Church Write-Up: The Lord Is My Shepherd

The church that I attend is doing a series on Psalm 23. The subject today was “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

The pastor highlighted that sheep in the ancient world were dependent on their shepherd. Sheep were not particularly bright. They wandered off. They would fall down sideways or on their backs and be unable to get back up. Feces and dirt would get caught in their wool. They needed their shepherd, as we need God and God’s love and grace.

The pastor asked if God being our shepherd means that we will not get the Coronavirus. He answered “no”: God being our shepherd means that God delivers us from sin and death, not necessarily earthly sickness and problems. We have forgiveness from God and the hope of eternal life.

I felt that the pastor was projecting Christian ideas onto Psalm 23. My impression is that David was hoping God would deliver him from peril in this life. As a professor of mine said years ago in a class on Psalms, if David believed in divine reward and punishment in the afterlife, the Psalms would not read as they do. David hoped for peace, prosperity, and healing in this life, and his hope was that God would provide it. When God did not provide it, David either waited for it, protested his innocence, or felt as if God were punishing him for some sin.

At the same time, I do take what the pastor says seriously. He is an educated man. In his Bible studies, he takes original context and scholarship seriously, even as he reads the Old Testament Christocentrically. He is planning to offer a class on how to read the Psalms through Zoom on 9 am on Sundays, and I hope to take it. I am hoping that Zoom does not require me to show my face online, since, in this age of Corona, I tend to crawl out of bed at 9 am on Sunday mornings, even later, without having bathed, combed my hair, shaved, or changed out of my pajamas. I also hope the pastor remembers to send me an invite. Then there is learning to use Zoom. Zoom has my audio, but I do not have a microphone. I hope it does not require me to have that, since I plan to listen rather than talk.