1st May 2023

A meditation on Psalm 23.

¹The risen Jesus is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

There are many things that we think we need, but what if Jesus really is everything we need? What would life look like then?

²He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. ³He restores my soul.

Stop. Rest a moment. Where are you picturing yourself in your imagination? For me, it is a childhood memory beside the River Bollin near Macclesfield.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. ⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

Sometimes our path through life is good; sometimes it is shadows and darkness. But Jesus has gone there before us. He leads us through both light and dark.

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

“Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration,” as one of my favourite novels puts it. But walking with Jesus dispels our fear. He has known fear and helplessness. Remember the cross.

⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

We pray for those whose enemies are actually waiting outside their door today.

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The Kingdom of God is a land of blessing and goodness and mercy and joy. May his Kingdom come, may his will be done on earth.

(Scripture quotations from the ESV, modified).

Ian Waddington