Forever

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me, your rod and 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, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Today, I am pondering the changing scenes of the 23rd Psalm. The psalmist begins with the beautiful scene of green pastures and still waters. Serenity and peace, contentment and joy, hanging out with our God—Our favorite place to be.

The scene changes to evil, fear, death, but the actors are the same. This time I am facing evil, fear and even death, and God is my hero, coming in to save the day with his rod and staff and I am comforted and reassured.

Scene 3 has the Lord as my faithful provider and I am surrounded by his lavish love and provision, and it is obvious even to my enemies that He thinks I am special and He adores me.

But I guess I am focused a little more these days on the constant faithfulness of God, my shepherd, my protecter and my provider. Because after decades of being His daughter, I have seen first hand the reality of goodness and mercy through it all, through deep dark valleys and quiet still waters and have known the peace that comes from dwelling in the house of the Lord and the joy that comes from knowing that is my “forever”.

I hope you will store the message of Psalm 23 (and this song) in your heart and find strength in it.