The Valley of The Shadow of Death

I’ve been to hell and come back. I don’t know your definition of hell, but my hell was loneliness, agony, depression, guilt and condemnation. The world has come crashing down on me before. But I am still alive.

I don’t know whether I am any stronger, or wiser. But who cares? I am still alive. And I am not alone. I have someone by my side at all times. He loves me, accepts me, and delights in me.

Over five years ago, I wrote a song. I was in the pits, the kind that David described as the valley of the shadow of death. At that point, I got to know that even in the valley of the shadow of death, He never left me. He still loved me.

He was always there, even when I didn’t feel him. That was why, in the middle of my pain and confusion, I wrote these words:

Before the world began

Before shape was formed

When sun, moon and stars

Never lit the sky

You were there

Across the firmament

Skies and heavens formed

With the spoken word

Unquestionably superior

You were there

Our forefathers saw you not

Prophets only dreamt

Archaeologists searched

But none could see that

You were there

Before your plan was fulfilled

Before I was thought of

In my mother’s womb you knit

And before she knew it

You were there

Out into the world I came

No silver spoon in mouth

And I could not see you

But in a glimmer of hope

You were there

My tears could forever flow

Agony, loneliness, ruin

That was I

Forever out of sight you seemed

But you were there

When I cried and wept

When I suffered loneliness

When nostalgia crept in

When hopelessness reigned

You were there

At first I never knew

But then your word said so

You are there in our hardest times

That is when I saw that

You were there.

That is when I saw that

You were there.

Are you in your own version of the valley of the shadow of death? He is there.