The Lord is my shepherd

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;

for you are with me; your rod and your staff -- they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

Likely familiar words, often read at funerals. I think it's safe to say that there are few words in all of Scripture that bring the kind of immediate comfort that these do. Contrary to our sometimes narrow view of this psalm, it really is a psalm for the living and the hope that it offers is far more encompassing than just at times of death. It's a psalm for you and for me to apply every day to our lives. And I want to challenge us, if we haven't done so before to look at it in a new light, to look at it with a new perspective.

Like so much of Scripture, Psalm 23 portrays life as a journey to God and with God. It hones in on the believer's private, personal, individual experience of the grace that God offers to us. It talks about the many emotional seasons of our lives and assures us that no matter what's happening, when life is a struggle and we cannot even see our way out of the pit, when we are in that darkest valley, or life is fantastic and we are floating on cloud nine, it couldn't be any better, God is with us. God, is with us!

You see this psalm, as we know, ends with the reminder that even when we are at the end, it's not really the end, is it? We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever with the God who has walked with us every step of our journey as we know it now.

•••

Editor's note: The Rev. Dr. Scott Stewart is the pastor of Pea Ridge United Methodist Church and Brightwater Methodist Church. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted at [email protected] or 479-659-9519.