“The LORD is my shepherd”

Meditations for Ragamuffins

September 27, 2023

The LORD Is My Shepherd 

“The LORD is my shepherd”

Psalm 23:1a (KJV)

On the desk in my study, is an olive wood carving of The Good Shepherd that I purchased in Bethlehem. The concept of Jesus as the Good Shepherd resonates within my soul, and I am drawn to passages such as John 10 where Jesus talks of himself as the Shepherd and his followers as his sheep. God has used the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 to often remind me he will never, ever, give up on me. You can find images of The Shepherd, and the scenes of Psalm 23, throughout the New Testament. As an example, in Mark’s description of the feeding of the five thousand, “Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass” (Mark 6:30-43). For me, this invokes images of the “green pastures” in Psalm 23:2.

The most pervasive theme of the Bible is God’s longing for His people to know, and to experience, how much He loves us. I believe when God’s love truly penetrates our soul, when we experience His love, a miracle takes place. The Apostle Paul describes the miracle this way, “Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3: 18 The Message).

How can we move toward such intimacy with God? Psalm 23 is a very good place to start because it is written in the first person, “The LORD is my shepherd . . .” I encourage you to spend a week with Psalm 23 and just meditate on one verse per day. You may want to use a resource like biblegateway.com so you can easily access several different translations of the Bible.

As you work through this process take time to ponder the words of each verse, and then contemplate what they mean to you and your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there is anything you need to do, or stop doing, to make the verse an authentic reflection of your life.

My Takeaway: As your week with Psalm 23 progresses, don’t be surprised if someone observes that your face is shining with the brightness of His face.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.