Day 9
Read Psalm 23
There is never any superficial idea that believing in God and following Jesus will ensure that life runs smoothly. The Bible never gives the impression that following Jesus will rid your life of all of its struggles. I know there are some who sell that idea, quite literally at times, but it’s foreign to any true study of the Scriptures. So here, in perhaps the most famous passage in the Bible, David says in verse 4, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.” David doesn’t say, “Because I follow you I will never walk in a dark valley.” Suffering is a given.
In Matthew 7 Jesus compares following Him to building a house on a rock as opposed to building one in the sand. But in both cases, Jesus says that wherever you build your house, the storms will come (Matthew 7:24-27). The difference is not whether the storms in life will come; the difference is what foundation the house is on. So, while David at many times in his life walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he begins Psalm 23 with incredible confidence – “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” We’ve heard or read this Psalm so many times it is helpful to stop and really think about what it means for Jesus to be our shepherd.
David Powlison suggested that it is often helpful to write out what a Psalm would say if the opposite of what it says were true. This practice can make the truth of the Psalm more vivid. He calls this the Anti-Psalm. What would life look like if God was not our shepherd? Here are Powlison’s opening verses of the Anti-Psalm 23.
I’m on my own.
No one looks out for me or protects me.
I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right.
I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed.
It’s a jungle — I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert — I’m thirsty.
My soul feels broken, twisted, and stuck. I can’t fix myself.
I stumble down some dark paths.
Life lived in the Anti-Psalm 23 is bleak. Life comes at us and we’re all on our own. Thankfully, this is not the case. God is shepherding you.
Prayer
Psalm 23 is a perfect Psalm to pray through for yourself. Take some time today and pray through each sentence and think through the powerful images that David uses to describe his confidence in God.
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