Singing the Lord's song in a strange land Covid and Psalm 23 ........

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 

I followed a tangle of sheep flocking through a town in Spain led by a swarthy suntanned older man, the shepherd. The sheep slowed the traffic right down. We sat engine idling, as the sheep pushed past, nibbling short patches of grass between the cobbles in the pavements.

The town was called Alhaurin, an arabic name meaning literally, the garden of God.

This was a sermon in the making for the next time Psalm 23 was set as the psalm in ordinary time.

But this is no ordinary time this is in fact the most extraordinary of times, this is Covid time, pandemic time, a time beyond any that we have ever experienced. A time that is undermining our economy making our role as consumers more difficult so it is comforting to know that we will get through this. 

As the psalmist says we will want for nothing.

This is a time when it is a comfort to be able to say together, The Lord is my shepherd. It is a profound statement of faith. The Lord is my shepherd, we are like the sheep in the Garden of God being led to a place of safety a place where there will be no want. We will be short of nothing because God has got our backs.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 

In the Garden of God the pastures are green, the valleys are fruitful, the waters are still and doubtless packed with trout. There is in this sylvan image a glimpse of what is possible. Too often we live with anxiety, too often we worry as in last weeks Gospel about matters that trouble us. What we shall wear. What we shall eat. But now we are reassured.

The pastures are green, the waters are still.

So we can rest in the promises of God. He is our shepherd and will look out for us. It is true of course that sheep can be led to the slaughter and it is also true that sheep can be fleeced. But our security as we steer a course through this pandemic is the shepherd and his care for us.

Troubled sleep, anxiety, restlessness, fear of what lies ahead. The sheer endlessness of it. The sense that one's energy is being spent on a virus with neither conscience or awareness of good or evil. But in the garden of God there is at last peace to rest in the green pasture beside the still water.

3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 

The psalmist is keen to give thanks where thanks are due. As we struggle to find ways forward as we forget our mask (again) or enter a cafe holding our smart phone to the QR Code we are reminded that we need to take greater care, wash our hands more thoroughly, maintain a safe distance. As the message has it: hands, face, space.

If the measures in place for our safety feel almost soul destroying, the psalmist reminds us that God the shepherd is in this with us making dangerous places safe, so we renew our confidence by rehearsing the words: He restores my soul. 

As we struggle through trying times it is essential that we find the right path for us this may be the underlying reason why we come to church, to get our lives back, our souls restored.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

The evening news is uncomfortable. Each day we read the toll of those affected by the virus, those who have died and the rising death toll moving steadily upward. We are in deed and in fact walking through the darkest of valleys, as the King James bible has it: The valley of the shadow of death. Altogether more poetic but also more powerful as it reminds us of what is walking amongst us.

But the thing is this, in the dark valley of Covid we are enjoined by the psalmist to fear nothing, no evil, it is a startling challenge but one we must rise to.

My shepherd in the garden of God carried a simple shepherds crook, the shepherd in psalm 23 carries a rod and a staff which bring comfort to the psalmist.

Now whenever we visit a venue for hospitality, for company, for shopping or for entertainment we carry the NHS Covid 19 app on our smart phone , if I open it I am reassured that it is active and scanning, less reassuring is the message that it has recognised a contact but doesn't tell me where or when.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

Here the analogy changes. The shepherd becomes the generous host. A table is prepared laden with food which is to be shared. But the feast is prepared in the presence of enemies. So there comes further reassurance. Not only is the shepherd a generous host but he is also a protector. We can comfortably sit at table, in the presence of our enemies knowing that God will protect us and treat us like royalty.

We will be anointed with oil. The oil of comfort and healing but also the oil which is given to bless not only an honoured guest but those who are sick as St James in his epistle has it, 'are there any who are sick among you? Let them send for the elders off the Church, and let them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the Name of the Lord.

So we are safe in the presence of our enemies, we are treated as honoured guests, and God's generosity knows no boundaries, my cup overflows.

In the middle of an unprecedented pandemic when the future is uncertain when what has been normal is no longer normal because it has become a 'new normal' with greater restrictions imposed we can continue to be hopeful because God's generosity will over time prevail

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

So we come to verse six. Commentary suggests that goodness and mercy will not be so tame as to just follow, they will actively pursue. 

The virus will over time be reined in and controlled. There will be a vaccine developed and life will return to some kind of normality. Whilst we wait we must know that God has got our backs.

But if all that becomes true it is critical that we recognise how our human interference has led to the virus emerging so violently and aggressively. We have been poor stewards of the earth. Climate change. Wet food markets. The slow disappearance of species. Air quality. So we need to clean up our act. We need to become better stewards if we are planning and hoping to dwell in the house of the lord our whole lives long.

The grounding of airplanes, using cars less, alternative forms of travel from walking to cycling making us healthier and happier. So we must not just follow a better course, the lesson of this pandemic is that we must actively pursue a better course in the hope that the pastures can become greener and the waters still.