Stephen preached from one of the most well-known psalms on Sunday morning, Psalm 23. In Bible days, a shepherd truly was ‘hands-on’, constantly with his flock of sheep. Nowadays, sheep seem to be left on their own, wandering on hillsides, but this psalm clearly paints a very different picture of the shepherd: we see one who cares for the sheep’s needs and looks after them in every way.
The following is a paraphrase of the psalm:
‘The Lord is my shepherd’ – my guide, my guard, my minder, my mentor. He sits us down and fills us with all we need; He puts us back together. Even when I struggle, sometimes in very hard times, You are there, covering, leading, guiding me. You make it good when all around seems bad; You fill me to the limit. You hold me above it all. What greater thing can I want than to be with You? To live fully with You forever is my aim.
This psalm, often quoted or sung at funerals, should also be part of our daily lives now – it’s a psalm for living. We have no need to live aimlessly, for we have a living, awesome God to guide us as we walk through life.