PSALM 23 (from The Message)
God, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.
You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.
The Lord is my shepherd...This is probably the best known of the Psalms, and certainly one of the most well-known pieces from all of the Bible. Many of us learned it as children. Oddly enough, that’s the reason I have rarely preached on it — because I’ve thought everyone already knew it so well.
Although most of us were taught as children to see God as “Father” and “King” — a strong, masculine figure — the picture of God presented here is a of a nurturing, protective “Mother” figure — one who shelters and feeds her helpless children — her sheep.
Domestic sheep are relatively helpless creatures. They have no natural defense weapons — no claws, no horns, no tearing teeth. With a caring shepherd, the sheep can graze and rest in peace. They need a shepherd — and a good dog or two — to protect them. Just as human babies need a mother to feed them and guard them against injury. In this psalm, that nurturing, protecting one, is God.
In many ways, we are just as helpless in the face of the pandemic that has uprooted our lives right now — threatening us physically, and upsetting every familiar thing that gives us comfort. We feel threatened by this unknown virus in so many ways -- for our own physical health, for those we love, for the way of life we took for granted for so long -- for all the social interactions that give form and reason to our lives. We, more than ever now, need a loving, nurturing God to protect us and sustain us -- to stand between us and our fears. A Mothering God to be with us when we feel cut off from those we love and enjoy.
I fear no evil, for you are with me...This is the heart of this psalm. Regardless of the things that threaten us, we can live our lives at peace in the knowledge that our nurturing, loving, protective God is with us always...and we indeed dwell in God’s house now and forever -- for all our days.
God, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.
You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.
The Lord is my shepherd...This is probably the best known of the Psalms, and certainly one of the most well-known pieces from all of the Bible. Many of us learned it as children. Oddly enough, that’s the reason I have rarely preached on it — because I’ve thought everyone already knew it so well.
Although most of us were taught as children to see God as “Father” and “King” — a strong, masculine figure — the picture of God presented here is a of a nurturing, protective “Mother” figure — one who shelters and feeds her helpless children — her sheep.
Domestic sheep are relatively helpless creatures. They have no natural defense weapons — no claws, no horns, no tearing teeth. With a caring shepherd, the sheep can graze and rest in peace. They need a shepherd — and a good dog or two — to protect them. Just as human babies need a mother to feed them and guard them against injury. In this psalm, that nurturing, protecting one, is God.
In many ways, we are just as helpless in the face of the pandemic that has uprooted our lives right now — threatening us physically, and upsetting every familiar thing that gives us comfort. We feel threatened by this unknown virus in so many ways -- for our own physical health, for those we love, for the way of life we took for granted for so long -- for all the social interactions that give form and reason to our lives. We, more than ever now, need a loving, nurturing God to protect us and sustain us -- to stand between us and our fears. A Mothering God to be with us when we feel cut off from those we love and enjoy.
I fear no evil, for you are with me...This is the heart of this psalm. Regardless of the things that threaten us, we can live our lives at peace in the knowledge that our nurturing, loving, protective God is with us always...and we indeed dwell in God’s house now and forever -- for all our days.
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