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Nguyễn Trung Tây,
SVD
psalm 23:
The
Lord Is My Shepherd
As a sheep is
under the shepherd’s care, so am I under the Lord’s care and
love. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing since he is
very sensitive to my needs. When I am bodily and spiritual
hungry, He makes me lie down in green pastures. Before I realize
that I am thirty, the Lord leads me to water, a restful place,
so that I can slake my thirst and rest as well. After a long day
working for the sake of His name, I feel tired and desire to
give up what I have been doing. The Lord then refreshes my
spirit. The Lord reinforces my spirit as I walk along His way by
many surprises which I never anticipated. When I walk through
the darkness, I fear nothing because of His presence.
The Lord is
with me, whom shall I fear?
As a sinful
human being, I have often attempted to run away from the love
and care of the Lord in order to follow and live with the
illusion of evil. While I am heading far from His presence, the
Lord stops me with his rod and his staff.
The Lord is
my shepherd, whom I shall fear?
The Lord
prepares for me a banquet in front of evil beings, who are
waiting for a chance to insult me, to reject me, to strike me,
and knock me down, or take me away from the Lord forever. The
Lord acknowledges me His sheep, distinguish me from the wolf by
anointing my heart with holy oil. He fully grants my just
desires so that I no longer attempt to escape from the Lord into
a strange, dangerous, dark, and evil land, where the shadow of
death is everywhere. Truly, under the care and love of the Lord,
His goodness and His mercy will follow me all the days of my
life.
The Lord is
my shepherd, whom shall I fear?
As I have
dwelt in the house of the Lord for many years, so I will remain
in His loving hands forever.
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Nguyễn Trung Tây,
SVD (Ex-Mid
4, published by the Vietnamese Students at St. Patrick's Seminary,
Menlo Park, CA in 1994, 19).
