For You Are With Me

Psalm 23 is probably one of the most familiar passages from the Bible because of its comforting words.  At the core of the comfort it provides is the realization “for you are with me” (23:4).  A fascinating aspect of this Psalm is that, in the original Hebrew language, there are exactly 26 words before and after the “for you are with me.” This is symbolic of the Psalm’s bold declaration that God being with us is at the very center of our lives.  Everything depends on and is determined by that.  Therefore, the Psalm starts off with the belief that, because the Lord is my shepherd (the One who is always with me), “I shall not be in want” (23:1).  And yet, this belief is one of the most difficult to live out in everyday life.  Because we live in a culture of “I shall want”:  I want, I shop, and when I have it, I want yet again.  I shall never stop wanting because the consumer world entices me with ever new, shiny, unnecessary objects.  I want and I have.  In such a world, you and I are challenged to put our main focus on the One who is always with us – the One who guarantees that in His presence we lack nothing.