 |
 |
Devotions Archive
Archive:
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
2023
|
2024
Never not enoughThursday, February 22, 2007
Psalm 23:1-3 We have cherished these words for centuries. David's peace and confidence educate his imagery. He knows God's presence and trusts him on good days and on bad days. In a video seminar Margaret and I attended recently, Prof. John Oswalt paraphrased what the serpent asked Eve: "Do you really think that God cares about you? Are you that important that he will always take care of you, or do you need to do something for yourself?" He went on to say that Satan hasn't been particularly creative; he has used that same question on us all. And quite often we don't answer it correctly. But David does. God brings him rest, gives him a soft place to lie down. He fills up his senses with peaceful sounds and smells and sights. When I read the rest of the psalm, I too feel restored. David's world was smaller than ours. We are painfully aware of death and dying in every corner of the world, brought to us in living color on television. Peering this intimately into the lives of so many others, my own life seems less significant, more shadowy and small. Why should I matter much at all to God? Satan's question is alive and kicking. My answer is the same as David's. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Thank you, Lord, for these words, for their power to remind me of how you every day without fail restore my soul. |
Perhaps David wrote this on a sunny day, relaxing in the grass while his sheep grazed nearby, all good. Or he might have been writing in the middle of a cold night, hiding in a cave from enemies who wanted to kill him.