Amen. You may be seated, kids. You are excused to your King's Kids class.
And if you would open up your Bibles to Psalm 23.
It's on page 541 of your Pew Bible.
I'm going to read Psalm 23 in its entirety one more time.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down, settle down in green pastures.
He leads me besides the waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake.
Even though I walk to 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, your goodness and mercy, shall follow me, pursue me, all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of Yahweh, the great I am, forever.
May God bless the hearing of His word.
Well, this past Wednesday, Charlie Kirk, an outspoken conservative activist, a Christian, was murdered in broad daylight in Utah.
And we've been living in the shadow of his murder since in a variety of different ways.
Later that afternoon, a 16-year-old gunman walked into a Colorado high school and started firing, wounding two classmates, then taking his own life.
In late August, a confused young man opened fire through the windows of a Catholic school in Minneapolis, killing an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old and wounding 18 others, then killing himself.
On August 22nd, the Ukrainian refugee, Irina Zarushka, was stabbed to death by a deranged man on a train.
On June 14th, Minnesota Democratic Senator Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered by a man posing as a police officer after that same man tried to kill two other people in their homes.
These are just some of the murders from this summer.
We're not even talking about the murders in cities.
These are high-profile murders.
These murderous death cast a shadow over the last four months.
We've been walking through the valley of the shadow of death or the valley of deep darkness.
And if you aren't walking through a ravine of deep darkness regarding death, maybe the death of someone or maybe your own death,
how about the deep darkness of just being disoriented, of your health declining, of despair?
The valley of the shadow of death is real.
And we walk through it.
Last week, we looked at Psalm 23, 1 and 2, our shepherd who goes before us.
And so we say, I lack nothing.
Next week, we're going to look at Psalm 23, 5 and 6, our shepherd who comes after us.
So we can say, surely, your goodness and your mercy follow us, pursue us all the days of our lives.
This morning, we're looking at Psalm 23, 3 and 4, our shepherd who is with us.
So we say, even in the valley, I will fear no evil.
Here's what I want you to walk away with this morning.
Fear not.
Our shepherd is with us.
Fear not.
Our shepherd is with us.
Three points.
Our shepherd restores us.
Our shepherd leads us.
And our shepherd comforts us.
So let's work through these two verses so that you can rest assured.
So you fear not for Yahweh, the great incarnate I am, Jesus, is with us.
In 23, verse 3, the first four words, we read this.
He restores my soul.
Notice, it's the third person singular.
He restores my soul.
And just to remind you of who this he is, last week we looked at that verse 1,
the Lord, all caps, is my shepherd.
It's the personal name of God, the memorial name of God, Yahweh.
I am who I am, the great I am.
David is saying, he's making quite a declaration, quite a claim.
The great I am is my shepherd.
He's saying, I'm his sheep.
I follow him.
He's my leader.
I trust in him for daily provisions of green pasture and still water.
And last week, I wanted to show you that in multiple places in the gospel of John,
but in particular, John 8, 58, Jesus claims to be the great I am incarnate.
Remember when he said before Abraham was, I am?
There's no missing the grammar.
He's claiming to be the God of Exodus 3, 14.
In the flesh.
The good shepherd.
He claimed to be two chapters later in John, the good shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep.
The great incarnate I am has laid his life down for his sheep.
And now his sheep who hear his voice, follow him wherever he would lead us, whatever path he leads us down.
That's the he.
He restores my soul.
Your soul is your inner being.
And at the very center of your soul is your heart, not your physical blood pumper.
Thump, thump, thump.
It's your central operating system.
In the West, we tend to separate our heads and our hearts.
We think with our heads.
We feel with our hearts.
But David would have thought about it this way.
He thinks, feels, makes decisions out of one place.
His heart.
His central operating system.
His inner being.
The very animation of his soul.
The implication here is this.
David's soul needed to be restored.
Our souls need restoring.
Our souls need renewing.
Our souls need refreshing.
And our souls need only what our shepherd can give.
And do you know what that is?
Himself.
Augustine or Augustine, depending on your circles,
is well known for this quote.
You have made us for yourself, O Lord.
And our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
All of us have a God-shaped vacuum in our souls that only God can fill.
We need God.
And so when we talk about this idea of restoring,
you restore my soul.
Soul restoration is going to come from eating your fill from His green pasture,
from drinking deep from His still waters.
And I made an argument last week.
That is God's Word given to us,
and God's Word gives us God.
He gives us Himself through the Word.
When your heart is content,
satisfied,
in God alone,
you are going to find your soul restored.
restored in a right relationship to God,
refreshed,
renewed,
because you have the life of Jesus pumping through you.
Jesus went into the tomb dead,
and He came out of the tomb alive,
so that your restless heart can find its resting place in Him.
find life,
find peace.
So our great incarnate I Am,
our good shepherd,
is on a mission.
He is on a seek and restore mission.
Your soul is His target,
and His purpose is to give you Himself,
to restore you,
to refresh you,
to renew you.
If you want to listen to a passage from the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus is being watched by Pharisees,
and they accuse Him of,
this man receives sinners and eats with them.
to which Jesus gives this parable.
What man of you,
having a hundred sheep,
if he has lost one of them,
does not leave the 99 in the open country,
and go after the one that is lost,
until he finds it?
And when he has found it,
he lays it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.
He's rejoicing.
And when he comes home,
he calls together his friends and his neighbors,
saying to them,
rejoice with me,
for I have found my sheep that was lost.
Just so I tell you,
there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents
than over 99 righteous persons
who have no need of repentance.
Here's what I want you to see.
Your good shepherd
is on a seek and restore mission.
If you're lost,
if you've never become a Christian,
could it be that the good shepherd,
the great I am,
is calling you to himself
to enter into a relationship with him,
to be restored,
and you can find life?
Or maybe you are a Christian,
but you've been wandering.
You've been wandering in the desert places,
and your good shepherd's saying,
come back.
Come back.
And there's reunion.
There's restoration
in your relationship with God.
And maybe you are a faithful follower,
a sheep of the shepherd,
but we are prone to wander.
Lord, we know it.
Prone to leave the shepherd we love.
Here's what this means.
We need our shepherd,
and our shepherd restores us to himself.
He restores my soul.
And that's really important
when walking through the valley
of the shadow of death.
That means whether we're walking
through green pasture,
or we're walking through dark valley,
we always get to say,
blessed be your name.
Our shepherd restores us.
Fear not, brothers and sisters.
Our shepherd,
he restores us to himself.
Second point is our shepherd leads us.
We read in the second part of verse three,
he leads me in path of righteousness
for his name's sake.
When you experience soul restoration of Christ,
and you are in a vibrant relationship with him,
you've essentially responded to his call.
If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself,
take up his cross,
and follow me.
And when you follow me,
when you say yes to Jesus,
you are going to follow your shepherd
where he leads you.
And he's going to lead you on his paths.
He's going to direct you in his ways.
And they are called paths of righteousness here.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
So what are these paths of righteousness
that our shepherd leads us on?
Well, back in the day,
David wrote this,
and he was writing it in a dry,
desolate, rocky, hilly climate
with many paths crisscrossing the landscape.
But not all those paths were right paths.
Think of these paths of righteousness
as moral pathways our good shepherd leads us on.
And he tells us these good ways.
He reveals these good paths to us
through the scriptures.
These paths of righteousness aren't mysterious.
They're not something that you've got to meditate on
and say, oh, Lord, show me your path.
He's shown us his path.
He's revealed them to us in the scriptures.
Let me make a case from Psalm 119.
Let me just show you
how Psalm 119 talks about paths.
I love Psalm 119.
I think I'm in the eighth round through it this year.
I can't get enough of it.
Listen to Psalm 119.
This is on page 606 of your Pew Bible.
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
Blessed, happy, joyful,
experiencing goodness of blamelessness,
of integrity,
of walking in the way,
the law of the Lord,
right out of the gate.
Psalm 119 starts talking about
following God in terms of pathways.
Verse 9,
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
Lord,
we pursue sexual holiness
by walking along the path of God's ways
revealed in the scriptures.
Verse 33,
Teach me, O Lord,
the way of your statutes,
and I will keep it to the end.
Verse 35,
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies
and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things
and give me life in your ways.
Life,
delight,
joy,
goodness,
blamelessness.
It's his path,
his ways.
Verses 59 and 60,
When I think on my ways,
I turn my feet to your testimonies.
I turn my feet to your ways.
I think on my ways.
I turn my feet to your ways.
And then,
I hasten and do not delay
to keep your testimonies,
your commandments.
I get at it.
I hustle.
I'm quick to obey.
Because your commandments are not burdensome.
We could go on and on.
105,
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and light to my path.
If you flip over to the book of Proverbs,
Proverbs 3, 5, and 6,
familiar to many of you,
trust in the Lord with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways,
acknowledge him
and he will make straight your paths.
He will light up your paths with his paths.
The way of wisdom.
To be a follower of Jesus,
to follow after the good shepherd
is to walk on his paths.
The path of God's blessing
outlined in the scriptures.
Let me drill down a little bit more.
We live in a culture
in which one's sexuality and gender
is under assault.
There's a lot of confusion out there.
In Genesis 1, 27,
we learn that God says
that he has created
in his image
both male and female.
He created them
biologically sexed.
And that's a way for us to walk.
We think about sex and gender
in terms of biologically defined.
There's only two sexes
that are biologically determined.
And this is a way
of righteousness.
Genesis 2, 24 through 25,
when it comes to marriage,
it's very clear.
One biological man
is joined by God
to one biological woman
for an exclusive
one flesh union for life.
It's a path we walk.
It's a good way.
It's blameless.
Ephesians 4, 29
shows us a way to walk
in terms of our speech.
Let no unwholesome talk
come from your mouth.
Don't go off the path
with gossip.
Don't go off the path
with scornful, hateful speech.
Stay on the path
of God's blessing.
Build up those around you.
Give grace to those who hear.
John 13, 34 through 35.
Another pathway.
Jesus gives us the great,
the new commandment.
A new commandment I give to you
that you love one another
just as I have loved you.
You also love one another.
And by this,
all people will know
that you're my disciples
if you have this kind of love
for one another.
And so it is a path,
a good way to walk.
These paths of righteousness
in 23,
they're not mysterious.
They're very clear.
They're good paths.
They're right paths.
But did you notice
at the end of verse 3,
for his name's sake,
that seems a little odd.
God,
because maybe you're thinking
something like this.
He leads me in paths
of righteousness
for my good.
Or this is going to be
tongue-in-cheek.
He leads me in his paths
of righteousness
so I can be the best version
of myself.
No.
He leads me in paths
of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Remember,
this psalm starts
with the name of God.
The great I am
is my shepherd.
And it ends
with the name of God.
I shall dwell
in the house
of the great I am
forever.
And here in the middle
is another reference
to his name.
He leads us
on paths
of righteousness
for his name's sake.
For the name
of Yahweh
or the incarnate
Yahweh,
Jesus.
A shepherd's reputation
depended on his
careful leading
of his sheep.
And so when we walk
on his paths
of righteousness
that have been revealed
in his word,
it's not just good
for us,
it gives him glory.
It magnifies
his name.
It says
to a watching world,
this is legit.
Being a follower
of Jesus,
being a sheep
of his sheepfold
changes things.
We experience
his goodness
and he gets
the glory.
Have you strayed?
Have you strayed
off his path?
Are you
doing what's right
in your own eyes?
That's not his path.
You want to stay
on his path
and if you've strayed
from his path,
you have a gentle,
loving Savior
who's saying,
baby,
come back.
Come back
to the path
of blessing.
Come back
to blamelessness
and goodness
and experience
the goodness
of my ways
for the glory
of my name.
So far,
we've seen
we are to fear
not because
our shepherd
restores us
to himself.
We are to fear
not because
our shepherd
leads us
on his paths
and those paths
of righteousness,
they go through
both green pastures
and dark valleys.
So let's look
at the last point.
Our shepherd
comforts us.
Fear not.
Our shepherd
comforts us
in the valley.
Verse 4.
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.
There are a number
of things I want
you to see
in verse 4
designed to comfort
here's the first thing.
I want you to see
the connection.
I just said it.
Verse 3
and verse 4.
He leads me
in paths
of righteousness
for his namesake.
There's not
a full stop there.
The psalm continues
and that path
of righteousness
will lead
through the valley
of the shadow
of death.
He leads us
through the valley
of the shadow
of death.
God's paths
of righteousness
lead through
dark valleys.
It's part
of his design.
It's part
of his active
leading of us
in this world
at this time.
And yes,
there will be times
that are bright
and good,
ease and plenty,
and there will also
be times
of difficulty
and hardship
when things get dark
and we start
feeling a threat,
a danger.
In other words,
God purposefully
leads us
through valleys.
And here's the comfort.
It's not random.
God is always
at work for our good
and his glory.
He's always
at work.
He is sovereignly
overseeing
all things,
whether it's
on the global
front,
whether it's
on the national
front,
or in just
your world.
He is sovereignly
orchestrating
over all things
in ways
that we do
not comprehend.
but we know
the great I am.
God is sovereignly
at work
in our midst,
even in the valley.
The second thing
I want you to see
is actually
just make a statement.
Dark valleys
are real.
The valley
of the shadow
of death
can also be translated
the valley
of deep darkness.
And in my study
this past week,
scholars think
that this valley
being talked about
is not so much
of a broad
and wide valley,
but a narrow ravine.
And in the Middle East,
there would be
seasonal rainfalls
that would fall down
and it would cut out.
It's like a slot canyon
out west.
Just this very narrow ravine.
And if you're a shepherd
leading your sheep
going from one pasture
to the next,
sometimes you had
to bring your sheep
through these
narrow ravines.
They're dry creek beds,
sheer walls,
that once you descend
into them,
it is very hard
to escape them.
They're narrow,
you feel confined,
they can be very dangerous
in light of this.
If there is a flash flood,
those narrow ravines
can fill with water
and they can roll down rocks,
big rocks.
And so if you are a shepherd
of a herd of sheep,
you can lose your herd
in one flash flood.
Another danger is wild beasts
lurking in the nooks and crannies
of these dark ravines.
Another threat are bandits
who in that day
would use these ravines
to trap people,
to take advantage of them,
to rob them,
to beat them.
Last week I told you
that sheep by nature
are defenseless.
They are easily disoriented.
They are on the duller side
of the intellectual spectrum
of animals
and they are skittish.
And if you're bringing sheep
through a dark ravine,
they would be quite nervous.
And we, like sheep,
get nervous
in dark and threatening places
or seasons.
Death is one of them.
Whether it's the death
of Charlie Kirk this week
or other people
that have been murdered
in the past several months
or several years.
Maybe it's the death
of someone close to you,
their pending death,
a possible death.
Maybe it's even thinking
about your death.
Your body is declining.
That can insert fear
and anxiety.
And if you have lost
someone close
or if you're in a nation
that is going through turmoil,
it can lead to grief.
Grief is a dark valley.
But there's also
other kinds of deep darknesses
that we need to go through.
Despair.
When you find yourself
trapped in a ravine of life
and there is no escape,
you feel like you're
at a dead end,
you are hopeless
because you feel helpless,
that's a dark place.
And you can start feeling
acutely aware
of being alone,
of being fearful,
being disoriented.
Disorientation is a dark place.
I'm in my 50s
and I've seen our nation
change dramatically
over the last three decades,
four decades.
There's a disorienting effect to it.
What has been happening
to our nation?
What's taking place?
I believe that we are being
handed over by the living God
to the sinful desires
of the greater people
that we live amongst.
I believe that we are living
in a day and age
that's changed.
That we are living
at a time when
people are not looking
to the king of the universe,
but they're doing
what's right
in their own eyes.
And that kind of disorientation,
that kind of change,
is hard to bear
and hard to process.
And then there's
the deep darkness
of disappointments,
whether someone
has disappointed you,
whether it's a person
or a group
or an organization,
or there's another
kind of disappointment,
is that you are living
in fear of disappointing
other people.
And it is like this
cavern without a top,
a ravine.
You feel enclosed,
you are regularly anxious,
you are wondering
what people are going to do,
and it is a very difficult
place to live.
And wouldn't it be nice
if these valleys
took their turns?
That's not the way
these things unfold.
Oftentimes death,
despair,
disorientation,
disappointment,
declining bodies,
they all hit at once.
All under God's
sovereign purview.
And the effect
of these deep,
dark places,
these ravines,
is isolation.
fear,
anxiety.
And God gives paths
to lead us
right through them.
He has paths
for us to walk
through deep,
dark places,
through the valleys.
And we must walk them,
and we must walk them
individually,
and we must walk them
corporately
as a church.
And we must walk
the valleys real.
These dark places
are real.
Let's not minimize them.
Here's what else
is real.
You're not alone
in the valley.
Here's the good news.
Even though I walk
through the valley
of the shadow of death,
you have led me here.
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me.
You are with me,
for you are with me.
There are a number
of promises
throughout the Bible.
And this one
in which God promises
to be with us,
and to fear not,
for he is with us,
is a glorious one.
Let me share with you
a few.
Here's some of my faves.
Joshua chapter 1,
I'm going to start
in verse 6.
Skip to verse 9.
I have this passage
taped up
at different places
in my house
because I'm regularly
tempted
to be afraid
of things.
I'm afraid
be strong
and courageous,
for you shall
cause this people
to inherit the land
that I swore to their fathers
and to give them.
Only be strong
and very courageous,
being careful to do
according to all the law
that Moses,
my servant,
commanded you.
Do not turn from it
to the right hand
or to the left.
That's pathway talk.
That you may have
good success
wherever you go.
This book of the law
shall not depart
from your mouth,
but you shall meditate
on it day and night
so that you may be
careful to do
according to all
that is written in it,
for then you will
make your way prosperous
and then you will
have good success.
Have I not commanded you?
Joshua,
Mike,
have I not commanded you?
Christ the King Church,
have I not commanded you?
Be strong
and courageous.
Do not be frightened
and do not be dismayed
for the Lord
your God
is with you
wherever you go.
Give me an amen.
I need that.
Amen.
Wherever you go,
Isaiah 41.10.
Fear not
for I am with you.
Be not dismayed
for I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
I will help you.
I will uphold you
with my righteous
right hand.
Do you know
what the Apostle Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians
chapter 1?
For all the promises
of God
find their yes
in Christ.
Amen.
Be not dismayed.
Do not fear
your great
incarnate.
I am
is with you.
Unbelievable.
No, no, no.
Believable.
The Gospel of Matthew
starts with this
fulfillment of
Isaiah 7.14.
There's Emmanuel
coming,
God with us.
Wah!
Jesus the baby!
God,
the I am
incarnate.
And then the book
of Matthew
closes
with Jesus
risen
and glorious.
All authority
on heaven and earth
has been given to him
and the last thing
he tells us
is I am with you
always.
Even to the end
of the age.
The God of the universe,
brothers and sisters,
the God of the universe
is with us
in the valley.
The creator of all,
the sustainer of all,
the savior of all,
the judge of all,
who knows all things,
who's all powerful,
who's all wise,
who's all good,
who's everywhere present,
he's with us.
That's why David says,
I will fear no evil.
Let's just be clear.
He's not saying
that evil will not
befall him.
Let's be clear.
He's not saying
that he will not
experience evil.
He's saying,
I will not fear evil
because the great I am
is with me
and the great I am
is greater than any evil
that I would face.
Be strong and courageous
for I am with you.
This past Wednesday,
I was at
Frank and Sharon Schneider's house
and they're sitting
on the porch
and me and another guy
are helping out
doing some stuff
and I asked Frank
who's got Parkinson's.
I said,
Frank,
how is God using
your Parkinson's
in your life?
And his immediate answer
was,
well,
I pray more.
I pray all the time.
I pray for my family.
I pray for other people
and then I said,
well,
Frank,
what's your favorite
Bible verse?
And he's like,
Psalm 23.
And I'm like,
yes,
I'm preaching that right now.
And then he adds,
when I was 10,
I memorized Psalm 27.
And then he goes on.
He's standing,
standing in his driveway
and he starts reciting
Psalm 27
and he's not just reciting it.
He's weeping
while he's reciting it.
Our brother with Parkinson's
is weeping in his driveway
while reciting Psalm 27
and here's what that says.
The Lord is my light
and my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold
of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear.
Though war rise against me,
yet I will be confident
and it closes by him saying,
I believe that I shall look upon
the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me
all the days of my life.
wait for the Lord.
Be strong.
Let your heart take courage.
Wait for the Lord.
Do you know who
he was ministered to on Wednesday?
Me.
By our brother with Parkinson's.
By way,
there's another brother
with Parkinson's
serving the brother
with Parkinson's.
Unbelievable.
Believable!
Unbelievable!
The final piece
I want you to see
from this verse
is a monosyllabic word.
For you are with me.
I quoted Spurgeon last week
and he said that his,
he thinks the most important
monosyllable of verse 23
is the my of verse 1.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I find myself saying,
Mr. Spurgeon,
this you is pretty significant.
Did you notice
the change?
Did you notice it?
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths
of righteousness
for his namesake.
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.
He moves from he
to you.
He moves from talking
about God,
his shepherd,
now to talking to
God,
his shepherd.
And you know what
brought it about?
The valley.
The hardness,
the difficulty,
the fear.
God uses valleys
to draw us to himself,
to cultivate in us
a dependence on him,
to call out to him,
you,
you are with me,
you deliver me,
you make straight my paths.
I look to you.
We look to you.
That you is a covenant you.
We can call God
our you shepherd
because of the blood
of Jesus built for us,
our Emmanuel,
our good shepherd,
laid down his life
and has bound himself
to us.
And now we can say,
for you are with me,
Jesus,
no matter what valley
you are in.
No matter what.
David goes on to say
that your rod
and your staff,
they comfort him,
comfort me.
These were the two
implements of a shepherd
back in the day.
The rod was
about a two foot club
and it was used to
beat against
wild animals
and bandits.
The staff was
a shepherd's crook,
a wooden pole
with a little hook
on the end
to pull and push
sheep in the way
that they should go
and they were
a comfort
to sheep.
Brothers and sisters,
our Lord Jesus
isn't carrying
a beat stick.
But his cross,
oh, it's a club.
His cross defeated
sin, death,
and the devil,
our enemies.
He clobbered him
with the club
of the cross.
And his cross,
oh, it pulls us,
pushes us.
It hooks us
to himself.
We're bound to him
along his path.
His path
is a cruciform path.
We walk
his path
and he leads us
and his cross
is a comfort
to us.
It tells us
that we are his
and he is ours.
And if he has
died for you,
how much more
along with that
death
will he give you
everything you need
for life and godliness
even in the valley?
He's never going
to let you go.
Fear not.
Our shepherd
restores us
to himself.
Fear not.
Our shepherd
leads us
on his paths.
Fear not.
Our shepherd
comforts us
with his presence.
I will fear
no evil
for you are with me
in the valley.
Brothers and sisters,
fear not.
Fear not.
Your shepherd
is with you
wherever you go.
Green pasture
or dark valley,
nothing is random.
He is for you
and with you
for your good
and for his glory.
So we walk
through the valley
with confidence.
Let's pray.
God,
thank you so much
for Psalm 23.
Lord Jesus,
thank you so much
for being our
ever-present help
in time of trouble,
for being our shepherd
in the midst
of the valley,
and we confess
that we will gladly
follow you
on your paths
because you are
wise and good.
Lead on,
good shepherd.
Amen.