“He leads me in paths of righteousness [or, right paths] for his name’s sake. Yea [Even] though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death [or, deep darkness], I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psalm 23:3b-4a).
Dear Praying Friends:
God often leads his people into deep, dark valleys. Think of David, who penned the cry of dereliction in the psalm just before this one. Or Paul, whom God led to one city after another where he encountered rejection, beatings, and jail, until, at the last, he was alone in a Roman dungeon, and everyone had left him (2 Timothy 4:10-11,16). Think, too, of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Hosea, Jeremiah, Jonah, the apostles James and John, all those mentioned in Hebrews 11:32-38, and Jesus himself, who quoted Psalm 22 on the Cross.
Some assert otherwise, like the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” teachers, or Oxford theologian Michael Lloyd, who boldly claims that we “have no warrant for saying that suffering is ever divinely desired or intended.”[1] In addition to the people and passages named above, much of the Psalter refutes such a notion. Yes, the Bible insists that God is completely righteous and good, but he allows, and even somehow “intends,” the things listed in Romans 8:35-39. There is a deep mystery here, which we don’t understand, but we cannot deny the clear teaching of Scripture.
Our comfort and certain hope is that in the dark valleys he is with us, as David asserts in this psalm, as God affirmed often in the Old Testament (see Genesis 28:15; Isaiah 41:10; 43:2), and as Jesus promised in Matthew 20:28; and that he causes all things to work for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).
Thank you for your prayers. The Lord enabled me to make several calls; write a monthly prayer letter and most of my report for the Board of Directors; finish notes on 2 Timothy 2; and make some appointments for my time in Charlottesville.
If you haven’t done so already, I hope you will read that prayer letter, which is about ReachingChineseWorldwide.org, our China Institute website, and which, I have recently learned, can be accessed in China.
“Do not fear, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10).
Yours in his constant presence,
Wright
[1] In the Preface to Sarah Clarkson’s This Beautiful Truth, 13. The entire book, though beautifully written and containing some valuable insights, is founded upon this false premise.