“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 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 runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”
Many look at this psalm as the biblical chapter to be read at funerals, but this psalm is actually one that is meant to bring joy and excitement in our lives here on earth. Although he is in the presence of his enemies, David discovers the greatest reason behind why he doesn't fear and why he overflows with abundant life and hope. The answer is: “I will not fear, For you are with me.” It's perhaps the most simple verse in this chapter yet the most powerful. Because of his confidence in knowing that the Lord is with him, he is able to look ahead and say, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, All the days of my life.” It's why David can say “I shall not want.” He will always have more than enough in his life because the Lord is with him as the Provider. He is the Good Shepherd. All of David's peace and joy which is felt by reading this psalm point to the belief that God is with him.
It's hard to find rest in God when you believe that something bad will always happen to you. Part of why so many people struggle with hopelessness and anxiety about the future is because they are imagining their future without God. I have definitely done this before, resulting in feeling fearful. I've discovered that there is no beneficial outcome from imagining my present or my future without God. What I have found is that when I imagine God in my present and future and trust that He is working out all things for good in my life, anxiety fades away and peace comes at once. There may be enemies sitting in front of me but He has given me the ability to have joy because He is with me. What I like to do when reading this psalm is remind myself that no matter what happens in life, I will thrive because God is with me now and even years from now. I meditate on the truth that goodness and mercy are my inheritance and that nothing will stop God from being my provider, defender, restorer, and good shepherd of my life.
Read this psalm and feast on it. Ask Father God to show you where He is in your right now and where He is years from now. Ask Him to show you how goodness and mercy have followed you and will follow you all the days of your life. When He shows you, receive it in your heart. Sometimes what I like to do is say out loud, “I receive it and believe it,” to get my whole being in agreement with this truth. He says, “Let the weak say, I am strong.” It's powerful when we declare.
“I am with you” is what gave Gideon strength to lead an army into victory when he believed that he was the weakest of the weak. “I am with you” is what gave Moses courage to face Pharaoh day after day asking him to let God's people go which resulted in the splitting of the Red Sea. “I am with you” is what David believed when he faced a giant that no man wanted to confront, which ultimately led him to lead the Israeli army into freedom against the Philistines. Imagine God with you daily because He is, and when a giant comes your way, you won't be afraid to run after it, cutting off its head. God is saying “I am with you. And I will be your hope and strength.”
Good Shepherd, I pray that we would be a people that is fully convinced of the truth that you are with us. And when we know that you are with us, comfort, peace and courage fill us. Open up our imagination to see that you are in front of us and behind us leading us with your rod and your staff. I pray that we would lie down on green pastures in peace through disasters because our peace isn't in external realities going well. Our peace comes from fully trusting you as our faithful Good Shepherd over our lives. May we be people who truly and wholeheartedly trust in you.
