The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1–3) But David saw everything he needed in a good shepherd of defenseless sheep, even when he was most vulnerable and most afraid,. When today may be my last day and everything I have gives way, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Not only will I survive this threat or sickness or loss, but I will have all I need and more. The world looks and thinks I am weak, poor, and helpless, but with God I have a real, but secret strength and wealth of a kind the world cannot now understand and of an amount they cannot ever count. The hope of all who look to heaven for help sings, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). Beyond everything I can see right now, and lasting forever, is a gift that can satisfy and protect me long after all my enemies are dead and gone. That gift is God himself. He is the goodness better than any good we’ve seen or heard or tasted here (Psalm 16:11), and he is the shelter safer than any government or laws or armies in any nation on earth. The promises of our Shepherd flood every valley in this life with light, and reveal the path to never-ending, never-waning, never-in-danger-again peace and happiness. Hope in the face of terror and peace in the face of danger say a great deal about the faith we have in God and about the God in whom we believe. God loves to work in ways that reveal his strength and beauty, and so David says, “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). God has written opposition and danger into the world, and into our stories, at least in part to tell the world about himself — his holiness, his justice, his love, his power to save. Who knows (other than God) how long this pandemic will last, or how long it will continue to affect our work, our families, our school and our church. What we can be sure of is that we have a good shepherd who in our weakness has great strength and gives us a space to rest and brings us to restoration as we rest in Him. God WILL use this for His glory. I hope and pray that we can find our wanting in Jesus so that on the other side of this pandemic we find ourselves walking in deeper intimacy with Jesus! Blessings,
Landry Caldwell
Worship Director
Grace Church