“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads 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 You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” Psalm 23

“The 23rd psalm is a psalm of thanks in which a Christian heart praises and thanks God for teaching him and keeping him on the right way, comforting and protecting him in every danger through His Holy Word. The psalmist compares himself to a sheep that a faithful shepherd leads into fresh grass and cool water. In addition, he shows the table, the cup, and oil also as images from the Old Testament worship and calls it all God’s Word, as it is also called rod and staff, grass, water, and the way of righteousness. This psalm belongs in the Third Commandment and in the Second Petition.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

This well-known Psalm is so rich with imagery of peace and blessing — it is my opinion that everyone should memorize this Psalm as a devotional exercise. Praying these verses back to G-d, and meditating on them verse by verse, can help us remember how good, how great and how merciful our G-d is for all G-d’s people.

In particular I want to lift up the verses: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.” We currently are being held in the fearful grip of the “Covid-19” virus — and people every where are scared. So many people all over the world either have been or may suffer with illness, loss, or pain. There has been nothing like this pandemic since the Spanish Flu in 1918. And yet, we are reminded by the 23rd Psalm that our G-d is a G-d of comfort. Our Lord holds all power over death and disease no matter what this world may bring to us. Our G-d is the only One who can take us by the hand through life’s darkest moments of suffering, bringing freedom and healing from the pain of life, straight into the glory and the hope of heaven that is reserved for all believers. We never have to fear, in life or in death, for G-d is with us — our G-d, our Shepherd who is our constant strength and redeemer.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, who alone is that one Good Shepherd, thanks be unto You for all Your spiritual and bodily benefits. Let the Word of Your salvation dwell among us richly, and suffer not that trusty staff, the word of Your promise, to be taken from us. And when the shadow of death spreads over us, conduct us safely to the fold of the perfected saints, the tabernacle not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Amen.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—let him rescue the one in whom he delights!” Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.” Psalm 22:1-11

“The 22nd psalm is a prophecy of the suffering and resurrection of Christ and a prophecy of the Gospel, which the entire world shall hear and receive. Beyond all other texts, it clearly shows Christ’s torment on the cross, that He was pierced hand and foot and His limbs stretched out so that His bones could have been counted. Nowhere in the other prophets can one find so clear a description. It is indeed one of the chief psalms. It belongs in the First Commandment, for it promises a new worship of God. It is in the First and Second Petitions.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

Psalm 22 begins with the most anguished cry in human history: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These are the words that Jesus spoke when at the depth of suffering on the cross. His suffering was beyond our knowing and understanding — his actions of giving himself up for all people unfathomable. But, understand, Jesus was not inventing his own words — he was repeating the words of a Psalm that were near and dear to him. As such, we too need to reflect on these words — knowing they come from the heart of Christ in a particular moment of suffering.

The psalm begins with a section dominated by the agonized prayer: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?” John Calvin once wrote that these words, though coming from the anguished lips of Christ, are far from being unique or rare for the believer — for many of us have had similar moments of anguish. “There is not one of the godly who does not daily experience in himself the same thing. According to the judgment of the flesh, he thinks he is cast off and forsaken by God, while yet he apprehends by faith the grace of God, which is hidden from the eye of sense and reason.” We must not think that living the Christian life is easy or that we will not daily have to bear the cross. But we also have the hope and faith that through Jesus Christ, we will receive grace, through faith — that comes to each through word and sacrament.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, Lamb of the Father’s own choosing, who offered Yourself a bloody sacrifice for our sins on the Place of Skulls, receive our thanks for Your love beyond measure. Let Your wounds be the solace of our hearts, and Your merits the ornaments of our souls in life and death, that, with Your perfected saints on high, we may forever sing Your praise.

Amen.