March 27/Fifth Monday of Lent
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. // He makes me lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside still waters; // He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. // Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me. ~ Ps 23.1-4
Today, the lilting, comforting verses of the 23rd Psalm — a much-loved fixture beside sickbeds, at funerals, and in times of distress or anxiety — encourage us to let go. The psalmist invites us to open our tightly-clenched fists and release whatever we hold on to so fiercely, whether it is the deep grief of losing someone we love, the depletion of our spirits by unexpected hardship, or our insistence on autonomy. For as the very grammar of the psalm emphasizes, God is the one in charge. Throughout these verses, the psalmist does not have much agency; God, however, does: making him — making us — to lie down, leading us by still waters, guiding us in right paths. The Hebrew text underscores God’s closeness to the psalmist (and to us), attaching the pronoun “me”, or -e·ni, to the verb in a way that is entirely consistent with Hebrew grammar and yet (to me, at least!) carries theological significance. For as we read or speak these verses of trust, reciting the verbs yar·bi·tze·ni, ye·na·ha·le·ni, and yan·che·ni, we find ourselves drawing so close to God that we cease describing him in the detached 3rd-person and enter into the intimacy of “you.” Our path may take us into a “deep darkness,” as the Hebrew reads, (or, in the phrase that the King James translators erroneously yet providentially bestowed upon the English language, the “valley of the shadow of death”), but if reach for God, he will be there. You are here, your rod and your staff will protect me, you will comfort me. Perhaps as we prepare for the Holy Week that is to come, we may come to trust fully in you, O Lord, knowing that whatever our circumstances, we need fear no evil, “for you are with me.”
Loving shepherd and generous host, Comfort me with the goodness of your presence today and always. Amen.
To hear Aled Jones (treble) and the London Symphony Chorus sing Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalm #2, Adonai roi (The Lord is My Shepherd), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwit6qXik-A
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032723.cfm
