Author: Wes White

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When You See No Light

Have you ever had a time when people were talking about how great it is to know the Lord and how comforting it is, and you just thought, “No way. I don’t feel that at all.”

When you are in great suffering, to hear people talk about hope and how good the Lord has been can feel hollow and make you feel even more isolated. Who are these people, you think, who have no real struggles?

That’s one thing I love about the Psalms. They are made for people with struggles. They contain great declarations of faith, but those declarations are often made after deep struggles with the hard realities of their situation.

On the other hand, sometimes you just can’t see the light. You struggle. You pray. You process. And you still can’t see the light. Psalm 88 tells us of one such person.

Psalm 88 begins like many other psalms. “Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you” (Psalm 88:1). However, as the Psalm develops, he says, “I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death” (v. 3). It never moves to a high point from there. It simply concludes. “You have taken from me friend and neighbor—darkness is my closest friend” (Ps. 88). And that’s the end.

It’s rather remarkable that there is a song like this in the Bible. It’s not really what a person might expect. I love our worship songs and hymns, but you wouldn’t guess that this would be one of the songs in the Bible based on what we sing in church. It’s a really dark psalms that speaks of a person who is overwhelmed and struggling with the toughest things in life.

So, what are we to do with this “dark” psalm?

First, we should remember that people feel this way sometimes. We should remember that not everyone can easily see the light. We should be patient with them and allow them to process their darkness without being “miserable comforters,” as Job called his friends.

Second, you may feel that way right now. This is a Psalm for you. You can pray this psalm or something like it and present your feelings exactly as you are to God. Even if your feelings aren’t this strong now, it shows you that you can bring your struggles to God. Even if they aren’t that strong to day, it’s good to think of the future and how you may use this psalm later.

Finally, they point us to the suffering of Christ. The psalms tell us of ourselves, and they also tell us of Christ. Christ said while he was on earth, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Ps. 26:38). When we are struggling, we are dealing with a God who has experienced what it means to have “sorrow to the point of death.” That’s why the author of Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:15–16).

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When Your Heart Is Broken (Psalm 6)

The death of someone close to us is one of the hardest things that we can experience in this life. We have to say good-bye to someone we love dearly. We don’t just get over it. We have to take time it and process the depth of the loss. Funerals are designed to help us process these losses in the presence of God and friends. Funerals are one of the few times in our culture where we stop to process our emotions and allow people to cry things out.

Unfortunately, there are many other times that we experience grief where we do not process it. We might not notice the fact that we are dealing with grief and sadness. Occasions of grief are transitions of family members, our own transitions, our own sins, sins of others, losses of jobs, losses of dreams or visions, losses of friendship, divorce, broken relationships, loss of opportunities, and much more.

What happens when we don’t process it? It stays there as a continual irritation. We struggle and don’t make the transition to a new place, opportunity, or situation. We lose the ability to meet people and things as they are and where they are.

Life is a series of good-byes, and we need to learn to say good-bye well. A few years ago, I was talking with someone about their family situation. They wished that their family were different. I asked this person, has your family ever been different? They said, “no.” I said to them, “I think you have had a dream for your family, and that dream was never realized. You need to accept the pain of the loss of the good family you had hoped for and wanted to have. Then, you can transition to accept the family that you actually have.” They actually set aside time to do this. They grieved the loss they had experienced from their family, and this enabled them to move forward with a new reality.

In our Psalm (6), we have that sort of experience. The Psalmist is writing about a time when he had to transition to a much more difficult time. He had to say good-bye to his home, family, and comforts. This caused him tears. “I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears” (Psalm 6:6). Tears are God’s gift to enable us to process loss.

In times of loss, we may feel like God is against us. That’s exactly what the Psalmist felt. “Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath” (Psalm 6:1). The Psalmist felt the anger of the Lord, and so he went to the Lord to talk about it. Notice that the Psalmist expressed his thoughts directly to the Lord. Sometimes when we feel like God is against us, we speak to others about God. Through this Psalm, God invites us to come and share our thoughts with Him, to come boldly to the throne of grace.

One of the most helpful things is to cry in front of others. Remember that this psalm is not just a private prayer. It is meant to be a song of the church. It was the psalmist’s way of processing his grief before the Lord and before people.

And what was the result of crying it out and crying out to the Lord? “The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer” (6:9). He had a sense that the future would turn out OK. He had a sense that God was for him. He had a sense that he could move forward.

That’s what can happen to us, too. I have found this axiom to be true: what comes to the light heals, what stays in the dark hurts. The things that we process by giving attention to them will begin to heal. As long as they stay in our hearts or as long as we don’t grieve them, they tend to keep hurting us. Bringing the grief to light can help us begin a healing process.

So, it’s worth considering when we are struggling, is my anger or worry the result of grief? Have I lost something that I am missing? If so, it’s time to cry it out. This is God’s gift to help us move forward. Gather a couple of friends. Seek the Lord. It may not happen immediately, but we can move forward with the loss. The pain sometimes never completely goes away, but we can still move forward in service and a greater confidence in the future through God’s grace by embracing His grieving process.

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Photo by Louis Galvez on Unsplash

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The Anxiety Cure (Psalms 3-4)

In 2017, I began a journal of my anxiety. I wanted to think through what was really going on in my head. So, every time I got upset or started to worry too much, I wrote down what I was experiencing. It was a revelation.

I was anxious over all sorts of things. I had anxiety because people didn’t agree with me. I had anxiety because I played Dutch Blitz very badly. I had anxiety because I wanted to watch a movie, and I couldn’t find two hours to do it in. I had anxiety because other people had anxiety about changes in the church. I had anxiety because I was giving advice, and I noticed resistance to that advice. The list could go on and on.

One thing that amazed was how many things in my life caused me anxiety. I felt threats all around me. I suspect that I am not particularly weird in this. I think we all deal with anxiety more than we tend to think. It’s part of the human situation. We see all kinds of issues. We have a limited capacity to deal with them. Anxiety is the result of that gap.

But why does it matter that we have anxiety? What is really the big deal? It keeps us from thinking about our duties. It saps our energy from the good goals we could and should be pursuing. It often hurts our relationships because it leads us to attack others or withdraw from others wrongfully. It affects our health because of the way we deal with our anxiety. One of those areas is sleep. Sometimes anxiety makes us want to avoid our problems and just sleep all the time. At other times, it keeps us all night and robs us of sleep.

In Psalms 3 and 4, the psalmist expresses his anxiety over enemies, the ungodly, and the future. “Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!” (3:1). “Many, Lord, are asking, ‘Who will bring us prosperity?'” (Psalm 4:6). What is he going to do about it?

Psalms 3 and 4 give us the anxiety cure. We are not meant to deal with anxiety in ourselves. We were meant to take it to God. Psalms 3 and 4 are prayers to God in the midst of anxiety. They point us to the fact that in our anxiety, we should go to God and seek from Him the things that we need. Whenever we struggle, we are not without resource, we can go to God!

Not only is God able to deal with our problem, the very act of praying helps us with our anxiety. In the midst of our anxiety, we tend to see only our problem. However, prayer enables us to see not only our problem but also the God who is over the problem and is for us. David saw the enemies that were opposing him, but when he went to God in prayer. There, He saw the Lord: “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high” (Psalm 3:3).

The result of all this was that David experienced peace. He did not let anxiety consume him because he unburdened himself before the Lord. His peace is described in terms of sleep. “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side” (Psalm 3:5–6). “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).

In an anxious world, we are not without resource. We can go to God in prayer with confidence because Jesus has opened the way. The result will be that we will see not just the problem but the God above them who has them completely under his control. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

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The Secure Seed of David (Psalm 89:30–37)

Psalm 89 tells us that God has made a covenant where the seed of David are secure. “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations’” (3–4). It is a covenant that lasts forever and establishes both his throne and his line or seed. There are two key questions that arise in this text. Who is David? And who is his seed? The reason for this question is that what is applied to David in this text is applied to David’s son in 2 Samuel 7 where the promises were first given. So, how can we apply this to David when 2 Samuel 7 says the promises are for his son? And what does this mean for his seed? These are the questions we’ll explore in this post.

First Question – Who is David?
The name David is mentioned three times in Psalm 89 (vv. 3, 20, 35). Most modern commentators take it for granted that this solves the question of the identity of David in this psalm. For example, J.A. Alexander writes, “This verse removes all doubt as to the person primarily intended in the foregoing verse, but without excluding his successors, and especially the last and greatest of them, to whom the royal dignity was given in the unction of David.” Thus, the modern commentators tend to see this Psalm as referring primarily to David and only secondarily or typically (if at all) to Christ. This view would then make the sons of David in vv. 29-30 the physical descendants of King David. This is a plausible reading and conclusion from an initial examination of the text.

On the other side, the older commentators tend to identify the David mentioned in this passage as the Christ. And there is good reason to give serious consideration to this second view. While it is not so obvious in a casual reading, a careful comparison with 2 Sam. 7 indicates a surprising change in the recipients of the promises listed in that first announcement of the Davidic covenant. The specific promises that God applied to David’s son in 2 Sam. 7 are applied to David in Ps. 89, except for the promise to chasten him with the rod, which is changed from “son” to “sons.” This indicates that we should at least consider whether or not the “David” meant here is the literal David or the Messiah Himself.

There are good reasons to believe that this refers to the Messiah. The promises listed concerning “David” can, in their full sense, only refer to Christ. There are three prophecies in Psalm 89 that do help us understand the identity of David. First, in Ps. 89:21-23 we learn that all his enemies will be defeated. Of course, victory over enemies may be applied to David, but the verbs are future. It also may be understood of the enemies of David figuratively speaking, that is, the opponents of his throne on which his physical descendants and then Christ sits. However, in Psalm 89, “David” is referred to as the one who sits on the throne and before whose face the enemies are defeated. When the reign of the Messiah is described elsewhere, there is constant reference to the defeat of all his enemies (Ps. 2:7-12, 21:8-12, 110:5-7, Dan. 2:44-45, etc.). This promise in Psalm 89 speaks in the same language of David as the other psalms do of Christ. Therefore, this promise is best applied to the Messiah, and it cannot be said that the historical David will sit on the throne and actually have the victory over his enemies. Continue reading “The Secure Seed of David (Psalm 89:30–37)”

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5 Important Marriages Lessons from Psalm 45

In spite of some questions and debate about it, marriage is still a huge driver in our civilization. People in large numbers keep getting married. In Pigeon Forge, it is a multi-million dollar industry. This is because God created marriage. It is something that God has established as a blessing for this world. It is rooted in the world that He created. But marriage also has a higher purpose.

In Psalm 45, we have the story of a marriage. It speaks of the groom in this way: “You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever” (Psalm 45:2). Then, it calls on the bride, “Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father’s house. Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord” (Ps. 45:10–11). In order to understand this passage, we need to know who this king is. This king is none other than the eternal Son of God. “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom” (Ps. 45:6). This is confirmed by Hebrews 1 which cites this passage and applies it to the Son of God. The spouse is humanity restored and cleansed from her sin, the church of Jesus Christ. This opens our eyes to several important truths about marriage.

1. Marriage is first and foremost a pointer to Christ and His Church. The goal of marriage is not the marriage but the glory of God. We cannot make marriage the end of our lives. Glorifying Christ is always first.

2. Marriage is glorious, but this glory tempts us to make marriage more than it is. Marriage is a beautiful and wondrous thing. It can be the best of human relationships in many ways. That’s why the Psalmist can describe it in such a noble way. However, this very glory can make it tempting for us to think that it solves all our problems of loneliness, security, and meaning. This is one of the most common mistakes of marriage. We take a good thing and exalt it beyond measure. That’s the root of a lot of the bitterest fights in marriage.

3. Marriage is a priority. This passage reminds us that marriage is about a new home. The relationship with Christ and His Church becomes the priority over all other relationships. So, marriage has a priority over our relationships with our parents, our friends, and our children. Now, we need those relationships, too, but marriage always needs to have a priority. That’s why our text says with some hyperbole: “Forget your people and your father’s house” (Ps. 45:11).

4. We have a new family. If we are part of the church, we have a new family. It’s easy to let our activities center around our biological family. It’s easy to become tribal. We must be open to the church. This means the bride of Christ in general as the family of God and not just our local church. Local churches can become just as tribal as families. Our new family means that we have an openness to the family of God. It’s our new family.

5. We have a husband and a marriage. Sometimes people really want to be married and for various reasons can’t be. People in that situation should remember, “Your maker is your husband.” They may not have the earthly copy of marriage but they have the heavenly original of marriage. As often as they struggle, they should go back to this truth.

Christ transforms marriage. The perspective of the world is that marriage or a two person love relationship is the be all and end all. This is one reason why these relationships often end so badly. They are not made to function that way. The world is about God Himself, and marriage is one of His gifts. When we realize that, we can accept marriage for what it is, a tremendous blessing from our Lord that points us back to His eternal goodness.

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How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?

If you or someone you love has questions on this issue (as most of us do!), I would encourage you to read Pastor Tim Keller’s New York Times Bestseller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. I really can’t recommend this book highly enough.

In this post, I’d like to summarize what Keller says about this important question: how could a good God allow suffering?

Whether you are a believer or unbeliever, it’s a question you’ve likely asked at some point in your life, maybe often.

Keller says that there are two ways we can ask this question. The first is intellectual. How can we logically say that a good God could allow evil? The second is emotional. We get angry at a God who would allow such evil.

Let’s consider what Keller says about each in turn.

The Intellectual Issue
In regard to the intellectual question, Keller begins with the objection of a philosopher who states essentially: “because there is much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful God could not exist” (23). Continue reading “How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?”

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It’s About the Kingdom

Back in Spearfish, SD, I had so many friends who were pastors. There was a real sense that we working together. The evangelical pastors in the area had been meeting for years. We did activities together. It was a real blessing.

I’ve never been able to reproduce that feeling here. I’ve tried to get groups together. I’ve tried to get together with pastors and get churches together. I fee like a lot of my work has been frustrated. I’ve often felt like giving up.

Psalm 2 made me realize that I should not do that. You know why? Because it’s about the kingdom. It’s not really about me. It’s about what God is doing in the world to glorify His chosen king, Jesus. It’s in the interest of the kingdom to get churches working together and having a sense of being a part of the kingdom. The world knows who God is through the love that Christians have for one another.

All kinds of people are opposing Him, but God is working out His plan and building up His kingdom. “I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:7–8). So, the kings of the earth and everybody else needs to get on board. “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling” (Ps. 2:10–11). God is doing something big in this world, and everybody needs to get in line with it. The kingdom is coming whether we like it or not.

The first psalm looks at the individual and how he flourishes. The second psalm points us to the bigger picture. It points us to the work of God through Christ establishing His kingdom throughout the world. This is the second theme we will consider as we look at the psalms. In one sense, all of the psalms are about Christ, but there are some in which the theme comes out more clearly than others. Consider, for example, Psalms 2, 22, 45, 72, and 110. These all point us back to the fact that our first prayer should be hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.

This passage also tells us that the kingdom is good news for us, too. We are made to be part of something bigger, and what we see here is that God wants us to be a part of it. More than that, he wants to bless us in the work of His kingdom. The psalm concludes, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (2:12). That’s the blessing of meditating on God’s kingdom and His King. That’s how this psalm can both challenge us and be a refreshing stream for our soul, pointing us back to the true meaning of life and who is really in charge and in whom we will find our blessing.

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Hope When the Wicked Seem to Flourish

There are two mistakes that we can make in regard to people. We can expect too much blessing from them or too much curse from them. In both cases, people tend to become the center of our lives.

We can expect too much blessing from people when we think that they will fulfill all our hopes and dreams or deliver us from the common problems of life. This can be a husband, a wife, a child, a pastor, a psychologist, a president, or many others. We can look at this person and say, this person will finally help us get out of all the bad problems we experience.

We can also think that people can harm us more than they can. This can easily become the case when people do us real wrong. We can let the wrongs or the potential wrongs of family members, church members, bosses, politicians, or others become the focus of our lives. When we get stressed, we may start to blame that person. They become the constant subject of our conversations, and they keep us up at night.

This is the common phenomenon that Psalm 37 addresses. It calls us to a different path: “Do not fret because of evildoers.” Don’t let the wrongs that people do become the focus of your life. Don’t let your anger against others and what they do keep rolling around in your head.

Now, many people have recognized that we should not hold onto the wrongs that people have done, are doing, or will do. They recognize that we should “[r]efrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil” (Ps. 37:8). Holding onto anger over what others have done, are doing, or could do ends up damaging ourselves much more than the people we are angry with.

This psalm, however, gives us another and much more important reason. We can have confidence that God will sort things out in the end: “for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away” (Ps. 37:2). The Lord will deal with them in His own time, and their time is short. When we can trust the Lord with this, we don’t have to let all the wrong things in this world drive us crazy. We can leave them in the hands of the Lord.

There is an important reason why we need to leave these things with the Lord. We have other work to do. “Take delight in the Lord” (37:4a). “Trust in the Lord and do good” (Ps. 37:3a). We have work to do. We let the wrongs of this world and our anxieties roll around in our head too much. We need to let this question roll around in our head a lot more: “What good can I do to the people around me?” And what will give us the strength to ask and answer that question? The confidence that the Lord will take care of us and will deal justly with all the wrongs committed in this world, in this life and in the life to come. That is the confidence that we can have in our Lord that will lead us to a truly flourishing life.

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The Way to a Flourishing Life (Psalm 112)

In principle, everyone wants a flourishing life. They want to experience a prosperous and fruitful life. The Psalms connect with this desire in the human heart. The very first psalm gives us a song about the flourishing life. Many other psalms continue the same theme. For example, Psalm 128:3–4 says, “You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.”

Psalm 112 is another one of those psalms. It speaks of a flourishing life in terms that we can easily recognize. It describes the flourishing life as one in which our children do well, our houses have wealth and resources, our reputation is secure, and our emotions are stable. This is what we want. The problem is that we go about getting these things in the wrong way. We make these things ends in themselves rather than byproducts and blessings that flow from where our focus should be.

This psalm corrects our conception. It teaches us the true nature of the flourishing life. The flourishing life begins and ends with God Himself. He is the way to a flourishing life. A life focused on Him is the way to these blessings. “Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands” (Psalm 112:1). The blessing of a flourishing life is given to those who think great thoughts of God and His Word. They not only read and listen to what He says, they delight in it. Out of this high esteem for God flows a confident trust in the Lord that leads to an astonishing level of peace. “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord” (Psalm 112:7).

However, it is not just a focus on God that leads to the flourishing life. Out of this reliance on God flows a generous and gracious disposition toward people. This is the effect of a proper relationship with God that truly delights in Him. The Lord “is gracious and compassionate” (Ps. 111:4), and those who delight in Him become like Him, “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous” (Ps. 112:4). They are generous and lend freely.

So, contrary to the common expectation, our life does not flourish by focusing on the good things of this world or pursuing them. Rather, the flourishing life is one that is wide open to God and wide open to bless those around us. This is the flourishing life. It is flourishing because it is nourished by the Lord like the sun nourishes a plan, and it gives its fruit, good works towards others.

Lastly, notice how this Psalm begins: praise the Lord! If there are people that flourish, it is His gift. If He gives us many gifts, it is because He has already given us the gift of faith. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be the glory forever. Amen!

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We Need a Shepherd

The Bible and the ancient world continually compared leaders to shepherd and the their followers to a shepherd and his sheep. Why? Because this was something that most people would see in their daily lives. When people wanted a visual of leadership, they would think of a shepherd and his sheep.

This teaches us something very profound about human existence. First, we are people who need a shepherd. We come into this world needing guidance and leadership. We do not know where we came from, how we got here, what to do while we are here, or where we are going. We need guidance and help.

Second, we often to tend to look to the wrong shepherd. While people and things can give us help in this world, they cannot really serve as the shepherd. They make mistakes. They are limited. Yet we keep looking for that shepherd. We look for it in our parents, our family, our spouse, our children, our church, our business, our nation, our political group, or whatever else. These things become the leading force in our lives, our shepherd.

Third, some of this is self-conscious but much of it is not. How do we decide who will be our shepherd? We often just do what everybody else is doing. We move forward with the herd. We go where the herd leads us. This can be helpful sometime, but it also limits us and can lead us in a completely wrong direction. We are like sheep, so we need a shepherd.

The psalmist had no problem recognizing his sheep-like nature. He knew He needed guidance and leadership. He knew he needed a help and a refuge in times of trouble. And where did he find it? “The Lord is my shepherd.”

This meant that in spite of the trials of life, which are evident in this Psalm, He had a reference point that gave Him an unfailing hope. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” That’s the confident expression of hope that we can have when we have the Lord God as our shepherd. He is the right shepherd. He is the one who will lead us.

One amazing thing about this is that a man came into this world who claimed to be that type of shepherd. He claimed to be God Himself. “I and the Father are one.” He said. He made this claim on the heels of saying, “I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. . . . I give them eternal life, and they will never perish” (John 10). Now, if anyone else claimed this, it would seem crazy or dangerous. Yet, in Jesus, who had such an exalted character that even His enemies admitted it, it does not seem crazy or dangerous. It seems right. And those are really the only two options. He was either crazy or right. He certainly wasn’t the former, so He must be the latter. He is the good shepherd. From now on, we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He is the shepherd that we must follow to find the way of true blessedness in this life and a life that is everlasting and defeats death.

So, who are you following today? What is the driving force of your life? Who is your shepherd? Have you even thought about it? If you have said “yes” to this shepherd, can you renew your resolution? “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”