Daily Devotion – October 7, 2020 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Psalm 23
23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
23:3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod & your staff– they comfort me.
23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
23:6 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.
Psalm 23 is among the most comforting passages of scripture. This is true for Jews and Christians, but even for people not steeped in the faith. It is recited when we need to find solace when we are despairing, and it provides calm and peace when we are afraid.
Why is that?
Especially when you consider that shepherds in Israel do not generally have green pastures to lead their sheep into, or almost any water at all, still or otherwise. Is it just kind of a fantasy about the best shepherd there ever could be?
Well, it is actually more about the relationship of the Lord, the shepherd, to the psalmist, a human, and we can then guess that it applies to the relationship of the Lord, the shepherd, to us, all humans.
What does the Lord provide? Everything we may ever want: a place to lie down, food to eat, water to drink, restoration for the soul, and the right direction to travel, no matter where the path leads. In fact the confidence, the lack of fear of evil, come from the rod and the staff of the Lord. The staff is the long stick, and the rod is the curly end of the stick, used to pull sheep back onto the path or get them unstuck from thickets and keep them moving along where they need to go.
I don’t jump at the chance to be compared to a sheep. But if I were one, I would want someone to be looking out for me, keeping me on the path. Today we might compare this guidance to new car features like lane alerts or drowsiness alarms. Drivers should be smart enough not to need them, but these features do comfort us, don’t they?
Not only does the Lord lead us with a bounty of daily blessings. The Lord also exalts us over our enemies. What more could we want? So we abide with the Lord forever. The Lord does all this for us, even though we mostly act like sheep that he has to feed and keep on the path and save from stupidity. I would say our relationship with the Lord is a deep blessing we should be thankful for every day. No wonder Psalm 23 is a comfort – it shows us how much we are loved, not because we are great, but because we are his.
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for generously providing us with everything we will ever need. Thank you for keeping us out of thickets and for loving us just because we are yours. Amen.
