Psalm 23

OK, really, what else can be said about this psalm.

Arguably the most famous, it is often read at funerals and times of great difficulty. It offers comfort to the hurting, and is beautiful with its pastoral imagery.

Reading it again, I see that it is more than just a 'death' psalm. In fact, it really isn't that at all. It is a 'hope for life' psalm. It tells us that we will have dark times, but that those are in fact NECESSARY to reach the life giving stuff. We must go through "Hell" on earth, but we need not go through it alone.

Though this psalm talks a great deal about darkness and enemies, it is not their presence that steals the psalm. It is the fact that our shepherd- our God- is ever present. He is always there, walking with us through it all.

And at times, fighting off the attackers.

Psalm 20

What strikes me about Psalm 20 is not that it is a prayer for blessing. No, it is that the prayer is not for the psalmist, but for the reader.

Most psalms (all of them so far) have been about the psalmist and God, but this one is about you and me. Moreover, it's about you and me being blessed by God.

David prays that you and I would know success in our plans, that they be blessed by God. He prays that God protects you and I. Then, he talks about how he knows God can and will do those things. David says, basically, that he prays these things of blessing for us because he himself has experienced them, and he knows God can do them in our lives as well.

And he says that when we receive them, he and all the believers will rejoice. Because WE were blessed.

Do we pray for these things for each other? What's more, if we do, do we rejoice, do we celebrate when they happen?

I think we should.