There was once a Shakespearean actor who was widely acclaimed for his one man show of readings from the classics and he would always end his performance with a dramatic reading of Psalm 23. Each night without exception, as the actor began his recitation of “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” the crowd would listen attentively and silently until he had finished and then give him thunderous applause, in appreciation of the actor’s incredible ability to bring the verse to life.

But one night, just as the actor was about to offer his customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the audience stood up and asked, “Sir, would you mind if I were to recite the 23rd Psalm tonight.” The actor was taken aback by this request, but he invited the young man onto the stage to recite the Psalm. With a soft quiet voice, the young man began to recite the words of the Psalm. When he had finished, there was no applause from the audience, only the sound of quiet weeping, as they were all so moved by the young man’s performance that every eye was full of tears.

Amazed by what he had seen and heard, the actor said to the youth, “I have been performing this Psalm for over thirty years and have a lifetime of training and experience, but I have never been able to move an audience as you have tonight, please tell me what is your secret”?

The young man humbly replied, ”Well sir, It’s no secret that you know all about the Psalm....but I know all about the shepherd.”

“Lord, help us to remember that our life on earth is so brief and we
try to fit in so many things. Yet we are nothing without your love.”