Hey, friends, thanks for joining us for today's word of encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

James Banks wrote today's devotion and titled it With Us in the Valley.

As Hannah Wilberforce, aunt of British abolitionist, William Wilberforce lay dying,

she wrote a letter in which she mentioned hearing about the death of a fellow believer in Jesus.

She said,

Happy is the dear man who has gone to glory.

Now in the presence of Jesus, whom unseen he loved, my heart seemed to jump for joy. Then she described her own

situation, myself, better, and worse, Jesus, as good as ever. Her words make me think of

Psalm 23, where David writes, even though I walk through the darkest valley, the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Those words leap from the page because it's there in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death,

where David's description of God turns deeply personal.

He moves from talking about God in the

beginning of the Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd, to talking to him, for you are with me. How reassuring it

is to know that the Almighty God who brought forth the whole world is so compassionate that he walks with us through even the most

difficult places. Whether our situation turns better or worse, we can turn to our shepherd,

savior, and friend, and find him as good as ever. So good that death itself is vanquished, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Now, let's enjoy God and His Word as we go to today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture

reading. It's the 23rd Psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside

quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his namesake.

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