Psalm 23

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, 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.

I love reading this Psalm.  This is my personal Psalm to encourage me and remind me of who I am to God and who God is to me.  Many times, I read this Psalm as a prayer asking my Lord for the green pastures, quiet waters and comfort.  It is not out of line to ask the Lord for these things, in fact he encourages us to ask.  And as I have learned in my relationship with the Lord my God for over sixty years, there is nothing too big or too small to ask and talk to him about.  There are many times that I can’t thank him enough for the things I have knowing that I lack nothing.  There are many times that I rest in those green pastures and quiet waters. 

Living where I live and doing the things I do outdoors, it is pretty easy to experience the green pastures, and quiet waters.  When I take my gun or bow for a walk, (some people call this hunting) I almost always end up taking a nap in some of the most beautiful places on earth.  Sitting under a beautiful tree along Telegraph Creek, Hahn Creek, Flume Creek, Schneeder Creek, MaryAnn Creek, Moose Creek, NoTellUm Creek, etc. is very refreshing to my soul.  When I was going through chemo therapy for cancer, I would sneak out of the house when Marty would go back to work after lunch and hike up to Deer Lake and sit next to “my rock”.  It was my place that I had many “Come to Jesus” meetings preparing myself for the next step in life.  It was my church, my house of the Lord.  Oh, did he refresh my soul!  Yeah, I got in trouble later.  Before I build my house, we lived in a 288 sq. ft. cabin without plumbing and when we would go to the outhouse late at night, we knew we were dwelling in the house of the Lord.  No, not the outhouse goofy! Staring up at the sky with all the stars and moon without any light pollution.  That refreshed our soul, sometimes six times a night for me!

Where are your “green pastures”?  Where are your “quiet waters”?  What “refreshes your soul”?

I have walked through many dark valley’s in my life; divorce, cancer, death of loved ones, consequences of sin in my life, etc.  And as I look back on my very eventful, “never a dull moment” life, I can see the Lord my God, guiding me, comforting me, forgiving me and protecting me.  Even the times when I said something brilliant like “here, hold my beer and watch this!”  Every single time, the Lord my God was there right next to me.  I didn’t always see him or sense him but looking back I know that he was there.  I know now that he loved me, guided me, protected me and comforted me.  Yes, there were many of those dark valley’s that I called out to the Lord my God for guidance and he answered me.  When I went through cancer, I knew why I had it, why I was going though it and boy did I cry out to the Lord my God.  He answered me by healing and restoring my life.  I will save all that story for another blog post… 

Bottom line, I don’t fear those dark valley’s, I don’t fear evil for I know that the Lord my God with his rod and staff are comforting me.  I know that goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, no matter how much time I have here on earth.  My purpose in live is to share these thoughts so that you too can and will experience the fact that the Lord is your shepherd.

I love this Psalm.

Blessings

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