Lenten Evening
Prayer
PSALM 23: A PRAYER
OF TRUST
Beloved people of
God, grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
Psalm 23 is the
most dearly loved of all the Psalms.
Perhaps only John 3:16 is a more well-known biblical text. Given its comforting words, it is not
surprising that it is chosen more often than any other text for funeral
services.
Psalm 23 is a
prayer of trust. Trust Psalms
emphasize that only God is worthy of our complete trust. A related theme in the Psalms is that we
should not put our complete trust in human beings. As we read in Psalm 146:3-4: “Do not put your trust in princes, in
mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day
their plans perish.” Even the
most trustworthy human beings will let us down sooner or later—intentionally or
unintentionally.
The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want.
The Psalmist is
confident that the Lord cares for his needs. A good shepherd watches out and cares
for his sheep. The welfare of the
sheep is constantly on his mind.
The Psalmist knows that we are on the mind of the Lord. The Lord wants us to flourish and be
contented. This does not mean that
we will face no difficulties in life.
It does mean that the Lord our shepherd will be there and help us through
our difficulties.
He makes me lie
down in green pastures; he leads me beside still
waters;
As Phillip Keller
explains, before sheep will lay down, at least four conditions must be met. They must be free from fear, free from
tension with other sheep, free of pests like flies and parasites, and free from
hunger and thirst.[1] A good shepherd makes sure these
conditions are met. How can a group
of people flourish and be contented if they are full of fear, are fighting with
each other, are bothered by pests, and are hungry and thirsty? The Lord wants us to be quiet and
contented, refreshed and satisfied.
He restores my
soul. He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
A cast sheep is
one that is turned over on its back and cannot right itself. Cast sheep are extremely vulnerable to
predators. If a predator does not
get them, gases will build up in the rumen or first stomach of a sheep. These gases will in relatively short
order cut off adequate blood circulation and in a few hours can lead to death.[2] Even the most faithful people can become
cast by life’s events. It could be
the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a severe illness, a friend who
turns against us, or the pressures of life. The good shepherd can restore strength
to our souls and lead us through the process of recovering and getting back on
our feet.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and
your staff—they comfort me.
The more familiar
translation of this verse speaks of walking through the valley of death. So often in life we as human beings try
to cover-up death. But death cannot
be ignored; even Jesus, the Good Shepherd, was put to death. He suffered and died like one of
us. Here the Psalmist expresses his
confidence that we are not alone in death.
Nor can evil ultimately defeat us.
The Lord is with us. The
Lord seeks to protect us and comfort us.
We can follow the Good Shepherd without fear through the darkest
valleys. We can follow the Good
Shepherd without fear through death to life.
You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my
cup overflows.
The presence of
the shepherd has a calming effect on the sheep. In the shepherd’s presence they feel
safe and secure; they eat, sleep, and get along better. Inasmuch as we perceive that we are in
the presence of the Lord, we too feel more safe and secure. That is why spiritual practices that
sensitize us to the Lord’s presence are so important: worship, Bible study,
prayer, and faith conversations with brothers and sisters in Christ. Sheep are anointed with oil to protect
them from insects and pests. The
Lord anoints us with the Holy Spirit to assure us of his presence, to comfort
us, and to empower us to live an abundant life.
Surely 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.
The Psalmist is
confident of God’s goodness and mercy.
We are privileged to dwell in the house of the Lord our whole life
long. The familiar translation of
this verse ends with the phrase: “in the
house of the Lord forever.”
God’s goodness and
mercy will finally overcome all fears, all difficulties, even death itself, so
that we can dwell with God forever.
God’s goodness and mercy shapes who we are in our relationship to God and
to the people of God. We are called
to care for others as the Good Shepherd has first cared for us. The Lord is our shepherd, what more
could we possibly want? The Lord is
our shepherd, in whom other than him could we possibly want to place our
complete trust?