I have been restless lately and as I said that the 23rd Psalm is the most quoted, it occurred to me that I have not quoted it here myself these past 8 years.

Psalm 23 English Standard Version

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

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

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Brought to you without comment by the Lord who made me.

2 Timothy 1:7

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

This is the message received when I was encountering a crisis of confidence. I did not have to search for it, it was the verse of the day. 

Was that a coincidence or God speaking to editors at biblegateway to leave me a message for that day?

It has happened so many times over the years that any element of doubt or coincidence has been removed and has been placed in the file drawer labeled faith.

I cannot say that God  loves me any more than anyone else or that I am special. I want to believe He loves us all equally. 

How I feel about my Lord and His faithfulness goes beyond any issue of faith, it is personal.

We study, we believe, we find our gifts, our calling and encourage one another to do the right thing. We have fellowship with one another but that isn’t the same as our personal relationship with Christ because we are human, at least for the near future.

Why did I have that moment of crisis of confidence? I felt like I lost touch for a second with my Lord. That is all it takes, just a split second of emptiness and loneliness and I began to doubt myself, not my Lord myself.

And then the verse of the day comes and restores my soul.

Psalm 23:3

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

He didn’t even have to recite the most quoted Psalm to remind me.