The photo above is from a few years back where we stood at Badwater Basin in California's Death Valley National Park. It's the lowest we've ever been below sea level and yet we were on the surface of dry ground! It was late September but still very hot so we didn't stay long. Just a few hours earlier we had hiked through a slot canyon.

Tom is a pastor friend of ours who worked at deep coal mining, some mines that were 1000 feet deep.

But among personal friends Rick, a member of our ABF class, would have the record for being at the lowest point. He runs a company that makes fertilizer and once went down 3,000 feet into a mine in Canada where they mine potash, an ingredient in fertilizer. The ride down took three minutes! That would also give him the record for the longest elevator ride among my friends since even the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is "only" 2,717 feet tall. If I was going down an elevator for that long, I think I'd be second guessing my decision to make such a descent into the deep earth about half way through, and be most anxious to resurface.

For me my lowest point in life was -282 feet.  But normally when we speak of low points this is not what we mean, rather we mean being in a time of deep distress. On Sunday we had a prayer request in our class for a couple who were grieving the loss of their stillborn baby. What a low point that would be for them and their family members.

We've all had low points and some of us may be a able to pinpoint our lowest point. For me it was March 22, 1999.

In the Christian life the good times of health, abundance and peace are often likened to being on the mountain, especially a time when we are spiritually strong or revived. Many of us have used the term "mountaintop experience" to describe exuberant times like these.

On the other hand we speak of being in the valley during a time of testing and trial. We may call such a time a "valley experience". Most of us have known both the mountains and the valleys of life, the highs and the lows.

Today's Scripture text is from what many would consider the most famous Psalm in the Bible, the 23rd. It's a Psalm of David and commonly referred to as the Shepherd's Psalm. The Psalmist is drawing from his own experience as a shepherd and applying the concept of shepherd to his God. Perhaps he was calling to mind an ancient Scripture from Jacob's blessing to his son Joseph and his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, "The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day" (Genesis 48:15). Interestingly Jacob was also a shepherd. A thousand years later Jesus draws from the same illustration declaring, "I am the Good Shepherd" (John 10).

Today let us consider a familiar portion from this Psalm. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death". David had several valley experiences recorded in Scripture he might have been referring to. Prior to his becoming king, Saul, his jealous and violent predecessor, gave him good reason to deal with fear, uncertainty, and lack of trust (1 Samuel 27 for example). During a low point in his own reign he is essentially exiled by his own son Absalom and cowers in fear for his own life (2 Samuel 15). Many Scriptures indicate that David knew from personal experience what it was like to "walk through the valley of the shadow of death".

But the latter part of the verse provides a great assurance and comfort for God's children of all ages, "I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me".

Today some of you may be at a low point, walking through the valley of the shadow of death. We think of so many undergoing persecution and those suffering, even dying for their faith such as in the recent massacre in the Congo.

When at a low point may we all have the assurance that God is with us and experience the comfort of His rod and staff.

The song "God On The Mountain" makes a powerful assertion, "For the God on the mountain, is still God in the valley". Indeed He is, no matter the circumstances of our personal life or the world around us!

Be encouraged today! Hebrews 3:13

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources