Psalm 23 is read at more funerals than almost any other passage, and verse 4 is usually the line people remember. If you are in a valley right now, it is worth slowing down and reading it the way David wrote it.
Psalm 23:4 does not promise that you will avoid the valley. It promises that you will not walk through it alone, and that the Shepherd's presence is reason enough not to be ruled by fear.
Who wrote it, and what comes before
The heading reads A Psalm of David. Before he was king, David spent his youth keeping his father's sheep (1 Samuel 16:11; 17:34–35), so he knew exactly what a shepherd does for a flock.
The psalm opens with that picture: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want (Psalm 23:1). The next verses are full of quiet care. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul (Psalm 23:2–3). The same Shepherd who leads to green pastures is the one who leads through the valley. The dark stretch is not a sign that He lost track of you.
"The valley of the shadow of death"
The verse begins, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). The ESV footnote offers another way to read the phrase: “the valley of deep darkness” (an alternate rendering of the Hebrew, noted in the margin rather than the main text). So the valley is not only the moment of death itself. It is any season so dark you cannot see the path ahead, which is exactly how grief feels.
Notice the verb, too. David says he walks through the valley. It is a path the Shepherd leads His sheep along, not the place where they are meant to stay.
The psalm stops talking about God and starts talking to Him
In verses 1 to 3, David speaks about the LORD: he makes me lie down, he leads me. Then, right in the darkest line, he turns and speaks to Him directly: I will fear no evil, for you are with me (Psalm 23:4). In the valley, God is no longer someone David describes. He is someone David is talking to, close enough to address face to face.
That is the heart of the verse. David does not say "I will fear no evil, because nothing bad will happen." His reason is a Person: for you are with me. God made the same promise to His people through Isaiah: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you (Isaiah 43:2).
What the rod and staff mean
Then David adds, your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). A shepherd's rod was used to drive off animals that threatened the flock. His staff was used to guide and steady the sheep. Both are signs that the shepherd is close enough to protect and to lead. When David remembers them in the dark, he is remembering that the Shepherd is still at work, even when he cannot see far ahead.
The Shepherd who walked the valley first
Jesus took this picture as His own: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11). He did not only lead His people through the valley of death. He went into it for them and rose again. Of His sheep He says, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28).
That is why Paul could tell grieving believers that they need not grieve as others do who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Grief is still grief. But for those who belong to Christ, the valley has an end, and the psalm's last line points to it: I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psalm 23:6).
For today
Read Psalm 23 slowly, out loud, and stop at verse 4. Say you are with me as a prayer, not a statement about God. If your heart feels crushed, Psalm 34:18 meaning sits well beside this psalm. If you are facing the holidays without someone, see Grief at the holidays, and if your loss is your mom or a baby, Bible verses for losing a mother or Bible verses for miscarriage may help.
If the valley feels too long to walk alone, a pastor or Christian counselor can walk it with you.
Questions women often ask
What does "the valley of the shadow of death" mean?
It describes the darkest stretch of life, including death itself. The ESV footnote gives another reading, “the valley of deep darkness,” so it covers any season where you cannot see the way ahead. David says he walks "through" it, with the Shepherd beside him (Psalm 23:4).
What do the rod and staff mean in Psalm 23:4?
A shepherd used the rod to defend the flock and the staff to guide and steady the sheep. David says, "your rod and your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4), because both show the Shepherd is near, protecting and leading.
Why is Psalm 23 read at funerals?
Because it speaks to the valley of death with calm trust in the Shepherd, and it ends with hope beyond death: "I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever" (Psalm 23:6). Jesus, "the good shepherd" (John 10:11), gives that hope its foundation.
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