Today’s PrayerPoint ~ Psalm 23
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” Psalm 23
If you haven’t already committed Psalm 23 to memory, I would encourage you to do it. This Psalm is a great one to ruminate and it covers about every situation in life.
I love how the opening line immediately addresses the issue of provision: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Other versions say “I don’t need a thing” (The Message) or “I lack nothing” (NIV) or “I will have everything I need” (NLV).
When I was in 9th grade (over 30 years ago) we had to choose a poem to memorize and say in class and I chose to memorize Psalm 23 in the King James Version. There was something about the language of the KJV that I enjoyed even though that is not the version I would gravitate towards today. I love that I can review Psalm 23 anytime I want or need to! If everyone is asleep and I am fearful or overwhelmed, Psalm 23 is great to have tucked away in my heart! Or if I am in a place where it is quiet and I am waiting for an appointment it is easy to access (no Internet required)!
I am definitely the type of person who needs outside accountability or a deadline in order to execute a task which is why I chose to do Psalm 23 for class. I had always wanted to memorize it but I didn’t have an external deadline to adhere to. This is probably one of the most important things I have learned recently and completely explains the way I operate. Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin is the book that explains this tendency (and three others) along with lots of thought provoking concepts and it is definitely worth checking out at the library. You might start reading it and want to take a lot of notes so maybe you should just buy a copy!
Blessings on your week!
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