Psalm 23 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 23 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Verse 2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
Verse 3he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Verse 4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff- they comfort me.
Verse 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Verse 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Devotion
I live on the eastern edge of Oregon, a desert-land where water is a strictly regulated treasure. Water is always on the move here, whether it be pumped irrigation water, the currents of the great Snake River, or "runoff" from the mountains to the north and south. Not often does one find idle water. Even in the many reservoirs, water is being prepared, in a sense, for its run downhill.
"He leads me beside still waters.” In these words we hear about idyllic "still waters;" water that has arrived or finished its work. "In Yahweh my shepherd, I have already arrived," says the psalmist. The tides of the Pacific come and go like breathing, but the promise of God will bring us to a kind of salvation that is complete, lacking nothing. It will be a feast, according to our teacher the psalmist.
Prayer
Lord, give us stillness and peace even in the busy, moving waters of our lives. Amen.