Psalm 23
Psalm 23 is one of my favorite psalms. And not mine only. It has been a favorite of many people over the centuries. It’s one of those passages of scripture that many have committed to memory. Have you? If you haven’t, let me encourage you to do so. And let me encourage you to do something else as well — pray this prayer every morning.
I do. And I have discovered that some of the most powerful prayers I pray come directly from God’s Word. Even on my busiest days, I take time to pray the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23 each morning when I wake up.
What makes Psalm 23 so powerful is the fact that it is so deeply personal. It’s significant that this psalm is entitled “A Psalm of David.” That’s all. And that’s unusual. Most of David’s psalms are more descriptive. They describe the circumstances that led to the psalm or how the psalm is to be sung — “to the choirmaster or “with stringed instruments,” etc.
But psalm 23 is entitled simply, “A Psalm of David.”
In many ways, Psalm 23 describes David’s life. But not only David’s life. It describes the lives of all those who seek to follow the Good Shepherd. In Season 2 of my “Church on the Edge” podcasts, I describe the journey of faith God calls all of us to in Christ. Psalm 23 is a pretty good description of that journey for all of us.
Changes. Surprises. Victories. Defeats. Mountains. Valleys. Shadows of death. All of these life events and struggles are described in the six verses of this famous psalm. No wonder it’s so personal to so many people.
In the days ahead, I’ll be sharing some thoughts from Psalm 23. I hope these thoughts will encourage you in your journey of faith. For today, I’d like to end this post by sharing the words of the psalm as translated in the New International Version of the Bible. I learned it from the KJV and still pray it from this classic translation. I encourage you to read Psalm 23 in several different versions.
Most of all, I’d like to encourage you to take time today to pray this psalm out loud. Pray it slowly. Pray it thoughtfully. Let God bring to your heart and mind those things the words of this psalm stir up in the deepest places of your soul.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
In Christ,
Dan
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