David Bahn – Reflections

Please pray these psalms with me on this Lord’s Day. As a kid I really misunderstood Psalm 23. I thought, I DO want the Lord! I didn’t realize “I shall not want,” meant that I will lack nothing. Note, also how in verse 4 David no longer talks about God, but talks to God.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even 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 overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 53:1-3

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
    there is none who does good.

² God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.

³ They have all fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
    not even one.

Psalm 83:1-3

O God, do not keep silence;
    do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
² For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
    those who hate you have raised their heads.
³ They lay crafty plans against your people;
    they consult together against your treasured ones.

Psalm 113

Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
    praise the name of the Lord!

² Blessed be the name of the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore!
³ From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised!

⁴ The Lord is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!
⁵ Who is like the Lord our God,
    who is seated on high,
⁶ who looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
⁷ He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
⁸ to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
⁹ He gives the barren woman a home,
    making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 143:1-6

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    give ear to my pleas for mercy!
    In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
² Enter not into judgment with your servant,
    for no one living is righteous before you.

³ For the enemy has pursued my soul;
    he has crushed my life to the ground;
    he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
⁴ Therefore my spirit faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.

⁵ I remember the days of old;
    I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
⁶ I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016.
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.