“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. (Psa. 23:44Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)). Many believers, it is feared, do not come to that valley, in the which the conscious presence of the Lord is realized and enjoyed, until death; but we should, and if we go on in daily communion with the Lord, we shall find this world to be the valley of the shadow of death. Nothing can affect our standing in Christ, thank God! not even our state of soul can ever affect our standing; but we ought to live according to our standing. May we be more like Christ and less earthly-minded! It is often only when a saint has to depart from earth that the world is given up. It is a glorious privilege, as well as a blessed responsibility, as saints of God, to be counting ourselves as we are in God’s sight dead with Christ; this would separate us from the world altogether just as though we were dead to it and it would then be to us the valley of the shadow of death. But we shall have His presence with us in it and be able to say, “I will fear no evil.” This is the confident expression of one who realizes the Shepherd’s sustaining presence.
We are in God’s sight dead and risen with Christ just as though we had passed out of this world altogether and are left to live here on earth as a heavenly people waiting to be taken up to heaven where Christ is. This world is like an inn to the believer to tarry in as a pilgrim and a stranger for a little while, at the expiration of which the Shepherd will take him to His home, which is our eternal dwelling-place. In the meantime, we have His presence with us, for He will never leave nor forsake us, and we need not fear, and “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”