From fed up to fed

There was a time when I got a bit fed up with the 23rd psalm.

Admittedly, it’s not a great way to feel about a piece of Scripture, but I’d come to associate the psalm almost entirely with funerals of unbelievers. While an Anglican minister, before moving to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), I conducted many such funerals, and the default hymn choice for the generation of non-churchgoers I was burying was Abide With Me and The Lord’s my Shepherd, the latter always sung to the tune of Crimond.

Fortunately, I’ve repented of my previous attitude towards the psalm, and in this issue and the August issue we’ll be engaging with this most familiar of poems from the Psalter. This month we’ll look at the first three verses; next time we’ll dip into the final three.