By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
“The Lord is … the Lord forever.”
These six words are the first three and the last three of the 23rd Psalm. They declare a simple yet profound truth, and in between them, we discover the character of God.
This psalm is not just a telling or recounting, but a demonstration. In it, we see God through His actions.
Six short verses reveal the intimacy with which He cares for, provides for, and protects His own.
The author/narrator is David, the shepherd-king of Israel. He writes the first three verses of this psalm/song in the first-person, using the pronouns “I” and “me” as he speaks about the Lord.
My overseer is God.
I have everything I need:
Rest
Refreshment
Renewal
Direction
In verses 4, 5, and part of 6, David speaks to the Lord, as if addressing Him face to face.
When things get dark and difficult, I won’t be afraid if You are with me.
You set the table.
You single me out.
You give me more than enough.
Your goodness clings to me like a shadow.
Your mercy follows along.
The final line of verse 6 circles back to David’s original first-person declaration:
I will live in God’s house forever.
In this Shepherd’s Psalm, David shows us life and God’s participation in it:
The Lord prepares us for the journey.
The road is hard.
The destination is God’s house where
the table is set
and we are favored.
We have more than enough.
Goodness dogs us,
Love follows us.
And we never have to leave.
The journey is worth it.
Forever.
The Lord is … the Lord forever.
The Lord is ... the Lord forever. Share on X
Dorrie paused a moment before addressing her again, an added depth of tone in her voice. “I see her fearlessness in you. The only thing different is your hair. You have more than your share, as did your grandmother, but hers was fiery red to match her spirit.”
Grace’s eyes welled, spilling first across her soul with the healing of home she’d not found when she returned to the ranch three weeks ago. Her brothers and their wives had welcomed her. So had Helen and the boys. But she didn’t fit there. Just like she hadn’t fit before she left with the Wild West Show.
But here? In her grandmother’s home with a woman who had known her so well?
Grace pressed her arm against her eyes, determined not to be a blithering twit. “I heard often of her remarkable romance with my grandfather, Caleb. I wanted a love like that of my own.”
Surprised by her unplanned admission, she hoped she hadn’t misjudged the widow. No one alive on this earth knew her secret.
Dorrie closed her eyes and sipped her tea, then looked at Grace from a place familiar yet not. “Perhaps the reason you left when you did?”
Grace blinked and more tears advanced. Such painful cleansing in truth’s wake. “Yes,” she whispered.
Dorrie laid a hand on Grace’s knee. “And did you find it?” ~Covering Grace
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2024 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance #CowboyRomance
