This 5-day devotional draws directly from Drew Reding's sermon “Psalm 23” so you can keep engaging with the message all week. Read, reflect, and share it with your small group or friends.
The Shepherd Who Stays
Monday — Understanding the Truth
Have you ever picked up a familiar poem or song and suddenly heard it differently — like it was written just for you, right now?
Today's Scripture "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." — Psalm 23:1–3 (ESV)
Reflection Psalm 23 is one of the most recognized pieces of writing in the world. You may have heard it at a funeral, in a movie, or whispered at a bedside. And because it's so familiar, it's easy to let the words wash over you without really landing.
But here's what's worth sitting with today: this psalm was never meant only for gravesides. It was written for Monday mornings. For the 2 a.m. when you can't sleep. For the season that's harder than you expected.
David, who actually worked as a shepherd before he became a king, looked at his own life — his anxieties, his wandering, his tendency to end up in situations he couldn't get himself out of — and said, That's me. I'm the sheep. And God is my shepherd.
That's not a statement of weakness. It's one of the most freeing things a person can say. You don't have to have it all figured out. You don't have to find your own way or generate your own strength. There is a shepherd, and he is actively, personally, presently leading you.
Not someday. Right now. In the middle of whatever you're carrying today.
Today's Step Read Psalm 23 slowly today — out loud if you can. Let it be less of a recitation and more of a conversation with the One who wrote it for you.
A Closing Thought God is not a distant observer of your life. He is a shepherd who knows your name and knows exactly where you are.
You Have More Than You Think
Tuesday — When It's Hard
Be honest for a second: does it ever feel like God might be holding out on you?
Today's Scripture "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." — Psalm 23:1 (ESV)
"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." — Psalm 23:4 (ESV)
Reflection "I shall not want." It's a beautiful line — until life hands you something you desperately wanted and didn't get. A relationship that fell apart. A diagnosis that changed everything. A door that closed when you were certain it would open.
In those moments, this verse can feel more like a taunt than a promise.
Here's something worth sitting with, though: David isn't saying God will give you everything you desire. He's saying you will not lack what you truly need. And he wrote those words not from a place of comfort, but from inside his own valleys — seasons of fear, failure, and grief.
David also knew something about the valleys of life that felt like dying, not just physical death, but the dark, disorienting seasons where you can't see the path ahead and aren't sure it's even still there.
And his discovery wasn't that the valley disappears. It's that you don't walk through it alone.
Maybe you're in one of those valleys right now. Maybe you've been quietly carrying something heavy, not wanting to burden anyone, not sure if what you're feeling is okay. It is. And you are not abandoned there.
Today's Step Name the valley you're in — even just to yourself, or in a journal, or quietly to God. You don't have to have answers. Just be honest about where you are.
A Closing Thought The courage to keep going isn't something you have to manufacture on your own — it's a byproduct of knowing that God is with you, right here, in the hard part.
One Moment of Stillness
Wednesday — Putting It Into Practice
When was the last time you actually stopped — not to pray, not to check something off a list, but just to be still?
Today's Scripture "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." — Psalm 23:2–3 (ESV)
Reflection Sheep, it turns out, will not lie down unless certain conditions are met. They won't rest if they're hungry, afraid, or in conflict with the flock. They need to feel genuinely safe and genuinely provided for before they'll stop moving.
Sound familiar?
Most of us are living with a low-grade exhaustion that isn't just physical tiredness — it's the deeper kind that comes from carrying things we were never meant to carry alone, from moving so fast we never stop long enough to be replenished.
The shepherd leads his sheep to still waters. But the sheep have to actually follow him there. They have to be willing to stop, to put something down, to let the green pasture be enough for today.
Rest isn't laziness. And it isn't a reward you earn once everything is finally done — because everything is never finally done. If you're waiting for life to slow down before you rest, you'll be waiting forever.
The invitation today is a small one: find one moment — just one — to pause and be still. Not to pray a perfect prayer or do your devotions. Just to stop. And in that stillness, ask yourself honestly: What does my soul actually need right now?
Then ask the shepherd for it.
Today's Step Set a reminder on your phone for sometime today that just says: Be still. When it goes off, stop for two minutes. Breathe. Ask God what your soul needs.
A Closing Thought The shepherd leads you to rest — but the gift only reaches you when you're willing to follow him there.
A Table in the Middle of the Mess
Thursday — What This Looks Like in Real Life
What if God's provision wasn't waiting for your circumstances to improve first?
Today's Scripture "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." — Psalm 23:5 (ESV)
Reflection Imagine someone navigating one of the hardest seasons of her life — a health scare, a fraying relationship, finances that won't quite add up. She's praying, but it feels like she's waiting for God to show up once things settle down. Once the diagnosis is clearer. Once the tension eases. Once she finally has her act together.
But slowly, she starts noticing things. A friend who checks in at exactly the right moment. A morning where the light through the window feels like a gift. A quiet sense of being held even when nothing has changed on paper.
The table was already set. She just hadn't looked for it yet.
That image in Psalm 23 is striking: God doesn't prepare the table after the battle is over. He sets it in the presence of enemies — right in the middle of the struggle, while the hard things are still hard.
God's provision isn't contingent on your circumstances changing first. It's not once the diagnosis is resolved or once I've got my anxiety under control or once things calm down at home. It's now. The blessing, the honor, the overflowing cup — they're available to you in the middle of the mess, not just on the other side of it.
Today's Step Look for one thing today that feels like a table set in the middle of difficulty — a small provision, an unexpected kindness, a moment of grace. Write it down or tell someone about it.
A Closing Thought Your cup overflows not because everything is easy, but because the One filling it is the God of the universe — and he doesn't wait for perfect conditions to be generous.
Goodness Is Already Following You
Friday — Carrying It Forward
What if the thing you've been hoping will eventually catch up to you is already right behind you?
Today's Scripture "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 23:6 (ESV)
Reflection David doesn't end this psalm with hopefully or maybe someday. He ends it with surely. Without question. Goodness and mercy are not ahead of you, waiting for you to earn your way to them. They are behind you, following you — into this weekend, into next week, into whatever you're about to walk into.
That word for mercy in Hebrew — hesed — describes God's loyal, steadfast, covenant love. It's not a love you earn or deserve. It's a love that is chosen, promised, and kept, regardless of what you do in return.
Maybe you've been carrying some guilt this week about where you are spiritually. Maybe you feel like you've wandered too far, been too inconsistent, or that God must be tired of waiting for you to get it together. Psalm 23 has a word for that: goodness and mercy are following you right now. Not once you've cleaned yourself up. Right now.
And the promise of dwelling in the house of the Lord forever — that's not just a future comfort. It's a foundation for the present. When you know how the story ends, it changes how you walk through the valleys today.
So go into your weekend with this: you are not alone, you are not abandoned, and you are not without a shepherd.
Today's Step Carry this prayer into your weekend: Lord, you are my shepherd. I don't have it all figured out. Lead me.
A Closing Thought Goodness and mercy are not waiting for you to arrive somewhere better — they are already following you, all the days of your life.