Lent, Day 22: GOD IS WITH US

Psalm 23 

¹The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no ^]evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.⁶ Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord ^]forever.

Most of us have quoted or read this great psalm of King David so often it might have become too familiar.  If so, in this we have forfeited too much.  This psalm reflects the great grace of God even back in the Old Testament, and we ought not miss it.

The New International Reader's Version translates verse one as, “The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need.”  How could that ever get old?  This changes everything in our lives, doesn’t it?  Within this reality, all of life comes within the provision of God.  He gives us what we most need.  He leads, restores, and guides us.  God is with us even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, (valley of deep darkness).  He brings us inner peace when the enemy is all around us. He anoints our heads with the oil of His Holy Spirit so much so that our “cup brims with blessing” (vs. 5, MSG).

  

“The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need.”  What a tremendous statement of faith and trust in God.  

Would you pray this prayer with me? 

O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find my joy in you; and if I cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make some progress every day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their plenitude.  While I am here on earth let me learn to know you better, so that in heaven I may know you fully; let my love for you grow deeper here, so that there I may love you fully.  On earth then I shall have great joy in hope, and in heaven complete joy in fulfillment of my hope. (St. Anselm, 1033–1109)

May we humble ourselves before our God so that who He is will be made manifest in our daily lives.  May we find our lives in His Life.