#TuesdayTruth Psalms 23

Psalms 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.”

This is probably a familiar passage to you. Today, I would encourage you to not just skim over it, but to really read it and consider the beauty of these words and the comfort they hold.

First off, we learn that our heavenly Father is our good shepherd and we have everything we need thanks to Him. There may be things we want, but nothing that we need. And, who else would we want guiding us? We can be assured that He will guide us the right way.

Second, have you ever felt like you needed to be refreshed? I would guess that you have. I know I have. Life gets busy and maybe you feel like you are running out of steam. Well, again, our Heavenly Father is the one who provides us just that soul-level refresh that we so long for; He is the one who can give peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7).

Then, even in our lowest, worst times (in our “darkest valley”), when we feel the most alone, we are not; we have Him with us. He is always there to comfort and protect us. Notice that these verses do not address how to avoid the “valley,” but instead tell us that He will be with us when we are in that low place and, because of that, we have nothing to fear.

Last for today, consider the beautiful hope-filled promise. We will have His goodness and His love throughout all of our lives here on this earth and, not only that . . . we have the hope of eternal life with Him. Now, that is enough to be a pick-me-up on even the roughest of days.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your word. Thank you that, with you, we lack nothing. Thank you for refreshing our souls. Thank you for your guidance. Thank you that we do not have to fear the evil one, because you comfort us. Thank you for your goodness and love and that we have the hope of living with you forever.

We love you Father, Amen.