Come Follow Me for Teens: "The Lord is My Shepherd" (Psalms 1-46)

What this episode covers

Podcast Summary — “The Lord Is My Shepherd” This week’s Come Follow Me for Teens episode begins our study of Psalms 1–46 and the theme “The Lord Is My Shepherd.” Rather than only studying a few individual verses, this episode also helps teens learn how to approach the book of Psalms for themselves—how to read a psalm, how to make it personal, and how to find the psalm they need. We begin in Psalm 1 with the image of a person who delights in the law of the Lord becoming like: “A tree planted by the rivers of water.” Psalm 1 contrasts a life rooted in God’s law with a life that is easily influenced and carried by the world around it. We explore how God’s commandments can provide stability, protection, peace, and lasting happiness. We also use this psalm to model a simple way to study Psalms by noticing contrasts, images, repeated ideas, and the central truth the writer is trying to teach. The episode includes a personal story from my father’s 75th birthday. When I asked him the most valuable thing he had learned during his life, his answer was simple: God’s laws and principles work. Looking back over 75 years, he could see that following God had led to the most meaningful and beautiful blessings in his life. We then turn to Psalm 23 and one of the most familiar declarations in scripture: “The Lord is my shepherd.” A shepherd leads, protects, nourishes, restores, and stays with the flock through dangerous places. We explore what it means to make Jesus Christ our personal Shepherd and why learning to recognize His voice matters in a world filled with competing voices. Psalm 23 promises: “He restoreth my soul.” “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.” And even when the path moves through the “valley of the shadow of death,” David declares: “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” Following Jesus Christ does not mean every difficult valley disappears. It means we do not have to walk through those valleys alone. This principle also helps model how to make Psalms personal by inviting teens to take the images and promises in the text and ask what they mean in their own lives. Finally, we study Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” A lamp does not always illuminate the entire road ahead. Sometimes it simply provides enough light to take the next safe step. In the same way, God may not always reveal everything about our future, but His word can provide enough direction, comfort, correction, or courage to help us move forward. The episode includes an experience with a student who needed help making an important decision. A message from a living prophet provided exactly the light that student needed to recognize the next step. From there, we invite teens to search Psalms for themselves. The accompanying Study & Teaching Guide includes a “Find the Psalm You Need” resource with suggested psalms for times when someone feels afraid, alone, in need of direction or forgiveness, grateful, surrounded by opposition, unsure whether God hears them, or simply wants to praise Him. Psalms gives us language for nearly every human emotion and repeatedly points us back toward God. This episode helps teens learn not only what several psalms mean, but how to discover meaning in them for themselves. Sometimes the teacher’s job is not to catch every fish. Sometimes it is simply to show students where to cast the line—and let them discover what the Lord has waiting for them in His word.

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