Real Hope: GriefНамуна

A Universal And Unique Grief

This psalm gives us a picture of God as a good shepherd who looks after his sheep on a journey. It is not meant to be a romantic image but one of a God who is walking with us in the grief-shadowed terrain where the reality of death is real and raw. The rod and staff are not tools of discipline but rather symbolize the way God wants to draw us (His sheep) close into the flock and to Himself. God knows the terrain where we might get stuck or injured in the grief journey, or where we might wander into isolation, and He wants to draw us back from those places.

The psalmist invites us to make this psalm our own. Over the centuries people have done just that, and I have too. I have found reading this psalm as a prayer to God to be a great comfort that I can also offer to others.

This psalm does not describe the journey of grief as an obstacle course to get over, nor does it give us a road map that we must follow to get through grief. There is no indication that the journey is linear or that we will need to follow a clear set of stages. The psalm speaks to all of us and at the same time to each of us individually because grief is universal and unique. It tells us that in the shadow of grief there is a good shepherd and our relationship with Him will help us find meaning in the shadows of death. This grief journey will become a part of our whole life journey and all of it matters as we live to receive and give love.

Written by Kath Henry