Lent 10 psalm 23

Yesterday morning just before he went off to school Ben said to me ' Can I tell you Psalm 23?  '   So I said yes of course he could, and he proceeded to recite it to me - in the King James Version with all the Thees and Thous  :)  I wonder if, having learned it at age 10, he will still be able to recite it when I am long gone and he has grandchildren.   I never learned scripture as a kid but I do still remember a few poems I was made to learn by heart at primary school.    Memory is an amazing thing. Being able to call scripture to mind is one of the key ways God speaks to us.  So learning it is pretty crucial.


A few years ago as part of a worship exercise I decided to re-write some Psalms in my own words.   Its a lovely was of meditating on God's word so I thought Id have a go at this most well known of Psalms today.   Just my own thoughts and interpretation - you could try it yourself and find you come up with something utterly different :-)

Psalm 23

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are my shepherds and I am one of their sheep.
Because I belong to them I know that I will never be uncared for, lost, in danger or exposed.
They will walk ahead of me leading me to sweet grass where I can graze and rest in peace and comfort.  When I am thirsty I won't have to rely on my own abilities to find water because they will lead me right to it.  In fact , God Himself is the water of life from which I drink daily - and His constant presence refreshes and restores the dry weary parts of me.  Following Him means that I shall always walk in the right way and never stray off into danger. 
Even if He should lead me right into a dark dangerous valley - somewhere I would naturally feel fear and want to avoid - I won't be afraid because I can be confident that the God who walks beside me wouldn't bring me here for no reason.  And anyway, He has a rod and a staff to fight off any predators and to keep me close to Him.  So I don't need to worry. Whilst wolves lurk in the shadows my God sits down to dine with me, feasting in style and pouring out His love and attention solely on me until I feel so blessed I could burst.   He is so good that I feel permanently changed and I know that I will follow Him forever, living in the shelter of His goodness and kindness and finding my true home in Him.