Devotion for Sunday, December 13
Psalm 23
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[a] in the house of the Lord
Forever.
This is a popular psalm in the West but strangely is not used in any Orthodox service or liturgical reading aside from the Psalter.
Through the whole psalm it is the most faithful Christian, reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, who speaks; he has laid aside the old age of the first man. He gives thanks that through the Lord’s generosity he has been led from the desert of sin to the region of pasture and the water of rebirth. We must also observe that just as previously he accepted the Ten Commandments of the Law, so here he rejoices that he has been enriched by ten kindnesses. They are not reported in separate verses but recounted in brief phrases.
(Cassadorius)