Psalm 23

Read Psalm 23

Great Psalm 23 by Irv Davis

We have to travel some distance to connect with Psalm 23. Not only the time between now and the then of the ancient text.  St. Philip's church campus is in the heart of suburbia. In a neighborhood of greenbelts, we often see deer, raccoons, possums, coyotes, and the occasional bobcat; however, grazing for cattle and sheep are several miles distant. Some of us have farming and ranching in our family background, but few of us depend on animal stock for our livelihood.

We have to fit the image of God as our shepherd into our situation. We read Jesus' self-description,

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. That’s because he isn’t the shepherd; the sheep aren’t really his. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ He’s only a hired hand and the sheep don’t matter to him.¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that don’t belong to this sheep pen. I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock, with one shepherd.¹⁷ “This is why the Father loves me: I give up my life so that I can take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I give it up because I want to. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it up again. I received this commandment from my Father.”        (John 10:11-18, CEB) 

and we struggle to see ourselves as sheep.

As we allow the truth of this metaphor to become our reality, we are released from the burden of being spiritually self-sufficient and find the Christ who relieves the deepest symptoms of our human condition.

[Art Credit: http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/jmjoncas/LiturgicalStudiesInternetLinks/JewishWorship/JewishWorshipMusic/OTPsalms/Psalm023.html]