I didn't know it would be published on the Sabbath - that was a nice surprise. Another thing I didn't know was that the psalms would be read aloud, taking flight in the air above Northampton, Massachusetts, the night before they took to cyberspace.
Psalms 22 and 23 - for Matthew Shepard and Ryan Skipper - two beautiful young men, one in Wyoming and the other in Florida - brutally attacked and left to die under the night sky. How could the 23rd psalm be applied to them? They had nothing of what David had when he wrote "The Lord is my shepherd - I shall not want." They had no safety - no protection through the valley of the shadow of death.
Psalm 22 ("O God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?") is where their story begins. I received a text message last night to let me know that 22 and 23 had been used at a fundraiser to help bring Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother, to speak in Northampton next spring. The HBO movie about Matthew's life was shown and then the audience sang "This Little Light of Mine," to have hope, in the night, that others can be saved, that we won't have to continue to lose our young people to hate crimes and bullying.
My heart is full and my soul is blessed to be able to see the psalms go out into the world and be used for the glory of God and the healing of my people. Heartfelt thanks to all who nurtured them along to birth. You know who you are.
Psalms 22 and 23 - for Matthew Shepard and Ryan Skipper - two beautiful young men, one in Wyoming and the other in Florida - brutally attacked and left to die under the night sky. How could the 23rd psalm be applied to them? They had nothing of what David had when he wrote "The Lord is my shepherd - I shall not want." They had no safety - no protection through the valley of the shadow of death.
Psalm 22 ("O God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?") is where their story begins. I received a text message last night to let me know that 22 and 23 had been used at a fundraiser to help bring Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother, to speak in Northampton next spring. The HBO movie about Matthew's life was shown and then the audience sang "This Little Light of Mine," to have hope, in the night, that others can be saved, that we won't have to continue to lose our young people to hate crimes and bullying.
My heart is full and my soul is blessed to be able to see the psalms go out into the world and be used for the glory of God and the healing of my people. Heartfelt thanks to all who nurtured them along to birth. You know who you are.
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