The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. So begins the 23 rd Psalm that is so familiar to us all. It s a very personal psalm reflecting a very personal relationship with the Lord. The psalmist uses two metaphors, one of shepherd and one of host to describe the gracious generosity of God in providing for all of his needs. The shepherd provides for and protects his sheep and the host offers food, cups overflowing with wine, and oil for anointing. Whether you are a sheep or a person, the message is one of abundance. But the real message is one of safety and assurance in the house of the Lord which has comforted people for thousands of years. Not surprisingly then the 23 rd Psalm is associated with funerals. I use it when I am doing a service at a funeral home because it is familiar even to people who don t go to church. But the translation that we know as the valley of the shadow of death implies that there is only one kind of shadow through which we pass in our lifetime and yes, it is comforting to know that we shall fear know no evil because the Lord is with us when we are approaching death or mourning the death of someone we love. But that valley of the shadow of death can also be translated as the darkest valley which may include death but it can also refer to all those shadows s through which we pass throughout our lives. I think it is fair to say that the older we get the more shadows there will be and it is this expanded understanding that makes the psalm a beacon throughout our lives. Regardless of when we turn to this psalm for comfort it resounds with confidence and trust in God s love and mercy. This it is where it is helpful to think of God as always present both as guide and as comforter, leading with staff and protecting with rod. I think of God as most present when I can t get to sleep and the cares of my life and the world come rushing at me when that which I have done and that which I have left undone won t let me rest. These days my sense of frustration at the conditions in this country and the world can cause a degree of agitation that banishes sleep altogether. And that is when I have to give Elisabeth Tunney 1
over control, release the illusion of autonomy and independence and admit that the Lord is my shepherd who has promised an abundant table and an overflowing cup, and possibly a good night s sleep if only I will damn well relax and enjoy it! That s when I can begin practicing gratitude, counting the blessings that renew my confidence in God s goodness and mercy, and find peace at the last. Sometimes though when the shadow is really dark that line I shall not be in want may not ring true. Of course we find ourselves wanting. We are always wanting. We may want more money, or a better job, or a car that doesn t break down every time we leave the house. If you look around the world there is want everywhere. The reality though, is that the Lord has provided, it is us human beings who have created scarcity by focusing on our own needs, not trusting in God s abundance and therefor behaving as if scarcity rather than abundance were all around us. Want exists to be sure and so often we have the means to satisfy it if only we so choose. There are other times when we are vulnerable, times when things outside of our control just don t go well. And that is when the 3 rd verse comes into play, when the Lord revives my soul. The Lord revives my soul when there is nowhere else to turn; the Lord revives my soul when marriages fail, and when our friends betray us, when those we love suffer or die, when the powers that be trample our dignity and promote injustice. When any of these things happen the Lord is there to revive my soul. Yes, the Lord will see us through. And furthermore the Lord will see us through when in the shadow of sin we muck up our own lives which is all too often. Perhaps the shadow is not permanent but I can certainly think of a number of occasions in which I have made really bad decision and suffered the consequences, sometimes for years. Elisabeth Tunney 2
I find this prayer to the Liberator God by Edward Hays from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim to be really helpful because it reminds us that only when we embrace God s protection are we truly free. Liberator God How often we find ourselves In a prison of our own making, Held by resentment and hostility Or cultural pressures to look good, Pressed by the need to be right, Caught up in heartless criticism Or useless apprehensions. You free us from one prison cell, But then we move to another. Help us to be fully liberated. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want. The sheep are dependent on their shepherd who leads, feeds, waters and protects them. While we may not like to think of ourselves as sheep it is good to be reminded that we are not independent because it is when we try to act autonomously without regard to our relationship with God or others that we stray from God s right pathways. Like sheep God frees us from one prison cell only to watch in sorrow as we move to another. Everything we are, everything we have comes from God, including our freedom as we walk in his pathways. As the recipients of God s goodness and mercy we are expected to extend this grace to our fellow human beings. We are to care for the poor, the sick, the vulnerable. In the ancient world this meant widows and children who had no way to provide for themselves. Today, most of Elisabeth Tunney 3
us who do any kind of ministry see much of our support going to those who have mental health issues. The parade of people through the Soup Kitchen, the Food Pantry, my office, and the Thrift Shop bear this out. Now most often they are not what we would call crazy, but, for whatever reason, and yes, sometimes it involves substance abuse, but for whatever reason these folks cannot cope with the complexity of today s world. Their decision-making may be flawed, their ability to hold a job might be impaired, their cognitive ability might be limited. It can be frustrating to watch the resulting self-destructive behaviors but we are all sheep together and if we pay attention to our psalm, praying that we are to be led in right pathways for his name s sake then we cannot ignore our responsibility to those who are less fortunate. And if, as is sometime our wont in times of distress to doubt that this is true, that this rosy and seemingly bucolic picture of a shepherd God is of any use, we have but to remember that God himself came to us. God himself became incarnate. God became incarnate and walked through the valley of the shadow of death to endure shadow upon shadow of ridicule and rejection, torture, and even death itself to show us that we will indeed come out on the other side all the days of our lives, to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What could be more abundant than the banquet that Jesus left us, that feast of bread and wine, of body and blood, that is our guarantee our hope in redemption, salvation, and resurrection. The ultimate sign of God s generosity and abundance is what we pray each week in our Eucharistic prayers by his blood he reconciled us and by his wounds we are healed. It is the good shepherd who has dissolved death, that most fearsome of shadows, a victory which we affirm when we proclaim that by his dying he destroyed death and by his rising he restored our life. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. Amen Elisabeth Tunney 4
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