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
Feasting appears in many readings this week. Today the feast is spread “in the presence of my enemies.” The battle is hardly begun, yet God already declares victory and invites us to celebrate.
St. Francis of Assisi embodied that absolute trust in God’s ability to provide for our needs. What little he had, he insisted on sharing. It is said he instructed his order to use only “lowly tables” so that “if a beggar were to come to sit down near them, he might believe that he was but with his equals and need not blush on account of his poverty.”
Theodor Fliedner founded the modern institution of deaconesses and helped renew the church’s ministry to the poor, sick, young and imprisoned. Amusingly, many English language websites describe his work – no doubt literally translated from German – as “deacon eating!” As people who follow the cross we feast on faith, knowing that the reverse is often true as well: faith feasts on us!
Prayer
Lord, you are our refuge, our goal – and our goad. As we welcome the way you nurture us, may we also accept the way that you nudge us to be the people you have called us to be. May our lives conform so closely to your will as to be prayers in themselves. Amen.