The Lord is My Shepherd
One of my most enduring and endearing memories as a child is learning to memorize the 23rd Psalm at the request of my maternal grandmother. The 23rd Psalm was one of my grandmother’s favorite pieces of Scripture and she taught this Bible verse to all 11 of her grandchildren from the time we reached the age of 6 or 7.
Recently, I found an envelope in a drawer at my house that contained the 23rd Psalm written in my grandmother’s neat handwriting. It brought back so many memories. My grandmother was small (she stood approximately 5’1”) and came from modest means. She lived on a farm in North Texas where she and my grandfather raised cattle, chickens and the meanest geese you’ve ever met. Widowed at the age of 70, she kept her independence and lived on the farm until my mother convinced her to finally come to Houston and move in my parents’ house. I adored my grandmother and when she died three weeks before my wedding, I honored her by having the 23rd Psalm read during the service in her memory.
I remember going to her house during the summer and before I could think about going to sleep every night, she would ask me to recite the lines that I could remember (it took a while to get all the lines in the right order!). The 23rd Psalm is incredibly visual: the stanzas reference still waters, green pastures, a valley in the shadow of death, anointing one’s head with oil, an overflowing cup and a promise that goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
Saying these verses when I was young and even now always brings a sense of calm and reassurance that I am not alone for indeed the Lord is with me. One of the most well-known of the many Psalms written by David, this Psalm is a metaphor showing the love that a shepherd has for his sheep’s comfort and protection just as God shows love and care for His children.
Similar to the sheep that David cares for, we, too, need a shepherd who encourages us to be still and listen, a shepherd who walks by our side guiding us when we feel that we are in the “valley of the shadow of death”[1], a shepherd whose quiet presence comforts us, a shepherd who ensures we are safe and, most of all, a shepherd who is kind, loving, gentle and forgiving.
Teaching this beautiful poem to my grandson is a tradition I plan to continue. As we go about our busy, hectic and stressful lives, remember that the only task we have before us is to know “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want[2],” and “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”[3].
[1] Psalm 23, v. 4, KJV
[2] Psalm 23, v. 1, KJV
[3] Psalm 23, v. 6, KJV
