Tuesday prior to Easter 4

 

[1]

Psalm 23—All three readings for Sunday use sheep and flock imagery. It is no surprise, then, that the Psalm of the Day is the beloved Twenty-third Psalm. It speaks of the Good Shepherd, whom we know is our Lord Jesus. He brings true peace and comfort to us, even in the presence of our enemies and when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, for He has overcome all enemies. Even as our enemies—sin, death, and the devil—surround us, we take comfort in the table He has prepared before us. At the Lord’s Table, He feeds us with His body and blood, given and shed for us for the remission of all our sins. We have true peace, for we have peace with God.

Psalm 23 – The Lord is my Shepherd and Host

Like many others, this beloved psalm bears the simple title A Psalm of David. Most account it to be a psalm of David’s maturity, but with vivid remembrance of his youth as a shepherd. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “I like to recall the fact that this psalm was written by David, probably when he was a king. He had been a shepherd, and he was not ashamed of his former occupation.”

“It [Psalm 23] has charmed more griefs to rest than all the philosophy of the world. It has remanded to their dungeon more felon thoughts, more black doubts, more thieving sorrows, than there are sands on the sea-shore. It has comforted the noble host of the poor. It has sung courage to the army of the disappointed. It has poured balm and consolation into the heart of the sick, of captives in dungeons, of widows in their pinching grief’s, of orphans in their loneliness. Dying soldiers have died easier as it was read to them; ghastly hospitals have been illuminated; it has visited the prisoner, and broken his chains, and, like Peter’s angel, led him forth in imagination, and sung him back to his home again. It has made the dying Christian slave freer than his master, and consoled those whom, dying, he left behind mourning, not so much that he was gone, as because they were left behind, and could not go, too.”

“Millions of people have memorized this psalm, even those who have learned few other Scripture portions. Ministers have used it to comfort people who are going through severe personal trials, suffering illness, or dying. For some, the words of this psalm have been the last they have ever uttered in life.” [2]

Collect for Psalm 23: Lord Jesus Christ, shepherd of your Church, you give us new birth in the waters of baptism, and you anoint us with oil, and call us to salvation at your table. Dispel the terrors of death and the darkness of error, Lead your people along safe paths, that they may rest securely in you and dwell in the house of the Lord now and forever, for your name’s sake. [3]. -03 May, 2022

---

[1] The icon on the cover shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd. In the upper corners, we see the stylized letters IC and XC, which are abbreviations for Jesus Christ in Greek. The Greek words on either side of the head of Christ say Ο ΠΟΙΜΗΝ Ο ΚΑΛΟΣ, meaning “The Good Shepherd.” Again, notice the pierced hands of the Good Shepherd who lays up His life for the sheep. Copyright © Google Images

 [2] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-23/

[3] Collect for Psalm 23, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, vol. I © 1994 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY-03 May, 2022