A Sunday Doxology
Praise to you, Shepherd of my soul.
In you I lack nothing,
have everything I need,
am not in want.
Except
I often do want
what you have not given,
feel lack when I look
at what others have,
notice bare patches in
green pastures,
see only a trickle instead of
deep untroubled waters.
Some days I am like a sheep
without a shepherd
not because you are elsewhere
tending to others
but because I have not listened
to your voice
and followed it to find you
still the Shepherd who knows me,
who leads, refreshes, guides,
provides, protects, comforts —
the Shepherd who lays down his life
and takes it up again,
and fills my cup until it overflows
with goodness and mercy
and I lack nothing
of eternal value.