The perfect Psalm

Driving along the highway this morning on the way to work, as I passed a bank of some type of tall, dense shrubs, almost trees, I was seized momentarily by a feeling of panic, as if the six or seven thick trees represented a like number of unknowable but fearsome challenges that were soon to come against me. I snapped out of it in an instant, as my inner self cried out “fearless!” and my soul was reminded of the verse “I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Such are the antics of the mind when placed in a state of semi-consciousness by performing some repetitive and automatic action, like driving the same road for the umpteenth time.

Now that my mind had been jarred back to reality, it started working again, talking to the Lord as a newly awakened child talks to its mother, repeating over and over the bible verse that was on its lips as it awakened.

It occurred to me, how long it has been since I have prayed that psalm, I mean, in the version that my mind has memorized it, in the old King James version! My favorite bible, the one I’ve used and prayed with for almost forty years, has translated Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” in such a plain and antipoetic manner that whenever I read it, I almost rush through it to get on to other psalms that speak more to my heart.

The truth is, that before I became an adult Christian, the text of Psalm 23 was just about the only bible verses I knew by heart, from having heard them so often, that I didn’t really hear what they were saying anymore. This morning that changed. As I repeated those old words I had memorized so long ago and then avoided all these years, it became very plain to me that there’s a very good reason that this psalm has found such a place for itself in the culture as it has. In a way, it’s a perfect psalm, just as the Lord’s prayer is a perfect prayer. It has covered all the bases. I repeated it again from memory, and it revealed itself to me like a long lost friend.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth 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 Thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Glory to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee!