The Lord is my Shepherd

 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 the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me, 

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies, 

you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. 

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

                                        Psalm 23

        All throughout the book of psalms, we are given praise and promises we can use to help combat the attacks of the enemy. Some focus on the physical aspects, others on the mental attacks. Psalm 23 focuses on the physical. Long before David was a great king, he was the youngest son of a Bethehemite named Jesse, and a shepherd boy. While his older brothers went off to fight battles, little David had to stay back and protect his father's sheep. Overtime, he learned how to defend himself and keep the sheep safe by learning how to use a slingshot and warding off the predators that tried to attack. As a shepherd, he learned what the sheep need. What they eat, and drink, how to grow big and healthy. King David wanted us to know that the Lord watches over his children in the same way. As a shepherd, the Lord knows every sheep by name and what they need as an individual, but also how to protect them as a herd. 

        As sheep, we don't always know what we are doing. There are moments when the only voice we hear is the voice of the Shepherd, leading us to drink or eat, or guiding us down a safe path. We lack nothing as simple sheep, and that is all due to the Shepherd. What makes this psalm so powerful is not the different attributes of God, how we are safe in secure in all situations, although those are good. This psalm, especially right from the beginning is the 4th word in first verse: MY. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." This word changes God from a being out there who only watches out for the church as a whole body, and it paints him as a personal, loving God. One who knows us by name, and what we need to grow and to be covered by his watchful eye. 

        Today, we still serve this same God, who protects us and watches over us. We just have to be willing to surrender ourselves and trust that the place he is leading us is good and right, and that he knows what we need. 

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey through the Psalms