The Eternal is my Shepherd.With you alongside there's nothing else I need.You encourage me to rest in wild-flower meadowsand guide me beside silent rhynes,refreshing my innermost being.
You lead me on safe pathsso that your name is honoured.Even when I descend through dark wooded valleys,edge close to evil,I am not afraid,for You walk beside me.Your rod and staff bring comfort and security.
You arrange a lavish feast for meright before the eyes of my enemies.You anoint me as your honoured guest,and fill my cup until it overflows.
Your goodness and loyal-love will pursue me every day of my life,and I will dwell in your housefrom this day and forevermore.
✙ Notice
You may have heard this psalm being read on many occasions. Is there anything fresh God is underlining for you today?
✙ Walking prompt
Psalm 23 offers an opportunity for retreat.
I wrote this paraphrase in the landscape during a time of severe depression. The wild-flower meadows and silent rhynes, were the places God refreshed me, and enabled me to walk through the dark wooded valleys of that long season.
It’s also true that the place of the shared meal table with friends and being treated as an honoured guest were ways God ministered to me through others.
You may have your own places of restoration that the Shepherd can use, whether you’re walking through challenging times or simply needing refreshment and community.
If you are walking in an urban setting, search for a canal, a harbourside, a public water fountain, or even the reflective surface of rain in a puddle on the pavement. Let any still surface remind you of the quiet center within you.
If you are walking through depression, loss, anxiety or grief, I hope these words, this landscape and the Shepherd’s gentle guidance, find you.
✙ Field note
We might long to escape the challenges of life,to linger in wild-flower meadows,however we will have to walk through dark wooded valleys,and there may be occasions when it seems like we are surrounded on every side.
Yet even there the Shepherd and Host is present,sustaining,guidingand holding us.
✙ Pause to reflect
Sit with the images of God as the shepherd and host.
How do they speak into your situation today?