Daily Worship

Green pastures

November 06, 2013 0 0

Psalm 23: 1-4

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.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23 is one of the most well known pieces of poetry and sacred writing across the world.  It is said to have come from the hand of David himself, that great King of myth and legend, chosen because God sees the heart and not the outer appearance.  His exploits against a giant still offer hope to the underdog and his journey from outcast to King remind us of the promise of God in all of life.  The psalm comes as tender words from a tender heart, yet a man with the blood ‘of tens of thousands’ on his hands.  David was a man who had looked into the eyes of his enemy as they engaged in mortal combat.  Him or me!  He was a man who knew the depth of the darkness of the human heart and the need of the deeper grace and forgiving love of God’s mercy.  He was a man who built and sustained a Kingdom, serving God’s purposes for over forty years.

Lord God, the words of psalm 23 seem so familiar sometimes.  It is easy to reflect on green pastures when life is comfortable and the struggle seems distant.  It isn’t really that often that our life seems to be in mortal danger.  The valley of the shadow of death or darkness seems a distant and unfamiliar territory.  Perhaps that is the territory of the soldier who, knowing this day might be their last, offer in abandon their life and its acts to a deeper truth.  In the presence of our enemies it is necessary to stay strong and to know the need of the spiritual graces, as means to continue to fight for that which is good and true.  Lord God, we give thanks that as the shepherd you journey with us in difficult, rugged and tough places and find for us places of rest and renewal on the way, that we might be enabled to continue to struggle for that which allows life to flourish and good to prosper, that we might be enabled to live in your presence forever...Amen.

 

Padre David Anderson

Chaplain to The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Padre David Anderson is currently serving in Kabul on Op Herrick 19.  He has taken a series of well-known verses or passages from across scripture which expose and express our human nature in response to war and our hope for something better, God’s peace.