Soul ShepherdPrøve

My favorite thing about this last verse of Psalm 23 is that it begins with “surely.” I am from the southeastern portion of the United States, and when someone begins a sentence with “surely,” the vowel sound is drawn out and heavily emphasized. That’s how I like to think about this word in the verse. SURELY, goodness and mercy… “Surely” means that whatever is coming after it is secure and can be trusted. We have read much about our Soul Shepherd in these devotions, but do we believe with a “surely” kind of faith? For it is easy to say the Lord is our Soul Shepherd when we are doing or being “good.” But what about when we deliberately or inadvertently fail? Does that mean He stops? Does it mean we are no longer His “sheep?” Does that mean we can no longer say “surely”? Not a chance, friend. If you have confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you are His. When we do this, we repent or turn from our sin and begin to live with Him as the Lord of our lives, our Soul Shepherd. You are never too far gone for “surely.” What’s the “surely” for? It is to remind us that His goodness and His mercy follows, chases, and pursues us all the days of our lives. That means His goodness and mercy couldn’t leave us if we wanted it to! We aren’t chasing it. It is chasing us! What a relief to know that we don’t perform or have to be perfect to receive and declare that “surely” God loves us! Have you allowed him to be your Soul Shepherd yet? There is no more a perfect time than right now. If you already have, thank Him for His goodness and mercy that is woven into the fabric of your story with each breath you breathe. We are not forsaken. We are made to come close. We lack nothing in Him. He is a good Soul Shepherd.