The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:1-3, ESV
"As in the East the
shepherd always precedes the flock, to discover the greenest patches of grass
and the least stony path, so does Jesus ever keep in front of the soul that
trusts and loves Him. And it is our art to allow as small a space as possible
to intervene between His footsteps and our own....
"Let us not judge God
by an incomplete or unfinished scheme; let us have patience till the end shall
justify the path by which we came. In the breaking dawn of eternity we shall
discover that God could not have brought us by another route which would have
been as expeditious, or as safe, as the one by which we have come....
"Would that we had the
faith to look up from every trying circumstance, from every fretting worry,
from every annoyance and temptation, into the face of our Guide, and say, 'It
is the right way, Great Shepherd of the sheep; lead me on!'"
(F. B. Meyer, The Shepherd Psalm, Kindle locations 390, 437, 440)
