Someone Watching Over Me

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23:1

Dear People of St. David’s,

Thanks to all who came to our Kick-Off picnic. God gave us a wonderful day and I want to thank the men and all who made the event picnic such a great success. Many hands make light work and it was wonderful catching up after our summer activities.

In this year of Fearless—Living Our Lives in Hope, it is my hope that we can feed our faith rather than our fears. To that end, I want to spend these next few weeks offering some thoughts and practices that you may find helpful feeding your faith and quieting your fears - all centered on the 23rd Psalm.

The most well-known and beloved psalm of the Bible, many of us learned the these verses as children. We hear it at the funerals of our loved ones and read it during times of distress. I like to use it to quiet my fears in the middle of the night because that’s when my cares and problems and fears seem to take on a greater power. Maybe that’s because, most of the time, there’s little we can do to solve a problem at two in the morning. Maybe it’s because it’s dark which makes our sense of being alone seems greater.

So my response to fear in the darkness is the 23rd Psalm. I repeat it in my head. I whisper it aloud. I repeat it until the words start to catch hold and a calm and peace start to creep into my soul and the fears go away. It may take me a few times, depending on what’s going on in my life, but there is a comfort in remembering that someone is watching over us. It’s important to remember there’s a greater power at work than fear, and we should allow the power of God to work in us like a shepherd taking care of their flock. A shepherd making sure the sheep are guarded; cared for; guided in the right path of life. And when the power of God takes hold, I usually drift off to sleep and am refreshed by more than sleep when I rise.

The God who has given us our lives and the people and gifts of life is the God who promises to watch over us. When we remember Him and acknowledge Him, then our fears fade and hope grows strong. So the next time you wake in the middle of the night with worry and fear tugging at your heart or the problems of the day are keeping you down, remember that you have someone watching over you and allow God to calm your fears.


Grace and Peace,
WFA