The Lord is my Shepherd (David Gore - Psalm 23)

There is a good deal of comfort in the words of Psalm 23. The notion of someone who has our best interests at heart is genuinely wonderful. A companion who will not just accompany us, but lead us in the best path, has the potential to guide us away from a great deal of unnecessary hardship and pain. But the Lord as our Shepherd does not mean we avoid the valley of the shadow of death. It means our shepherd walks with us through it. Neither does it mean that we have no enemies, or even that we can avoid such people. Rather, this shepherd prepares a table that enables intimate engagement with those we would normally seek to avoid. The path to abundance is often not the one we would choose if left to our own devices!