Psalm 23Sample

He provides for me

Without a doubt the 23rd is the most famous of all the psalms. Many Christians know it by heart. It is often heard at funerals and murmured to people in their hospital beds. It has provided comfort and hope to millions of stressed believers over the centuries. Its author, King David, wrote it from his own personal experience as a teenager, when he was put in charge of tending his father’s flocks. He knew sheep. He knew their needs, their value, their vulnerabilities, and their foibles. It is just possible that he pastured and watered his flocks in the same Bethlehem hills that heard the Christmas angels.

Though David was a king and the head of a mighty army, he had vivid memories of his days as a lonely fugitive, running to stay alive, one jump ahead of his enemy Saul. David drew great comfort from knowing that his God provided the same value for him that David himself had once provided for the sheep he tended: “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want” (Psalm 23:1). David knew fatigue, hunger, fear, harsh living conditions, and intense disappointment. But he found that God always got him what he really needed, one day at a time.

You are not alone as you make your way through your life. Your hardships and fears are known to the One who has committed himself to you as your Shepherd. He will see to it that you get what you really need, one day at a time.