Forty Days in the PsalmsSample

Few in the Western world haven’t heard pieces of this Psalm. It’s quoted at funerals and gravesides and by the bed of the suffering. It’s on Cross-stitch pillows and monogrammed t-shirts and hoodies. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”

I (Shawn) consider it providential that this Psalm is aligned next to Psalm 22, the Psalm of the forsaken. On the one hand, we have moments of feeling abandoned. On the other, we have the promises of Psalm 23.

But there is a prerequisite. To have a shepherd, you must become a sheep, and who wants to be a sheep? We prefer verses like, “The righteous are as bold as a lion.” But God’s frequent metaphor for His children is sheep. Defenseless. What can a sheep do? Bite you? Kick you? Even their teeth are only made for grinding, not tearing. And who ever went to see the “trained sheep” in the sheep show? Nope. They are cute when they are young but fairly dumb as adults.

But David the shepherd king knew all this. And he was glad to say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” The Good Shepherd knows what I need. He makes me lie down. He leads me. He restores my soul. He’s with me in the shadowlands and the presence of bullies. He pours His Healing Oil on me, and His Goodness and Mercy trail me.

Who is this Good Shepherd? Not some generic god who gives us good karma when we do good. Not some god who created the world and then stepped back to let it unwind toward complete chaos. Who is He? “I am the Good Shepherd”, Jesus says.

Question: Are you willing to be His sheep? Are you willing to follow His Leadership? Is your answer a qualified yes or an absolute? Only sheep can experience the Loving Care of the Shepherd.

RESPOND IN PRAYER:

Begin your prayer by praying the first verse, four times followed by a short meditation. Each time, emphasize a different word. (The LORD is my shepherd…The Lord IS my shepherd, etc.) Continue praying through this Psalm, yielding and listening.