Have you ever gotten lost? Wandered off the path you were supposed to be on and found yourself in some strange place? It can happen. Most people have had such moments.

There are times when we can feel that way in our lives with the Lord. It’s not that we aren’t prone to wander (as the old hymn says), but there are those moments when we don’t sense we have volitionally wandered from the Lord, but we could still feel lost, disoriented, or off the path we thought we should have been on.

David touched on this in the 23rd Psalm when he wrote:

“He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me” (23:3-4).

The word for “guides” is the same word used in Exodus for God “leading” His people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. It’s the language of purposeful, direct leading. David is affirming that this Good Shepherd is personally directing his steps, leading him in “paths of righteousness.”

This leading, this guiding, is not anchored in David’s great “followership” or competency but is the intentional work of the Shepherd. David is being led into the right paths for life for the sake of the name of God. For His good and glory, the LORD is leading David.

But what about the subsequent line? “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” How did David end up there? Did he mess up? Did he wander from the Shepherd’s leading?

In this passage, David is affirming that even if he finds himself in such a troubling and threatening place, he must have been led there! Notice. He states that he won’t “fear evil” in such places because “You are with me.” The LORD is not running after David in his wandering; the LORD is travelling with (and leading!) David even in such places.

These verses should remind us of God’s dealings with the children of Israel as He led them out of Egypt, as recorded for us in Exodus. The nation ended up between two rocky places, camped at the edge of the Red Sea, with the Egyptian army in pursuit. That was, literally, a “valley of death.”

But how did they get there? They were led. They were guided by the LORD through the agency of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22). He gave them specific instructions as to where to camp (14:1-2). As the Egyptians advanced on them, Moses told the people they did not need to fear (14:13).

So, this good Shepherd leads His people for the sake of His name. And although we might be inattentive to what He wants for us, He will never cease from leading us. And, at times, that might mean we will find ourselves in hard places . . . led there by the LORD, accompanied by Him even in those places.