Psalm 23 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 23 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Verse 2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
Verse 3he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Verse 4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff- they comfort me.
Verse 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Verse 6Surely 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.
Devotion
In June 2011, my hometown of Minot, N.D., and the surrounding communities suffered from an historic flood. The swollen Souris River climbed out of its banks swallowing up homes, schools, businesses, churches and parks. Suffice it to say "the valley of the shadow of death" seemed to have made itself at home, when so many were without theirs, in the Souris River Valley.
But where there is death, God’s promise of resurrection is sure to follow. I saw the signs of this promise in the wildflowers that sprung up all around the barren valley—this silent choir reaching for the heavens with its cheerful yellow petals and singing through its very existence that life would bloom again. I saw this promise embodied in the sweaty and determined volunteers who worked to rebuild what had been destroyed.
Psalm 23 speaks beautifully to this promise. It does so by being honest about the reality of death and darkness. But then it continues to proclaim that even in "the valley of the shadow of death" God is still with us.
Prayer
Shepherding God, help us to trust that when we are lost in the darkest of valleys we are not lost from you. Amen.