In my opinion, the heart and soul of the 23rd Psalm is found in the fourth verse—“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.” Everything prior to this builds up to these words, and everything that follows flows out from them.

In fact, if you pay close attention to the pronouns, there is a remarkable shift here. In the first three verses, God is referred to in the third person—“He makes me lie down in green pastures … He leads me beside still waters … He restores my soul.” But beginning in verse four, God is referred to in the second person—“I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”

Notice that the psalmist does not claim that we will fear no evil because there is no such thing as evil. Nor does he suggest that evil will only befall the wicked. Clearly, evil exists in this world, and good people are as vulnerable to experiencing it as bad people. The reason that the psalmist is not fearful is because he knows that, as he walks through the dark valley, he is not alone!

Some years ago, a psychology professor at a major university conducted an experiment in pain tolerance. He invited several dozen students to measure how long they could keep a bare foot immersed in a bucket of ice water. One of the things he discovered was that if someone else was in the room, the students were able to keep their foot in the bucket nearly twice as long. Somehow the pain was not quite as painful when another person was there with you.

I think there is a lesson in that for all of us. When we know people who have experienced a tragedy, often the best thing we can do is simply to be with them. We do not need to explain their suffering or justify it as part of God’s eternal plan. We do not need to help them see “the bright side,” or try to make them feel better by pointing out that there are other folks who are worse off.

In my experience, people who are in pain seek consolation far more than they do explanation. Simply being there, silently holding the other person’s hand, is what helps most, because it is always easier to face a troubling present and an uncertain future when you know that you are not facing it alone.

But helpful as it is to have someone there with you, it is even more helpful when that someone is God. When the psalmist writes, “I will fear no evil for You are with me,” he is not only saying, “I can face this because I have not been left alone.” He is also saying, “I can face this because God, who is all powerful, will be with me, and give me the strength to face it.”