The Lord is My Shepherd

A Reflection for the Psalm for Sunday, March 19th, 2023:
The Fourth Sunday of Lent

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Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. R.

He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me. R.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. R.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. R.

Psalm 23 is certainly the best-known psalm there is. After John 3:16, it might be the best-known Scripture passage among people from many walks of Christian and non-Christian life. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve sung this psalm at funerals, and although I have done this many times, there is new meaning and new consolation each time I return to it. 

In this psalm we see God’s tender love that He pours out on us, His children. God is compared here to a shepherd, but the images used reminds me also of a mother who cares tenderly for her children. Like a mother, God prepares good foods for His child. He anoints us with oils, treasuring the beautiful person that each of us is. He guides and teaches tenderly but with authority, bearing His staff and rod in a way that gives comfort and does not inspire fear. God leads us to lie down in green pastures and to rest – how like a mother to help her child find peaceful and refreshing rest. We know that in order to grow well, children need the supportive and safe embrace of loving adults. Here God presents Himself as the model for all parents, and reminds us adults that no matter how old we grow, our great Parent is still watching over us with this tender care and love. 

Lent is a time that reminds us we are all on a journey. We are not yet at home, but pressing onwards to a future where we shall be at peace and have no more worries. Perhaps some find great consolation in this psalm because in it God reassures us that we do not make this journey alone. We never grow out of our state of childhood in His eyes; He remains forever concerned for our good, as a mother watches over her child, or a shepherd their sheep. Under God’s care, we know that we shall grow in safety, in goodness, and in mercy, and come at last to God’s own house.




Sr. Gemma MacLeod

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