I am referring to David's Psalm 23, of course. It is probably the most recognizable and most frequently memorized piece of Scripture in the world. It has brought comfort to all kinds of people in all kinds of trouble. It became my prayer during the long day of labor while we waited for our little Amanda to be born. I would get to the part about walking through the valley of death...and would have to start over. I was fearing evil that dark day, and even though I could not seem to stop, the words reassured me of God's persistent presence.
Psalm 23's deeply moving words have been set to many different tunes, by many different composers. But I think I have to agree with my friend Doug, who claimed this version as his favorite. Isaac Watts set David's words to an old Southern Harmony tune. Here you will find children singing it to a nation in distress, three days after 9/11.
Resignation.
Jehovah is His name.
In pastures fresh He makes me feed
beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
when I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.
When I walk through the shades of death
His presence is my stay;
One word of His supporting grace
drives all my fears away.
His hand, in sight of all my foes,
doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
His oil anoints my head.
The sure provisions of my God
attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
and all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest
while others go and come;
no more a stranger, nor a guest,
but like a child at home.
Psalm 23 enables us to express the gamut of human fear and sorrow and hope. But the Lord's Day we celebrate as a day of joy, because on it, He rose again.* Our Amanda would have been thirty this year. We do not forget those we have lost to the valley of the shadow of death. But knowing that Jesus has broken the power of sin and death enables us to know "joy unspeakable and full of glory."+
Have a blessed Lord's Day. Our Shepherd has supplied all that we need.
* Peter, the bishop of Alexandria in Egypt, 306 AD.
+1 Peter 1:8
Thank you for sharing all of this, Kathy. That hymn is one of my all time favorites, as well. In fact, I just posted a you tube recording of it last week. Here is the link: http://songsofpraises.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-shepherd-will-supply-my-need.html
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings to you, dear one. ( =
Thank you for sharing this gorgeous version. I listened to it up in my craft room while sipping a cup of tea and watching a very pregnant deer grazing down below. It was just the transcendent moment I needed this morning.
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