Prayer to the Shepherd

I walk beside a river 
and you hold my hand 
as we exult in beauty. 
When the sky turns gray 
with a storm rolling in 
you shelter me from  
pellets of ice, rough winds,
sky fire, or even just
a cold wet downpour.
Next comes a hilly incline,
tiring my calf muscles
even though this is only
slightly draining. It’s training.
But if I need to climb
a mountain, slippery slopes
threatening my walk,
you are still there.
You don’t let go! You stay.
Pursuing me with love
that never ends, that focuses
on patient, kind accompaniment
that leads me home. You are
my Companion on the Road.
Can I be like that? Me too,
like you? Always walking 
with the sister who is
running out of energy,
hope squished flat by
rugged outcroppings
and unexpected drought?
Can I soothe my brother’s angst
by joining him on his journey,
coming alongside with calm?
Oh to be like you,
Good Shepherd, Friend,
my walking partner in life!
Fill me with your grace
that counts it all joy
to run and keep pace
with someone struggling.
Unending love like that 
can only come from you!

David’s  meditation on the Good Shepherd is so powerful that most of us hold onto it as a treasure, Psalm 23. Last year as I contemplated it, a new application of it to my life flowed into my soul and onto paper through my pen. Could I be like my Shepherd and follow his example? He walks with me through restful greenery and peaceful waters, through grief and dangers. He is my guide and my protector, the one who feeds me spiritually and provides my needs. Could I actually live like that, helping others in similar ways, others with needs? And then there is that powerful last line:

⁶ Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever. (Ps. 23:6 NLT)

This is the one English version (New Living Translation) I’ve found that clearly communicates some treasured truth that I discovered when we translated this psalm into Nyarafolo. It is not just “mercy”  and goodness that “follow” me continually! It is his “goodness and unfailing love [that] will pursue me all the days of my life. The Hebrew word hesed is a challenge to translate into English since it covers a great expanse of meaning, all of them resumed for me in his unfailing/unchanging/unending/faithful/loyal/merciful love.

And “follow” is too passive a verb. The Hebrew word is literally “pursue”—as when chasing down someone or something. That underlines the Shepherd’s whole-hearted purpose, not just to shadow us, but running to us to shower us with his love and his perfect goodness as he guides and protects each of his loved ones. Now that truly is gracious mercy and faithful companionship; he does not leave us adrift! He is not a God far off but an intensely personal Presence, caring for us.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (Isa. 41:10 NLT)

He is actually beside us as well, holding us up with his right hand—the hand of good action that wins the fight. He is our “Companion on the Road,” a term I borrowed from my Nyarafolo brothers and sisters in Côte d’Ivoire. One example is women walk long miles to take the shea butter or charcoal they have made to market, heavy loads on their heads. Some of the path may lead through a wilderness where women can be in danger. If a partner walks with them, they feel safe. If a load is too heavy, help is near.

Our Companion even holds our hand of action, giving us strength to carry our loads and to do what is right. When we walk with the Shepherd this way, our intimacy with him and trust in him grows. As we get to know him more and more we want to be like him, not like any other “leaders” or “shepherds” around us who twist God’s truth to conform to their own cultural biases and lead people down wrong paths. Most of us do have local shepherds, under the Shepherd, whose job is to teach us truth, the right path:

Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Eph. 4:12-15 NLT)

That is the goal, to be more and more like Christ! Through that attachment, daily walking and talking together, we can be changed, empowered by the work of his Spirit in us. A song that I often sang in my mission community, especially when I was a missionary kid, was this one—the old English still speaks! If you know it, sing with me:
1

O to be like Thee! blessed Redeemer;
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
2
O to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinners to find.
3
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer, others to save.
4
O to be like Thee! Lord, I am coming,
Now to receive th’ anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing;
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine.
5
O to be like Thee! While I am pleading
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love.
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit for a life which Thou wouldst approve.