Hope for Today

Today we will celebrate the life of Gerald Morgan.  I am grateful for the opportunity to preside at his services.  Frequently, at some point in these types of services, the 23rd Psalm is recited as a text of hope.  I thought it appropriate to allow the 23rd Psalm to be our prayer for today.  I wanted to share it with you from a different translation/paraphrase than most of us are accustomed to reading or hearing in hopes that it may resonate with you in a new and deeper way.  So today's version of the 23rd Psalm comes to us from The Voice:

Today's Prayer:

1 The Eternal is my shepherd, He cares for me always.
2 He provides me rest in rich, green fields
    beside streams of refreshing water.
    He soothes my fears;
3 He makes me whole again,
    steering me off worn, hard paths
    to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.

4 Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness,
    I am not overcome by fear.
Because You are with me in those dark moments,
    near with Your protection and guidance,
    I am comforted.

5 You spread out a table before me,
    provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies;
You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil,
    filling my cup again and again with Your grace.
6 Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me
    where I go, always, everywhere.
I will always be with the Eternal,
    in Your house forever.