The Shepherd Who Carries Me

Some passages of Scripture feel as though they were written specifically for certain seasons of life. Psalm 28:6-9 is one of those passages for me. When I read these verses, I don't just see the words of David. I see reminders of God's faithfulness woven throughout my own journey. I see evidence of prayers that were whispered through tears, moments when I felt too weary to keep going, and countless times when God carried me through situations I never would have chosen for myself.

The psalm begins with the words, "Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy." That verse immediately takes me back to some of the hardest moments of my life. There have been times when I didn't know what else to pray except, "Lord, help." Times when my prayers weren't eloquent or carefully crafted. They were simply the cries of a tired heart trying to hold on. I think many of us have experienced prayers like that. The kind prayed in hospital rooms, waiting rooms, sleepless nights, and quiet moments when fear feels louder than faith. Looking back, I realize God wasn't waiting for me to find the perfect words. He was simply listening to my heart.

One of the greatest comforts I have found over the past few years is knowing that God hears even the prayers I struggle to express. There have been days when I felt emotionally exhausted and spiritually drained. Days when I had more questions than answers and more worries than peace. Yet even during those times, God was listening. Not because my faith was perfect, but because His love is perfect. That truth has carried me through moments when I wondered if anyone understood the weight I was carrying. God understood. He always has.

The next verse says, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me." Those words have become incredibly meaningful to me because I have learned what it feels like to reach the end of my own strength. Before life became more complicated, I often believed that if I worked hard enough, planned carefully enough, and stayed positive enough, I could handle whatever came my way. Then life reminded me that some situations cannot be fixed through determination alone. There are challenges that force us to acknowledge our limitations. Circumstances that leave us feeling powerless. Seasons that reveal how little control we actually have. While I never would have chosen many of those experiences, they taught me something invaluable. They taught me that God's strength becomes most visible when mine runs out.

I used to think strength looked like having everything together. Now I think strength often looks like showing up one more day and trusting God to provide what you don't have. Strength is continuing to believe when circumstances make belief difficult. Strength is getting out of bed, saying another prayer, and taking another step forward when you don't know what tomorrow will bring. The image of God as a shield speaks to me in a different way. Looking back, I can see so many moments when God was protecting me even though I couldn't recognize it at the time. There were doors I desperately wanted opened that remained closed. There were situations I wanted resolved immediately that took much longer than I thought they should. At the time, those experiences often felt frustrating or disappointing. Yet with hindsight, I can see God's protection in many of them.

One thing life has taught me is that God's protection doesn't always look the way we expect. Sometimes protection comes through provision. Sometimes it comes through redirection. Sometimes it comes through strength to endure something we wish could be removed. God's ways are often different from mine, but they are always wiser. What resonates most deeply with me in this passage is the reminder that trust comes before understanding. If I'm honest, I would much rather understand first and trust second. I want God to explain the plan, show me the outcome, and then I'll gladly trust Him. Yet that is rarely how faith works. More often, God asks me to trust Him while I am still walking through uncertainty.

That has not always been easy. There have been moments when I have wondered why certain things happened. I've questioned why some prayers seemed to receive immediate answers while others remained unanswered for months or even years. I've struggled to understand why some roads have been so much harder than I ever imagined they would be. Yet through all of those questions, God has remained faithful. He has never abandoned me. He has never left me to face life's challenges alone. He has never stopped being present simply because I couldn't see what He was doing.

As I read the words, "My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him," I realize that joy has taken on a different meaning for me than it once did. When I was younger, I often connected joy to circumstances. Joy came when things were going well, when prayers were answered, or when life felt easy. Now I understand that joy can coexist with difficulty. Some of the deepest joy I have experienced has not come from easy seasons but from witnessing God's faithfulness during hard ones. Joy isn't pretending everything is perfect. Joy is recognizing that God remains good even when life is difficult. Joy is seeing His hand sustain you through something you never thought you could survive.

The final verse is the one that touches me most deeply: "Be their shepherd and carry them forever." Those words have become incredibly personal to me. A shepherd doesn't simply point toward the destination and expect the sheep to figure out the rest on their own. A shepherd walks with them. He guides them when they are uncertain. He protects them when danger appears. He searches for them when they wander. And when they are too weak to continue, he carries them. I think about all the times in my life when I have felt too weary to carry myself. Times when the weight of uncertainty felt overwhelming. Times when fear threatened to consume my peace. Times when I simply didn't know how to keep moving forward. Looking back, I can see evidence of God's presence in every one of those seasons.

Sometimes He carried me through the encouragement of a friend. Sometimes He carried me through a verse of Scripture that seemed written specifically for that moment. Sometimes He carried me through unexpected peace that made no sense given the circumstances. Sometimes He carried me through the simple strength to face one day at a time. The truth is, I probably wouldn't have made it through some seasons without His help. There were moments when I felt emotionally exhausted and spiritually depleted. Moments when I didn't feel strong enough for what was in front of me. Yet somehow God continued to provide exactly what I needed for that day. Not necessarily for the next year or even the next month, but always for that day.

I've come to realize that being carried by God isn't a sign of weakness. It's actually one of the greatest gifts of His love. He never asks us to pretend we are stronger than we are. He never expects us to carry every burden alone. Instead, He invites us to place those burdens into His hands. As I reflect on Psalm 28:6-9, I don't see a distant theological truth. I see my own story reflected in its words. I see prayers God has heard, strength He has provided, protection I didn't always recognize, and faithfulness that never wavered. Most of all, I see a Shepherd who has walked beside me through every season of life.

The future still holds unknowns. There will undoubtedly be challenges ahead that I cannot yet see. There will be moments when fear tries to steal my peace and circumstances test my faith. Yet this psalm reminds me of something I never want to forget: the God who carried me yesterday will carry me tomorrow. He has heard every cry, strengthened every weakness, guarded every step, and remained faithful through every season. Because of that, I can keep moving forward knowing that whatever lies ahead, I will never walk alone. The Shepherd who has brought me this far is not about to leave me now.