Psalm 23

Psalm 23 (New King James Version)
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
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.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Funny story that I am not sure I have ever told anyone. When I was young, as most of you know, it is a big deal to try to memorize Psalm 23. I never wanted to and I didn't. To this day, I could not quote it for you by memory. The reason I never wanted to know it and I didn't think it was that special is because this is what I heard when people said it..."The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Do you see the difference. I heard a comma, not a semi-colon. A semi-colon indicates that the statements could be two separate sentences. I thought it said that the Lord was something they did not want. You can only imagine how confused I was about the rest of the chapter since I thought it started out saying that I don't want the Lord.

Anyway, I was a little embarrassed that I did not think it was so special and that it confused me that I never asked or inquired. Later on, as I got older, I saw it and realized. Now I do appreciate the 23rd Psalm much more.

I think I am going to teach it to Hannah this way.. "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not be in want."