1 The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 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.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 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

For I am a sheep led by a Master. He knows me and watches me by day and by night. I am absent of wit and am best at following others. Thus is the analogy of the world we live in. There is no guidance, only blind leading of relative wisdom dying and wavering. There is yearning in the world….

However, there is not want in the full hearts of the godly.  For we are replenished daily and led to greener places where we will not live among the stagnate. This is His will, His word. This is our life in Christ. I trudged in worldly wisdom, Existential and lost. Firing glances at the heavens on dark nights to seek the face of a god, even as God watched and tugged at my heart. “You will see my face some day”,  He said. I wouldn’t have believed then that which is so undeniable now. For I am a sheep and I am led by a caring Shepard. I will think but but thinking is bridled with God’s discernment and I am fed the delivering meal of wisdom each day. With each bite, I turn to Him that feeds with confidence.

In God I find my peace in a fresh solitude. The water is still. It is deep and dark – we do not know its depths though we know its still peace. The water of knowledge, the water of clarity, and the water of peace. I lay beside this water on the green grass of Spring, renewal, fit for a child of God for respite from the world and renewal of my heart. This restores me and as the grass sips the clear morning dew, I sip the water of His peace and wisdom.  All is well in the peace of His domain. All is restored daily. The world rushes by unnoticed, unheeded.  I am absorbed in the Father. We are offered a tangent between God and Man, He is life in the valley of death: He is Jesus. The scornful world denies His call. But not I who grieve for them yet am uncontrollably drawn to them with compassion. His restoration fills me with desire to plant a quiet restorative seed in a world rushing by, the green grass blankets the ground. I am at peace.

I am a sheep and He is my Shepard. I a man filled with His righteousness through grace and own a passionate desire to see His image in me. It is all I want. It is because He is God and for His sake I desire. Passion abounds from Him, for Him, to others. My cup runneth over.

But yea, I know the world is death and the world is around me. Surrounding and sometimes stifling. I walk through it each day and each day I still find my green grass and still water. The world is death and His restoration is life. There is respite. There is peace.  My own surrender of my earthly vessel does not haunt me because I long ago died for Him. I only look to the day when I see the world from the perspective of heaven in perfect righteousness. All the Shepard’s plan for His sheep. I fear nothing for nothing can harm that which is in the arms of our Creator.

Your power and strength strike fear in the world and beg reverence from I, your good and faithful servant. I strive toward You in that thought.

You are with me, O Lord, O Father. In your restoration is the anointing oil. The same that was dripped on Aaron, Your priest. The sanctifying oil of holiness.  The empty vessel that I am is filled until it runs over, spilling forth onto the vile and wicked. They secretly covet what they see. I sit in plenitude on the table you have set before me. The world is confused. Most do not know-some wonder-some marvel. But surely life runs out of me as I am filled with love and I emanate a joy and a light. You fill me beyond what I need to be satisfied. I am happy on the green grass near the still water with You at my side.

All that follows me is goodness. It is the peace of the still water, the refreshing green grass. The Master and the man, together in peace and I will never fear evil but shall dwell always with You, Lord. Your house is my desire, Your face is what I want to see, The path of righteousness is my walk.

 And I sit in peace in the valley that is my respite until the day I dwell with You, O Lord of Peace.

copyright 2013 Rick Stassi

originally written 12/29/2011