Open Hands

OPEN HANDS

a prayer to open

Here’s my heart, Lord. Speak what is true.

Here’s my life, Lord. Speak what is true.

The LORD is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows;

he leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me

in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

My cup overflows with blessings.

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.

To say that God is like something else—something we can more easily understand—is a technique we see throughout the Bible. Jesus often used parables and stories to illustrate what God is like. Psalm 23 has much more to say about what God is like than almost any other description in the Scriptures. It depicts God as both a shepherd and a host of a great feast. The shepherd is not some far-off presence in the life of a sheep. The shepherd stays close, keeping his sheep from wandering away, being attacked by predators, or falling into danger. He gathers his sheep together to rest and be restored and nourished. The host welcomes and seeks to please his guest, honoring her presence and offering abundant food and drink. The shepherd can do his job only if the sheep is willing to be led. And a host can provide for and honor his guest only if the guest is willing to receive what the host offers. How might our lives be shaped if we opened our hands and hearts every day to receive the shepherd’s guidance and rest and the host’s abundant provision?

• Read this passage again slowly. What word or phrase stands out to you? Why do you think that particular word or phrase speaks to you? What does it say?
• In what area of your life have you wandered away from the shepherd, refusing his guidance and rest? What do you hear God whispering to you?
• In what area of your life are you rejecting or resisting God’s abundant provision? (This might be reflected in an inability to be content with what he has provided or an inability to receive blessings out of guilt or pride.)

Lord, my shepherd and host, draw me close. I don’t want to wander away, yet I’m so prone to doing that, so tempted at times, as if I’ll stumble upon something better. You are my guide and protector, my provider and place of rest. Whatever is in me—pride, guilt, shame, fear—that prevents me from receiving you and saying yes, remove it, cast it away. Open me to receive. Amen.