Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. — Psalm 23:4
There are a lot of things in life that we seem to fear. Some of those are small things, like change. We do not like when things in our lives change and we have to learn a new situation or circumstance. It can make us feel uncomfortable.
Other things are events and circumstances. Many people fear death. They fear the unknown. We may fear the chaos of the world. Many times we fear things like our job situations or money situations. Fear is a real feeling and a real problem for many people, whether they want to admit it or not.
Psalm 23 is often given to provide comfort in various situations in life, but in verse 4, David specifically talks about the fear of evil. The idea of walking through the valley of the shadow of death signifies walking through the darkest, gloomiest, dismal situations of life. The same situations that strike fear in the hearts of people all across the world.
David says that there is no reason to fear those evils of life because we have a helper that is with us. He refers to the rod and the staff. The rod refers to the protection that God provides. The staff refers to the guidance that God provides. In other words, no matter what the situation, we should not fear, because the God who created the entire universe, He is protecting us and He is guiding us through it all!
When you give consideration to that, it is no wonder that David said he would not fear evil. He was comforted in knowing that God had everything under control. No matter what fear you may be facing today, God has the situation under control. Through God, you can conquer the fears of life.