. People can recite it by memory (I can't, but I should).

It is more words of encouragement for people that struggle, predictably, for the simple crime of trusting and acting upon God's Word.

For whatever reason, the world hates love, charity, compassion, healing, clothing, shelter. These are the chief qualities in things that God values. These special protections are wrapped up in on God's plan and word for us.

I love how unbelievers like to present themselves as being supreme, even superior, in their level of charity and compassion.

But the world hates, even more, these features that should go along with the acts of kindness listed above:

Frugality, simplicity, stewardship, service, humility, grace, and (here it comes) . . . purity.

There it is. Those troublesome concepts. But look at them closer and you will see a common thread: selflessness. This is the cord that ties it all together. What puts "love" in the same category as "purity"? The highest form of each - godly love, and godly purity. And in both cases, there is not a hint of self-interest. 

That's why our modern generation has the word "love" itself, so screwed up. It explains how someone can, out of one side of their mouth, with a giddy wide-eyed grin, proclaim "Love wins" (it does), but out of the other side: hurl a plethora of vulgarities and insults at the person that dares disagree in any way.  

Because that is not love. 

We were contemplating what that might be like, in our lives: "Walking through the valley of the shadow of death."

In my youth, it meant being paraded through a horde of soviet communists, just prior to torture and being sent to to a work camp. But it is changing to something much more horrible today: People that we have always known and loved, and that should love us, are turning on us and wishing the most horrible things upon us.

But do not fear. God sets a table for us. The low point of the 23rd Psalm is the Valley of Death part. But the overall arc of the passage, is of God spreading out the red carpet for us, welcoming us into His home, providing ultimate and permanent protection and it's benefits: Peace, love, joy, and justice. Forever.