There is Hope with the Shepherd

Hi, Friends!

Did you know the most popular Psalm in the Bible is the 23^rd Psalm, “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want”? Perhaps it gives people hope. Might it be your favorite too? The next in popularity (according to Google searches) are Psalms 91, 139, 27, and 121.

I love that Psalm 121 is on the list. I memorized it as a kid and can still recite it to this day (as well as Psalm 23). I love that “My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth” is embedded in my memory. Who doesn’t need that reminder? He who created the earth and stars in able to help little ‘ol me—and you! He has been my faithful Shepherd and proven Himself time and again. There is truly hope in the Shepherd!

My friend Del and I just talked about Psalm 23 on our podcast, Seeds of Hope. There are so many interesting facts about sheep and the analogy of us as sheeple (oh my!). I encourage you to give it a listen (and/or watch) here or here. There’s so much to unpack. For instance, did you know that no other animal needs a shepherd? Sheep need continual supervision for even something as basic as water because they have no GPS and get lost so easily. And sheep won’t drink from running water, so they must be led to “still” waters. But not just any still water. Some still water is stagnant and dangerous, so the shepherd leads them to water that is safe and life-giving.

Spiritually, we will starve if we don’t stay close the our Shepherd and allow Him to lead us to His “living water” (John 7:38). Furthermore, unless we stay close to our Shepherd’s leading, we can drink from waters that are dangerous and spiritually life-threatening. I could go on about that one, but you get the picture. I will give one example: we are seeing the consequences of a nation that has wandered off from it’s Shepherd. But isn’t it comforting to know the Shepherd will go out of His way to seek the one who is lost (Luke 15:4-7)? Truly, there is hope with the Shepherd! (Let’s continue to fervently pray for America.)

We will do Part 2 of Psalm 23 next week, so I hope you’ll tune in for some hope and encouragement. We’re live on Vero’s Voice Magazine’s Facebook page Thursday’s at 11:00 a.m. ET, or come back to the podcast page on my website or our new Youtube channel any time for all our shows (and please like and subscribe).

After that, we will be talking about thankfulness in the Psalms. What is so important about praise and thankfulness? Tune in to find out.

It has always been my passion to bring you encouragement, inspiration, and hope through my blog, writing and speaking, and now through this podcast. We’re having so much fun, and we’ve had some interesting guests on our show to share some touching testimonies of God’s faithfulness. We also recently finished a series on the Promises of God. I hope you find hope in them. Please let us know, I’d love to hear what you listened to and how it spoke to you. Or, if you have any questions, comments, or prayer requests, I’d love to hear those too.

Meanwhile, did I tell you there is hope with the Shepherd?

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.  Psalm 23:1-2 NLT

Other news:

I just returned from the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference. A—mazing! I just love being with so many people who want to tell His story through their story or stories. And…stay tuned for my children’s book, The Wake-up Prayer. (Psst…it won 1^st place!!! I’m just a little excited about that!) I’m also working on some devotionals. More about those later.

So, what’s your favorite Psalm or verse from the Psalms? Let us know in the comments.

Again, you can find our latest show about Psalm 23 here or here.

Get my FREE prayer devotion and coloring sheet here. (Once there, scroll down til you see the download button.)

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Check out the book, Pursuing Prayer – Being Effective in a Busy World  here.