Psalm 23: The Lord Is My Shepherd (Prayer of Trust)
Psalm 23, numbered Psalm 22 in the older Catholic Bibles, is probably the best-loved psalm of all. It pictures God as a shepherd who feeds, leads, and protects His flock, even through the valley of the shadow of death. Catholics pray it at funerals, in hospital rooms, and in every kind of fear or uncertainty. The Fathers of the Church also read it as a picture of the sacraments: the waters of Baptism, the anointing oil, and the table of the Eucharist.
Pray it slowly when you are anxious, grieving, facing illness, or unsure of the road ahead, and let each line become your own trust in the Good Shepherd. The version below is the traditional Douay-Rheims translation.
The Prayer
The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment: he hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me. Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it! And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.
Sources: Psalm 22 (23), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
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