a little journey through psalm 23: part 1
Psalm 23 starts here - God is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
Two statements, linked.
Because God is like a shepherd, like a caretaker, a provider, a guard, a sentinel ...
Because of that truth, therefore there is nothing I lack.
How can this be?
How can this be true when the world is screaming: SCARCITY!?
When the talking heads on TV are screaming: SCARCITY!?
When the mundane act of pushing my grocery cart down the next aisle screams: SCARCITY!?
How can it be true that "there is nothing I lack?"
I do not know.
But I want to know.
Don't you?
Let's ask God to show us.
Today, whisper this prayer:
"God, you are my shepherd ...
And God, because you are my shepherd - the One who watches over me at all times -
because this is true,
there is nothing I lack.
God, show me this is true today.
Show me that you are a God of abundance, not scarcity ...
a God overflowing with goodness, not stingy hoarding ...
a God who provides, who shelters, who gives us everything we need ...
Show me today - just today - that I lack nothing."
And - just as importantly - as you pray this, will you share with those in need around you?
So that - in some mysterious kind of loaves-and-fishes miracle - we can be the conduit between God and our neighbor that makes this opening line in Psalm 23 true for them, too.
God is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
AMEN.
