Many of us have come to love the 23rd Psalm. Today I have been meditating on the first few words: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” There are worlds of wonder in those words. This holy, omnipotent, gracious, loving, and faithful God is my Shepherd (Psalm 23:1). That makes me inconceivably rich.

I’ve been thinking about the words of that old gospel song, “The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows.” I believe that must be the testimony of every believer. Find a man who has served Jesus seventy years, and he will tell you he has discovered Jesus to be better and sweeter and more lovely with every passing year.

That’s certainly been my experience. As the years pass, I am less pleased with what I see when I look in the mirror, but I am increasingly amazed by the person of Jesus. The truth is, others disappoint us, and we disappoint both ourselves and others. Whatever we may have resolved when we first began to follow Jesus, none of us are anywhere near as faithful as we would like to be. We are inconsistent, often distracted, sometimes lukewarm, and never as we ought to be. But Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is always kind, always merciful, always good, always holy, always true to everything He has ever said.   

Sometimes we don’t call on Him like we should. Sometimes we backslide. Sometimes we seem to lose interest in Him. But He never loses interest in us. He remembers our walls (Isaiah 49:16), He puts our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8), He makes our bed in sickness (Psalm 41:3), He delights over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17), and lovingly makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34). He is a prayer-hearing God who always answers when we call on Him (Psalm 65:2; Jeremiah 33:3). Though we backslide, He graciously forgives and restores (Jeremiah 3:22). Though, like Peter, we are at times bitterly disappointing, He is still tenderhearted and kind.

Isn’t it wonderful to think that His compassions are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23)?! They never grow old and stale. He is not sometimes hot and sometimes cold. No, His love for me (and for you) is an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Think of the love that drove Him to Calvary when He gave Himself for you (Galatians 2:20).

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