The Soldier’s Inner Battle

November 12, 2025

Psalm 23:4 

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

I want to begin today with a prayer written by U.S. Military Chaplain Richard A. Lutz.

O Lord, many of us have tears deep inside of our lives, because we’ve been hurt in ways that go to the very core of our being, and some of the hurts we carry around have been there for a long, long time – even for years. We experienced a loss from which even today we have not really recovered. We took a beating that ripped into our heart and soul and tore us apart at the deepest place in our life. We went through the betrayal of a trust, the betrayal of a friendship, and still today we find ourselves dealing with its aftereffects and its residue. We suffered the unforgivable at the hands of a parent or the hands of someone we loved, and there’s a scar there that breaks open over and over again.

O God, you are the one who looks way down deep inside of all of us. You see and know what no one knows, no one at all except we ourselves. And, not only do you see us and know us, but you also feel things along with us, even the very painful stuff, the deep stuff along with us, and we feel a strange kind of healing taking place. We are no longer left alone with our burdens.

Today, those of us who are struggling inside – who have been broken and hurt and still feel the tears within – we thank you for being there and sharing with us what we cannot bear alone. Amen.


Earlier this week I saw a post for Remembrance Day that read "Remember those who have not yet fallen, but are falling." It was a reminder that the battlefield doesn’t always end when the war does. For many soldiers (and let's not forget their families), the darkest valleys are not physical terrains but internal landscapes, where they are haunted by memories, moral dilemmas, and the invisible wounds of trauma. Psalm 23 speaks directly into this experience. It doesn’t promise the absence of valleys, but it assures presence: “You are with me.” That's what Chaplain Lutz's prayer gets at.

This is also the heart of the gospel for those who carry burdens too heavy to name. God does not abandon us in the shadows. He walks with us, even when the path is lined with grief, guilt, or confusion.

From the stories I have read and heard about war, yes even peacekeeping deployment, are experiences that leave marks that don’t show up on scans. Flashbacks, hypervigilance, and emotional numbness are real battles. These are not signs of weakness, they are signs of survival. I believe that as a society we must learn to recognize these wounds and respond with compassion, and not judgment. Psalm 34:18 says that “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”  How I pray that this would be a genuine truth experienced by our "falling" veterans.

Soldiers often face moral injury, when actions taken (or not taken) in deployment violate their deepest values. This can lead to shame, spiritual disorientation, and a crisis of identity. The psalmist’s cry in Psalm 23 is not sanitized; it’s raw and real. God’s comfort comes not by erasing the past, but by walking with us through it.

The “rod and staff” of Psalm 23 are symbols of protection and guidance. They remind us that God is not passive in our pain. He actively comforts, defends, and leads. For veterans, this means that healing is not just psychological, it’s spiritual. 

As today I remember, and I invite you to remember those who live with the lasting effects of their service to our country, who struggle with trauma, with PTSD. I am thankful for their service, but I am also thankful for those brave souls who have given themselves to treatments, although these opportunities are in short supply, they have allowed us to understand the impacts of the trauma of war, which has led to an understanding of trauma in other contexts. The trauma of childhood sexual, physical, emotional abuse, the violence of rape, gun violence, robbery, the trauma of poverty, ….. and so on. I for one, as a trauma survivor, would not be writing this today if it were not for their bravery to confront their trauma head on and the treatments that are now available for so many. 

Let us never forget those who carry the scars of war and their need of our prayers, compassion and the message of hope that God promises to all. When you pray for these veterans do not forget their families in those prayers. That they would know the reality of Jesus promise, "I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn’t like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid." John 14:27

Let's  Pray

God of the valley, you see what others can’t. You walk alongside those bearing unseen scars. You don’t turn away from our pain or shy from our questions. Stay close to every veteran, every soldier, every heart weighed down by war. Let your rod and staff bring them comfort. Let your people be safe havens. And let your healing reach every dark and hidden path. Amen.