Real Hope: Back to Basics - BibleSample

Seeking The Shepherd

READ PSALM 23

Did you? Read Psalm 23? Or did you mentally incant the first few words to yourself and skip to this point? The Lord is my… It’s easy to do. We all know the words, right?

There was an actor blessed with a rich baritone voice and prodigious memory for prose. Each night he would close his show with a portentous recitation of this psalm. Crowds would pay for the full show but arrive only for the psalm, which would culminate with a standing ovation every time. One evening as the much-anticipated show moment arrived, a teenage boy stood and asked if HE might recite the psalm instead. With nothing to lose, the actor grandly gestured the teen to the stage. Faltering and feeble at first the boy began: ‘The Lord is… MY shepherd.’ No grand oratorical flourishes; no dramatic pauses. As the final words hung in the air, no standing ovation. Just silence. Heavy silence. The actor stepped back into the spotlight. ‘I’ve been performing Psalm 23 for years. I have a lifetime of experience and training – but I have never been able to move an audience as you have tonight. What’s your secret?’ The young man humbly replied, ‘Well sir, you know the psalm… I know the Shepherd.’

Take a moment to read the opening line of Psalm 23 today. Just the first line. Think on it during the day. Then tomorrow, the next line. Dwell on it during that day. Repeat daily through to the glorious closing stanza: ‘And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’

It’s not the words that make the Bible precious. All of them can be found elsewhere. The power lies in knowing the Shepherd. Start with the words – but seek the Shepherd.

Written by DWAYNE JEFFRIES