There are many ways to journal, but one of my favorites is to journal as I read the Bible. I take note of things that grab my attention, I ask questions, and I explore various ideas together with God as a result of the passage I’ve read.
Today, I want to invite you into a Bible journaling session with me. We’ll pray and journal through Psalm 23:3 together. And though it is a familiar passage, I pray God would meet you there and share His heart with you. I know this has been a powerful verse for me.
If you’d like to learn more about journaling together with God, you can get access to my free journaling workshop at lovedoesthat.org/journalingworkshop or download my guide entitled 20 Ways to Journal with God, which you can find at lovedoesthat.org/store.
Ready
As we prepare to do our Bible journaling session today, we want to make sure we are ready for this time with God. And we can do this in a couple of different ways.
First is to prepare your environment. Find a quiet corner where you can focus for a few minutes, light a candle if you wish, and gather your journaling supplies together. This might mean a notebook and pen, or maybe you use the notes app on your phone or your computer.
Second is to prepare your heart, mind, and soul. Remind yourself that God is your Good Shepherd. His sheep know His voice—that means you know His voice! And He has things He wants to share with you. Are you ready to hear what God might have to say?
If not, cast out any distractions that are getting in the way, renounce any lies you’ve been believing about God speaking with you, and ask Him to help you recognize His voice in your life.
I’ll give you a minute to do that now before we begin.
[pause]
Recognize
For today’s journaling session, I’m going to read through the first few verses of Psalm 23, and we’re going to linger together on verse 3. Then I’ll share a few things I’ve learned about this passage and invite you to consider a couple of questions that you and God can talk about on the pages of your journal.
During this time, you simply want to listen for God’s voice. You asked Him to help you recognize Him. Trust Him to do that.
Are you ready?
Psalm 23:1–3 (ESV)
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.
Remember as we dwell on this psalm that David wrote it, and in his younger days, he served as a shepherd for his family’s flock. It’s easy to picture him bringing that to mind as he pens these words as a prayer to God.
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.
In his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller writes about a couple of situations where sheep might need to be restored.
The first is when the sheep is lost or has wandered away. Sheep often pay attention only to the grass or land that is immediately in front of them. And should they discover something that looks enticing, they might follow it—without realizing they are leaving the protection of the shepherd.
Or maybe we, as sheep, think we know a better way. And so we intentionally set out on a different path than the one our Shepherd has chosen. We’re independent. We know where we want to go.
When a sheep is alone, she is in danger, vulnerable to attacks from the enemy. But really, she can’t find her way on her own. She needs her shepherd to come rescue her and bring her back to the flock, to His care.
So a sheep can be restored to the flock when she has wandered away and gotten lost, but she can also be restored when she is cast down.
Have you heard that term before? A sheep that is cast down has fallen and rolled over onto her back or side, and that sheep is unable to get up on her own. She might bleat a little for help, but generally she will lay there lashing about, trying to get herself out. And usually it only makes things worse. And if she doesn’t get help from the shepherd in a relatively short amount of time, she will die.
Psalm 42 has a couple of verses where the psalmists ask, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” Our souls, like a sheep, can get cast down, lost in turmoil and frustration. Have you been there?
Our Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, watches over His flock. He knows us by name, and when one is missing, He looks for them.
He looks for those who are lost and need to be brought back to the flock, and He keeps His eyes open for those who might be cast down so that He might set them upright again—even carrying them back to the flock if that is what’s necessary.
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.
What is God sharing with you through this passage? What insights are resonating with you? Take a moment and write it down.
[pause]
My question for you, my friend, is this: How do you need to be restored today?
Have you wandered away from the Shepherd in any way? Do you need Him to bring you back? Are you in any way alone, on your own path, seeking something other than God, scared, or feeling disconnected? Has pride caused you to go your own way instead of following your Shepherd?
Is your soul cast down? Have you fallen down in some way and found yourself unable to get back up on your own? Is there some trial or tribulation that has caused you to grow frustrated, weary, distressed? Have you grown hopeless?
Take a moment to explore these questions together with God.
[pause]
Receive
Whatever you and God have talked about, I invite you to receive what He has for you. To receive means to accept it, to hold it.
Don’t reject it. Don’t close your heart. Don’t turn away. But receive it into your heart. That’s a choice you have to make.
You can do this simply by saying something like, “Thank You, God, for sharing that with me. I choose to receive that.”
[pause]
Respond
You’ve readied your heart, you’ve recognized His voice, and you’ve received what God has shared with you.
Now it’s time to respond. What might you do with what you have received?
If God has shared a truth with you that He wants you to remember, what can you do with that?
If God has invited you to do something in response to what you’ve heard, how can you follow through in obedience?
Is there anything you want to thank Him for or ask Him for?
Take a moment and write down anything that comes to mind here.
[pause]
Prayer
God, we thank You that You are our Good Shepherd, and that You are keeping a loving, watchful eye on us. When our souls are lost or cast down, You come to restore us. You bring us back to the flock. You set us upright again. You bring love and safety where we have experienced fear or frustration. Thank You, Lord. Thank You. Thank You for sharing with us today. We pray that we might not forget Your words to us, but that we would live them out and respond in obedience to who You have called us to be and what You have called us to do. We pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.
RELATED EPISODES:
- Episode 168: [Journal Reviews] Bible Study Journals
- Bonus Episode 19: [Scripture Reading] The Good Shepherd (Ezekiel 34, Psalm 23, John 10)
- Episode 166: God in the Midst of the Storm: A Devotional Reading of Mark 6:45-52
- Episode 117: Running Away From God: A Devotional Bible Study on Jonah 1
Coming close to your grief and entering into it can be scary. Overwhelming, even.
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