Devotional...2/28

Our Favorite Psalm
Psalm 23

Lillian Daniel

Spend some time reading the words of the 23rd Psalm from your Bible today and remember when you have heard it read out loud. Many of us will think of funerals, when these words have reminded us of God's promises but also of the finality of that moment. For some families, it is in hearing the 23rd Psalm that they realize the funeral is really, actually happening. In our saddest moments, it offers comfort and understanding.

I encourage you to read this psalm at other times in your life. There is as much in this psalm about life as there is about death. It can be a comfort during times of anxiety to know that "the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Sheep may not know where the shepherd is. Their faces are to the ground or at eye level. But the shepherd knows where the sheep are. The shepherd's gaze scans the horizon until every lost sheep is accounted for, in a picture that is bigger than the sheep can take in.

Live your life with that security. Remember that someone is always looking out for you, even as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and even as you engage richly in life.

Prayer: God help me to remember your promises: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever;" in this life, and in the life to come. Amen.