The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.[a]
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness[b]
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord
forever.[g]
I love this chapter. So short, and yet so powerful. David’s heart reflecting God’s love for us – what overwhelming affection our father has for us!
The foundation for any relationship is love. The most important fruit that any believer can have is the fruit of love. Jesus says it in his own words in John 13:34-35, “35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This is the reason that love tends to be a frequent concept I talk about, because its what we’re called to as believers… but you cannot get to loving someone well if you are not living a life sheparded by Jesus.
So where do we start? My experience with God’s love is him literally making me lie down in green pastures. That’s what 2023 was for me. I’ve always been a sheep (except in politics hehe), but I can’t say that I have always followed the voice of my shepard. Honestly, I filled my heart with the wrong expectations and priorities so I could not focus on the things of God because I was filled with the worry of the world. I have had a bad habbit of putting expectations on God and other people that has only left me frustrated.
One lightbulb moment for me was when I realized I was controlled not by my own thoughts, or the thoughts others had of me, but what I thought other people thought of me. Thoughtception, I know. Unfortunately, many people live their lives this way instead of focusing on what their shepard thinks of them. Our shepard thinks you are worth leaving the ninety-nine for, our shepard thinks you are worth laying down his own life for.
God knows when we need rest: If we listen he will tell us and if we don’t, then from my experience he will usually make us. Trust me when I say that taking rest out of obedience is way better than taking rest out of necessity or consequence. He gives us rest because he wants to restore our souls – its the rest in Him that does the restoration.
I remember a point in my life where I felt unheard and unseen by God. If you feel like that I want to give you a piece of encouragement: Jesus is near, he longs for you to receive his love. His overwhelming affection is overflowing but you may not be in a position to receive it yet. Often times the first step to take to receiving and experiencing his love is letting go and dropping whatever burden you are carrying.
So let go. It will work out. It will be worth it. Jesus is all you need.
Grey Bonin 
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