Thank you for the personal application question, “What is your favorite Bible passage, and why?”
One of my most favorite Bible passage is Psalm 23.
A little over 20 years ago, my wife suffered a hemorrhagic stroke while I was in ministry. As a pastor, I have read Psalm 23 many times in funerals. The reality of Psalm 23 became a test for me due to my wife’s illness.
My wife had a hemorrhagic stroke in 1999. I remembered clearly that evening as my wife laid in ER with the doctors doing nothing for her to treat her condition. No IV’s, no emergency surgeries, no pills. The CAT scan showed that a vessel burst on the left side of her brain. For nearly 3 days, she was unconscious even when the doctor pricked her toes with no response. I felt so helpless to do anything to make her better. The doctors could do nothing except to see if she would live or die and what condition she will be if and when she wakes up.
It is difficult to believe at times that Jesus my shepherd is with me at that moment in time. Faith perseveres despite all obstacles. When she woke up, she couldn’t make a sound. She couldn’t identify a pen or pencil. She couldn’t say her name. The doctors weren’t sure she can swallow or eat. She had no feelings in both legs. She couldn’t stand nor was she aware of her right side. The speech therapist could get her to make any sound at all!
If that wasn’t bad enough, after she went to rehabilitation, she slipped into deep depressions. Praise God she was able to walk, learned to write with her left hand but her spelling wasn’t great, but was able to make two syllable sounds with coaching on the first sound. Thankfully, her cognizant ability was still very good as she was able to able understand most of the conversation even though she would nod her head. Her “yes” and “no” are still confusing today.
Life wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to die. Since that stroke she had been in psychiatric hospitals being in there for nearly 40 days at one time with a nurse outside her door! She refused medication, to eat, and her weight dropped below 90 lbs. from 170 lbs. She was on the verge of being declared incompetent with her rights removed from her by the civil court.
They tried all kinds of medication and nothing worked for her. The last resort was electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) or shocked treatment. With her irregular heart rhythm and a damaged brain, that was the only treatment left for her. Will it bring her out of her depression or eventually will it kill her. Even today, she is taking ECT every 7 weeks. The long term effect is uncertain, probably not good for her but her options are limited.
On top of that, there is a limited to psychiatric hospitalization. Once a person reaches that limit, it is all out of pocket expenses. My wife has used nearly all her days. I was told to prepare to go to Medicaid, to spend down all our assets. As a husband, I am her caregiver. Keeping one vows in sickness and health is tested when everything is on the line.
As I ponder the rest of Psalm 23, it is such a comforting Psalm. It’s a Psalm that I have read to many people at the hospitals and at funerals. Now it was my turn for others to read to me and for me to meditate on it. I can honestly say that Psalm 23 is not just a Psalm to me when I look back at all that my wife and I have been through together. Is Romans 8:28 real? It is for us and Psalm 23 has been my comfort for the Shepherd has lead us through dark valleys when I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. I asked my wife to hold out her hand as I grasped her hand and reached out by faith that my Lord will hold my hand as we walked in those dark valleys.
God has provided for us at every turn in our lives. When I left the ministry, the church in New Jersey provided for our needs. When we were in Dallas, the Lord provided a part time ministry as my wife went to the Stroke Center three times a week. When we were in San Francisco, the Lord provided for us a place to stay as I worked part time at Safeway to supplement our income. We decided to move closer to our daughter and son in Texas and so we are presently here.
It is in the last six years or so that the Lord has allowed us to be in green pastures and still waters, restoring our souls and guiding us in the paths of righteousness for his name sake. Our life experiences enables us to relate well with those who are suffering for they know that we have gone through a lot in our lives. Our words means something to us and to them.
Psalm 23 is not just a good Psalm to memorized or a great word picture. For those who have walked in dark and deep valleys, Psalm 23 is a great comfort to know that our Shepherd leads us at times into dark valleys to teach us something about ourselves and our understanding and faith in our God. We find great comfort that the Shepherd is with us in our trials. The poem, Footprint, is most relevant for when we can’t go any further or when we are lost, the Good Shepherd carries us or guides us through those valleys in our lives. He is the one who restores us, not ourselves.
If you truly meditate on Psalm 23, you will be blessed most abundantly and your walk with the Lord will deepen.
Summary: The Word of God is living and active if we allow his Word to penetrate our hearts, minds, and our spirit.
For more perspectives:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-favorite-Bible-passage-and-why