“The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)
Lord,
Eternal God, Maker of heaven and earth, You who are far above all else, mighty and magnificent,
You are our shepherd, and we are the people in your flock. You are the one who is with us round the clock, never needing of sleep so that we can rest in your watchful care. Whatever the weather, whatever the season, whatever the conditions of the world around us, whatever the threat, You’ll never abandon us. You are the perfect shepherd, not weak and mean, but mighty and loving, and You care for us and our good.
Lord Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd, and You have sought us out, found us, brought us back home to You, we who have trusted You, wayward and lost sheep but now safe in Your arms. And because You are our shepherd, we rest secure. We have all that we need. Life may be hard, we may be busy, we may be anxious, we may wonder what will happen, but we know that because You are committed to us and care for us, we can be contented.
Lord, make us contented in all that You give! Make us calm and thankful as we see Your provision. We lack nothing that we need, and so Lord, help us not to covet what others have that we do not. Help us, instead, to be grateful for all that You have given and promise to continue to give. Help us to hold the things of this world lightly, so that when they are threatened or even taken from us, we can still rest rejoicing that we have You and Your good provision for what we need. Help us to lean on You, not on what we own or our homes or our status or whatever we hold to to get us through this life; You are the Good Shepherd who, as we trust You, will not lead us astray or awry, but You are leading us home.
Keep our eyes fixed on You and help us to trust You in this time.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
This week, we’ll be praying through Psalm 23.
(**Adapted from sermon preached by Ray Ortlund, Jr., on July 7, 2019, at Immanuel Church in Nashville, TN).
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