Anne Craven
- Kjelder
- Mar 15
- 2 min read
The Lord is my shepherd
My husband and I have attended St. Alban’s for just about twenty years, if you include our years as undergraduates at LSU. From our wedding to the baptisms of our daughters, we have celebrated several family milestones here. I have been involved with Family, Campus, and Pastoral Care ministries over the years. .
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not be in want. Psalm 23:1
Devotional
This psalm can rightly be considered one of the “greatest hits” from the Bible, one that is universally adored and often memorized. A few years ago in Children’s Chapel, we spent time learning about sheep and their reliance on shepherds for guidance and protection. In that whole lesson, what the children loved most is that shepherds- or good ones, anyway- can tell their sheep apart and understand their different noises. Turns out there are happy baaaaas, scared baaaaas, hungry baaaaas, and I-don’t-feel-so-good baaaaas. A good shepherd tenderly responds to each utterance, and would never leave a sheep alone to fend for itself.
Springing forward from that “Sunday School understanding,” my heart opened to the powerful, deeply comforting promises of this psalm when it was read at the funeral of a twelve-year-old a few years ago, the son of a friend of mine. “The Lord leads George beside still waters, and revives George’s soul. He has anointed George’s head with oil…”
Obviously we were in the lowest depths of grief and misery at that funeral, but when the reader inserted the boy’s name into the psalm, the knots in our chests slightly loosened. We were reminded that God cares for and cherishes our loved ones as much as we do, in this life and the next. When George passed beyond his family’s reach, the Good Shepherd was there, guiding him, comforting him, anointing him, and following him.
I’m particularly comforted and inspired by verse six. It’s a reminder that God goes before us and behind us. Like a parent trailing a toddler, God’s got our back, following us with goodness and mercy.
Verse six also calls to mind the concept of time, and how “all the days of my life” need not be limited to our human understanding of days, years, lifetimes. This is the beautiful reminder that our funeral liturgy provides. What is a “lifetime” on this side of the veil, but maybe an interlude? Eternal life is ongoing, here, now, beyond, and forever; and so are God’s gentle comfort and loving provisions.
