The Faithful in the Valley

The Faithful in the Valley

Elisabeth Elliot, whose husband Jim was killed by the Auca (Huaorani) tribe in Ecuador in 1956, described her decision to go to the tribe that had killed her husband with their daughter. She did not understand what God was doing. She went anyway. She described the experience as 'walking through the darkest valley' — and finding, to her astonishment, that the Shepherd was there. Several of the men who killed Jim Elliot eventually became Christians. She wrote later: 'The valley was exactly as dark as I feared. But I was not alone in it. The rod and the staff were there. That was enough.'

Psalm 23:4's 'darkest valley' (tsalmaveth — shadow of death) is the most extreme pastoral image in the psalm. The shepherd leads the sheep into this valley — not around it. The sheep doesn't choose the route; the shepherd leads. The comfort is not the elimination of the valley but the Presence in it: 'for you are with me.' The rod and staff are instruments of care: the rod for protecting against predators, the staff for guiding the wandering sheep. The Presence is the comfort, and the Presence is equipped. Whatever valley you are walking through today, He is with you — equipped, attentive, present. You do not walk it alone.