Stop Being a Crumb-Catcher

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even 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 overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23: 1-6 ESV) These are verses that I have read and listened to in sermons quite often. Sometimes, however, I feel like my mind is on autopilot when I listen to them, but there is so much truth in hope in the 23^rd Psalm. 

Last week we were visiting friends out of town, and my friend had been planning on going to a women’s retreat across the bay. She invited me to go when she found out there was an extra ticket available, and I’m thankful that she did. The speaker for the retreat was Ellie Holcomb, and although I had heard of her name before, I had no idea what she did exactly. So we went and listened to her sing and talk about the Lord’s goodness in her life and how she discovered that goodness. It was a weekend full of encouragement. In one of her sessions, she talked about Psalm 23, so this week I have been thinking about those six verses and what they mean to us as believers.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  (v.1)

God supplies all of our needs. He does this in His own way and in His timing, but he provides for us. In order for this to happen, we have to allow God to lead us and be our shepherd.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” (v.2)

Green pastures and still waters symbolize the rest that God wants us to have. Just like sheep need the pastures to rest and refuel, we need that as well. God desires for us to rest in His presence and live at peace.

“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (v.3)

The word restore means to repair and bring back to its original condition. God heals us when we are broken and hurting, and then he helps guide us when we seem to have lost our way.

“Even 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.” (v.4)

This verse doesn’t say “if I walk,” but it says “even though I walk,” meaning that we will experience difficult times in our lives.  When we do face hard times, we have hope knowing that He is with us. Shepherds carry a rod and a staff to protect their sheep from predators, and the Lord does the same with us. He cares for us.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (v.5) 

Even when we are faced with our enemies, the Lord has a feast prepared for us. Ellie Holcomb said, “He prepared it for us and wants us to sit down in the seat that He reserved for us—not sit under the table afraid, just catching the crumbs.” I love that! I think that many times I am a ‘crumb-catcher’ instead of enjoying the feast, so this really opens my eyes. He also anoints our head with oil because he cares for us. Our cup overflows because we have been given more than we could ever need.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (v.6)

As we go through life, we will mess up. God’s mercy will be with us to forgive us of our sins when we repent. We will abide in the house of the Lord forever as we live our life seeking and following Him. Then we have a home with Him in Heaven to look forward to when we leave this earth.

Some days are harder than others to rest in the truth of God’s Word, but His word should be hidden in our heart so that we trust in Him. I encourage you to let Him be your true shepherd if He’s not already. He’s waiting with His rod and staff and arms wide open. He wants you to lie down in those green pastures and listen to the stillness of the water. He wants you to stop trying to catch the crumbs and instead, enjoy the feast that He’s prepared as you live with Him forever.