The Good Shepherd
Subtitle: David’s poetic praise to God
“The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough. He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace near the quiet brook of bliss. That’s where he restores and revives my life. He opens before me the right path and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness so that I can bring honor to his name. Even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for you already have! Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear. I’ll never be lonely, for you are near. You become my delicious feast even when my enemies dare to fight. You anoint me with the fragrance of your Holy Spirit; you give me all I can drink of you until my cup overflows. So why would I fear the future? Only goodness and tender love pursue me all the days of my life. Then afterward, when my life is through, I’ll return to your glorious presence to be forever with you!”
It’s so easy to get caught up in an anxiety and stress spiral. It’s so easy to let troubles and fear and the battles of the day overwhelm us. We can see the state of our world, nation, state and community and allow it to send us into despair. The words of David’s poem to the Lord in Psalms 23 are speaking so much comfort and peace to me right now, more than 2000 years after they were written. It is the Lord who we must choose as our shepherd if we want the peace that comes with being led and comforted and protected by Him. He is the one that brings peace and restoration to our souls and ensures that we never lack. He protects and strengthens us when our enemies rise up to fight against us. And he ensures that we have access to all we need in Him. We know that He is the the Source of the fruit of the spirit and that is love, joy, peace, patience kindness goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. So when we make him our delight and the feast for our souls, those fruits are what we take in and produce ourselves. We can live in perfect peace as we rest and trust in Him. We’re still called to work, and you’ll never hear us say otherwise. But we can do it from rest and from the peace that we receive from the abiding Presence of the Lord. He is more than enough.
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