Sleepless in Colorado

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want"

Long before a teacher had introduced  me to two-syllable words (shepherd, pastures),  some time before I knew what or who a shepherd was, and way before I could define what "want" meant in context, the Twenty-third Psalm had been imprinted in my cerebral cortex where it still lives.  We learned many "Songs" in Sunday School classes, where teachers presented the exploits of David the shepherd boy (among others) on colorful 3X5 cardstock .  The tiny cards also carried a "Memory Verse."  Still, I can't remember if David provided comfort or offered more than an exciting story about long ago.  We  learned later that Warrior-King David wrote two-thirds of the 150 Psalms we read today in the Holy Bible. However, I do not remember when I turned for succor to the Bible.  Certainly not then

It comes as no surprise that in the aftermath of years of being buffeted and beat up on like a punch-drunk, unprepared pugilist, that I returned to the Bible for refuge and the mental health insurance I found  in the Book of Psalms. Now I readily admit to sleeping with books for years and years, including Bibles and bestsellers.  Plagued by insomnia, I'd click on the night lamp, pick up the closest book, open it and begin (or resume) reading.  I don't remember the first Song I read.  Too long ago.  All I remember is that in the stillness of night, I paged from one Psalm to another until  I awakened the next morning with them cradled in the crook of my arm.

The Psalms outperform opiates; they hold only salutary side effects, the greatest of which is an unnerving peace. Unnerving? Yes. Why? Because they  grant spiritual peace that surpasses human understanding. The beauty of the Songs resides in their functionality.  King David's songs narrate a life that recorded setbacks, defeats, and victories. From youth, David's trust in Jehovah hallmarked a life of war and peace.  Consequently, his poems reflect a life filled with sorrow, pain, and stunning triumphs.  No matter the emotion or commotion, from abject fear to unmitigated joy, the Psalms complete their work, as they soothe or propel the soul to soar!

The Book of Psalms can be read any time  and even comes packaged for convenience and easy transport.  They accommodate pants pockets and purses alike  When I feel inconsequential and isolated, I turn to one of my favorites because it validates  nd highlights my Father's unequivocal love:  "You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle.  Are they not in your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call.  This I know, that God is for me. ..in God I trust; I shall not be afraid! What can man do to me?"  (Psalm 56:8).

To all Bullies, real and imagined, I post this notice.  "Fear,  anxiety, sadness, heartache, disappointment, defeat, depression, oppression, trouble, and every other imaginable, negative emotion and belief that stalk my steps, be gone! My Daddy is stronger than yours!"