I have heard recently people talking about praying the Psalms so I decided to try it myself. I chose what must be the most famous of them all, Psalm 23. While the exact circumstance that inspired David to write Psalm 23 is not known, scholars suggest it was written during times of intense, deep emotional or physical distress, such as fleeing from King Saul, dealing with his son Absalom’s rebellion, or reflecting on his life in his later years. David wrote Psalm 23 to express his deep trust, gratitude, and reliance on God as his protector and provider, drawing from his personal experience as a shepherd.
You don’t have to do this, but what I did was replace the applicable pronouns to make it personal, as it would sound if it were something original I was praying. Check it out…
Adonai, You are my shepherd;
I shall not want.
You make me to lie down in green pastures;
You lead me beside the still waters.
You restore my soul;
You lead me in the paths of righteousness
For Your name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of Adonai forever.1
Can you see how this gives some sense of what King David might have been experiencing? And does it resonate with you as it did me? Connecting with the raw emotions presented to us throughout the Psalms can reveal just how much we didn’t know we had in common with the patriarchs of the past. Now for my personal favorite … Psalm 91! 🙏🏻☧
- Psalm 23 was adapted as a personal prayer from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ↩︎
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