Scripture: Psalms 23:1–6
Psalm 23
The Divine Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I 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 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.
Today I have two Psalm 23 inspired stories to share with you. Told from sheep and
human points of view.
Psalm 23: A Sheep Story
I know my shepherd is good because he carefully watches over me, attending to my
needs. When I was born the good shepherd named me Beloved. Every day he would
talk and sing to me so I could learn his voice and every day he would remind me of my
name as I came near. In the evening the good shepherd sings out to his flock, and we
all come his way. Each night, I love to hear his voice and feel his touch as he calls us in
by name and carefully looks over each of us to make sure we are well. In the morning,
he guides me to fresh grass, thick with dew, my favorite breakfast.
As a nervous sheep in a big world, it can be hard to rest. But when I am tired, the good
shepherd makes sure I feel safe, that the flock is at peace with each other, that there
are no insects in my nose or on my fur to bug me, and that I have been fed. Then, the
good shepherd says in his loving voice, “Beloved sheep, you must rest. All shall be well,
for I am watching over you.” Hearing his voice and trusting his words, I finally can lay
down and rest.
When it is time to go someplace new, my good shepherd leads me there, finding just
the right path for me to take. Even sheep in other flocks know what a good job my
shepherd does at leading us safely to new pastures. Sometimes the good shepherd
guides us through tough terrain or into deep valleys. I don’t like it when this happens,
but I know I am safe because the good shepherd is with me. I like it when I can hear
him singing, his voice echoing through the valley, reminding me he is near. He is always watching with his rod and staff in hand, ready to protect and guide if any threat comes our way or if any sheep goes astray.
My good shepherd is always counting his sheep and when one is missing, he gets the
rest safely together, so he can go out looking for the missing one. Sometimes, I must
admit, I get annoyed when he does this. I get tired of hearing him count…97, 98, 99…
and I get frustrated when one is missing. I want to keep going and get bored waiting for him to come back but I try to be patient because every once in a while, he has to go looking for me.
Because, sometimes, I wander off, stuck in my own thoughts, daydreaming the best
sheepy dreams or following a butterfly, I don’t realize I am lost until it is too late and I
am alone, unable to see my flock or hear my shepherd’s voice. Sometimes, I even roll
into holes and get stuck on my back with my legs sticking up. But every time I wander
away, my good shepherd realizes I am missing. for he is always counting his
sheep…97, 98, 99… and when he realizes I am missing, he goes out searching for me.
As he searches, he sings, his voice echoing through the valley until I can hear it. I was
tired and uncomfortable stuck in the hole, but I bleated out to him, and he came running to my rescue. With his staff, he pulled me out and back to my feet, and he sat with me while the blood came back into my legs and I was ready to walk back to the group.
Another time, I was stuck in another hole and I was too tired to bleat when I heard him
singing. I could hear vultures circling overhead, sure I was done for, but my good
shepherd kept looking and found me, gently pulling me out of the hole, treating my
wounds, and waited until I had the strength to return.
And I will never forget the time when I got lost as a little lamb. My good shepherd
carried me back to the flock, singing and rejoicing that he had found his one lost lamb.
When I am afraid, I remember the feeling of his warm embrace, the care in his eyes,
and the love in his song, and that fear goes away.
As temperatures start to rise, my good shepherd guides us to the tablelands in the
mountains where it is cooler and the grass is green from the winter’s snowfall. It is a
tough journey to get to those higher lands, with steep inclines hard on sheep legs, and
sometimes wolves even hide in the rocks. But my good shepherd knows all of this and
takes us there slowly—the “scenic route,” he calls it. He makes sure we rest along the way, finding us clear water and patches of grass among the rocks. He is always on the
lookout for wolves and other dangers, and if there is a threat, he protects us, acting as a guard. My good shepherd puts himself between the wolf and the flock and uses his
strength and power to get rid of the threat.
Eventually, we make it to the tablelands, where a feast of green grass awaits us, but
before he lets us roam, my good shepherd inspects the land, making sure no poisonous plants are hidden in the green. Then, he puts oil on my head, ears, and nose so flies won’t bother me, and at last, we are free to roam and feast on the tablelands. I bounce around, too excited to simply walk, as I take in the feast before me. I know I am safe from enemies—big, like wolves, or small, like flies, because my good shepherd is
watching over us all. I savor each bite as I eat, and once I am full, I chew on my cud,
content and satisfied. At night, the shepherd sings out to us, calling us in to be watched over more closely in the darkness. He counts us, calling us each by name, looking over us to make sure all is well, until he gets to one hundred. The good shepherd sings us to sleep, reminding us of his faithful love that never ends.
Psalm 23: A Human Story
Rachel knew the Lord was her shepherd. Ever since she was little, her mom would read Psalm 23 to her when she was feeling anxious about something. Her mom would say, “You don’t need to be afraid, for God the Good Shepherd is always near caring for you.”
Her name, Rachel, meant “a female lamb,” and so her collection of stuffed sheep started young. When she got older, she wanted to raise a lamb for 4-H, but since she lived in town, her mother convinced her that learning to crochet was the next best thing.
Rachel took crocheting classes from a lady named Vanessa in her church. Vanessa
affectionately called her crochet hooks “shepherd’s staffs.” She would look over her
collection and carefully pick the right one for the project and say, “this staff will comfort and protect me today.” Then Vanessa would look over them all again and pick one for Rachel and say, “Now this one is just right for you today. May it comfort and guide you.” Rachel always laughed when Vanessa said this.
Quickly, Rachel learned how to make chains out of her yarn with her shepherd’s staff
hook. At first, she could only make little scarves with jagged edges that she wrapped
around her stuffed sheep at home. But the more she crocheted, the straighter the lines got. She learned how to make more stitches and read patterns. Rachel was always amazed at how yarn could transform into something more if she followed the patterns of wrapping yarn around the hook and weaving it through the previous rows in just the right way.
As they crocheted, they would tell each other stories. Vanessa listened attentively as
Rachel told stories about school, and Rachel loved to hear Vanessa tell stories about
growing up on the farm and caring for animals, especially the sheep. Somehow, God
showed up in each story Vanessa told. Rachel was amazed at how God always seemed
to be with Vanessa, and she wondered how God might be with her, too.
After Rachel mastered the basics, Vanessa taught her to crochet little animals. As they
crocheted the bodies and stuffed them with fluff, Vanessa would remind Rachel how
God lovingly made each one of us. Vanessa encouraged Rachel to make each animal a
little different and to give each one a name. She always reminded Rachel that God was
an artist that lovingly and uniquely made her for wonderful things, and Rachel dreamed of what they might be. After a while, Rachel no longer needed crocheting lessons, but still every week she would go over to Vanessa’s house to talk and crochet. For years they crocheted together making blankets, sweaters, and a hat for every person they knew.
One afternoon, Vanessa and Rachel were working together to make a flock of sheep.
Earlier that week, Rachel had gone to her grandpa’s funeral and Psalm 23 was read. To
Rachel, Psalm 23 had always been a happy Psalm full of comfort as she imagined she
was a cute fluffy sheep that God the Good Shepherd was taking care of. Her mom read
it to her when she was anxious and she always felt more at peace by the time she
heard “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” Rachel wasn’t sure what to think about Psalm 23 being sad. She had always ignored that “valley of death”
line before. As Rachel crocheted her little lamb, she wondered why sheep had to go into valleys of death. Vanessa could sense that Rachel was deep in thought and after a bit, she asked Rachel what was on her mind.
“Do you know Psalm 23?” Rachel asked.
“Ah yes, that is one of my favorites,” Vanessa replied and she pointed to an embroidery
of the Psalm on her wall. Rachel looked closer at the wall hanging and saw the little
stitches forming the words “The Lord is my shepherd,” and below the words was a
scene of grassy rolling hills with a calm stream, sheep, and a shepherd.
“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me,” Vanessa said, “Do you know why I call my
crochet hooks shepherd staffs?”
“No,” said Rachel, “I thought you were just being funny.”
“Look,” she said, “a crochet hook kind of looks like a shepherd’s staff. My grandma, who
made this hanging, also taught me to crochet. She and my grandpa had sheep on their farm. My grandpa had a shepherd’s staff to guide the sheep from getting too far away, but my grandma said her crochet hook was her shepherd’s staff. She never used
patterns, my grandma said that when she crocheted, she prayed and felt God the Good Shepherd guiding her and her staff to make what was needed. Grandma said she would come to her yarn with a pile of worries and crochet and pray to the Good Shepherd until green pastures and restful waters would appear. Many times she thought she would run out of yarn before her project was done, but she said there was always just enough. As she would tie a knot and sew in the tail, she would finish each crochet project saying, “I shall not want’.”
“I want a lot of things,” Rachel admitted. “but right now, I don’t want to feel this sad.”
“You feel sad because of your and your grandpa’s great love, and that love will never go
away.” Vanessa answered. “When Psalm 23 says, “I shall not want,” I don’t think it
means we will never want anything. My grandma always said she wanted a bigger
house and a dog. She never got either, but my grandma was content with what she had. She seemed to remind herself of that each time she finished a project, saying, “I shall not want”.
After some silence, Vanessa asked, “Do you know something I’ve always wanted?”
“No. What?” said Rachel.
“I’ve always wanted to crochet Psalm 23, kind of like how my grandma embroidered it.
Would you like to do that with me? We’ve already started on some sheep.”
Together, they planned a Psalm 23 blanket with added figures. With each piece they
made, they talked about how the psalm was at work in their lives. Vanessa and Rachel
crocheted a blanket of green pastures with a pool of restful waters and talked about
ways they rested. Vanessa took a rest every afternoon in her bed, but Rachel was
adverse to naps, and preferred to lay on her hammock and look up at the clouds. As
they sewed on little sheep paths through the green hills to guide the sheep to the best
feeding spots, Vanessa told stories about how God guided her throughout her life, and
Rachel wondered about the adventures God would lead her on someday. Rachel and
Vanessa even crocheted a dark valley into the blanket and talked about the dark times
in their lives and how God was with them then. And they made lots of sheep! Each one
was unique and each one had their name sewn on their stomach. Some sheep were
named after friends or family and others were named after people they found hard to
love because the Bible said they need to love their enemies and this was good practice.
Lastly, Vanessa and Rachel crocheted a strong yet loving shepherd to watch over and
care for the scene. Then, they found a basket for the blanket and put all of the pieces in. Vanessa let Rachel have the basket with the blanket and figures, but Rachel chose a
few keepsake sheep for Vanessa to keep.
Rachel treasured the Psalm 23 basket her whole life, prayerfully taking the pieces out in times where she wanted nothing and in times when she wanted a lot. She would lay the blanket out on her lap when her life felt full of green pastures and when she was in deep valleys. Rachel would find comfort and joy holding the sheep and shepherd she had lovingly made with Vanessa many years ago. Rachel used the blanket and figures to teach her children and grandchildren Psalm 23 and about God being their Good Shepherd. And Rachel continued to use her crochet hook as a shepherd staff to comfort and guide her all the days of her life.
These are two Psalm 23 stories I made up. I think many of us have our own Psalm 23
stories and I encourage you to reflect on them and share them with others this coming week.
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