My Shepherd
Psalms 23 1-3 GOD, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.
5 You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
6 Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of GOD
for the rest of my life.
How many of you have read “The 23 Psalm” in The Message, a paraphrase of the original document? I thought today we would look at Psalm 23 through the lens of The Message.
David addresses God directly, calling Him “my Shepherd.” Even today we understand a shepherd to be someone who tends for and protects sheep. Sheep require a great deal of care and man, their counterpart, may seem self-sufficient, but the closer we look, the more we see the analogy. The sheep relies on the shepherd for everything—if man waited on God for everything, how much better off would we be?
Lush meadows indicates God gives us more than we will ever need. Isn’t that comforting? Quiet pools from which to drink shows the concern God has for us. He is aware that sheep are timid, and they would drink from muddy, bug infested ponds rather than drink from a bubbling brook. Man can become so busy that if we did not rely upon God, the chaos of this world would drown us.
God offers to walk beside us, He protects us, He refreshes us and like the man said ears ago, “I’m drinkin’ from the saucer ‘cause my cup has overflowed.” And the best yet is the assurance that His beauty and His love chase after me!
May we know, understand and believe just how blessed we are to have a Father who shepherds us through this life.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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