Tag Archives: Psalm 23

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Beside The Still Waters And The War of the Worlds

 

 

Most of us know or have heard reference at some point in our lives to Psalm 23.  Bits and pieces come to us when we are feeling afraid, alone, or like we are being attacked by alien spaceships in War of the Worlds.  Ha–I am not joking that part of my subconscious sees the Priest in the old War of the Worlds movie walking toward the evil-eyed spaceship quoting the 23rd psalm. Then he gets zapped and turns to dust.   It scared me to death as a kid.  I always wondered why he was not using his brain and kept walking toward the ship instead of away.  At that point in the movie, I think the behavior of the aliens pretty consistently proved they were bad guys…so, while all of you are reading through psalm 23 with floating streams and quiet places and vivid images of gentle shepherds leading their sheep through grassy knolls, I’m thinking about the poor priest who got turned to dust.

Anyway…

I’m thinking that alien space ships were not on King David’s radar when he wrote his prayer to God, but maybe something like it.  A deeply distressing time that brought him to his knees, seeking the comfort his true Shepherd could bring.

So, however we get to Psalm 23 and whatever makes us think about it, the truth is the same.  God, our good, good God, will lead us in quiet places and walk with us in silence while the peace of the streams bring life back into our weary souls.  Nowhere in Psalm 23 does it say “Then God shouted at me because I’ve been such an idiot”, or “God threw me into the quiet stream and held my head under until I gurggled” I give up!”

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What this Psalm DOES say, all our own vivid imagery and associations with this familiar passage aside, is:

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Take a deep breath, breath in the Hope of a loving God who will walk quietly with you wherever you are on your path.  Know He’s with you.  Breathe and Hope.

Hope

*Grace and Peace*

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When Restoration Is In Order…

If I were to tell you about last Friday, you might not believe me. Oh, ok…I’ll go ahead, but you still might not believe me. 

We woke up exhausted because of Whitney’s play the night before that went far past our normal bed time. She was still green from being the “Wicked Witch”, even though she showered and scrubbed the night before.  It didn’t matter much because she was going right to school to perform her play for the whole school.  Rob drove her to school, then I had to pick her up at 9:30 for a doctor’s appointment at 10:30. She was bright green, so we rushed home to scrub off as much as we could without being late. We got there just in time, and the nurse had a funny smile on her face when we arrived, “Things are going to be a bit different today”. She explained that our doctor was being written about for a national magazine, and the magazine wanted a photo of him treating a patient. They chose Whitney. She was still slightly green around the edges.  The nurse laughed about it, brought us a wash cloth, and we scrubbed heartily for the next few minutes.

After the photo shoot, Whit was taken into the operating room because she was having a yucky looking mole removed from her head. I was totally prepared, not even thinking I was going to be grossed out, then things went south for a minute. The mole was removed, a vein was hit…blood everywhere…I turned green and everything went black. I tried to stop myself by sitting down. The nurse had to turn away from Whit to help me…so embarrassing!  Whitney did great. She didn’t move, wiggle or complain. I was so proud of her.

We came home, rested all afternoon, then got Whit ready for round #3 of her play. I rushed around and helped dancers get their make-up done, buttoned costumes, tried to keep Shrek calm because his make up was getting green and smudgy from sweat.  All in all, the play was great, wonderful, terrific. We clapped, cheered, it was (finally) done.   Rob took one vehicle and I took the other since I had to bring Whit early. On the way home, Rob had  hit a deer, the deer shattered our front headlight and seriously damaged the front end of our van. When Rob came home with Maddie and Belle, they were totally shaken up. Belle was literally shaking for an hour or so, seriously freaked out.

It was the craziest day ever, to say the least. No one was hurt when they hit the deer. Whitney did fine in her play and at her outpatient surgery. I recovered from my embarrassing fainting spell…we all made it through in one piece.

Saturday, we rested.  Our friend owns an amazing piece of land on a small lake, and he graciously lets us come up there and enjoy it. It is one of our favorite places to get away. Whitney and Maddie each brought a friend.  The found tadpoles, snails, fossils, and bugs. Rob took Belle out on the kayak, then I got to kayak for the first time ever. I discovered I was really good at it, and I think it’s something I will be doing again.

Maddie and Syd

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At the end of those few hours, my soul was relaxed and revived again. It was nice to breathe fresh air and let the sun shine on our faces.  God is so good, and he knows exactly what we need, when we need it.

 Late March 2011 102

 

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Psalm 23:1-3

 

He makes me lie down