A preacher once told me, “Psalm is an expression of the people who wrote it.”
I think it’s true. Look at David who wrote about his desperation in need of God’s help when he was being chased by Saul in Adullam Cave. It was his experience and more importantly his relationship with God through his struggle that made him write the Psalm.
The same way goes to Psalm 23. Maybe it’s the most famous and mainstream Psalm in our Bible. This Psalm was written when David was thinking about God and how he described Him as a living character that David knew the most. A shepherd. We all know, David was a shepherd before he became a king.
So often we think about God when something happens in our life. When life goes right according to our will, we will see God as a kind father, a best friend, etc. Otherwise, we will see God as a cruel master, and so on.
In a staff retreat of IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students) Indonesia, I tried to rewrite this Psalm in my own version after I took some time to be alone with God.
The Lord is my Painter
I shall not disheartened
He paints me in a big canvas
He paints me according to His liking
He is the One who gives colors
He puts everything in the right composition
For the sake of His art sense
Even when some parts are abstract
I’m not discouraged
For You will finish what You have painted aesthetically
Your brush and Your artistic hands reassure me
You prepare a showcase of Your painting
In plain sight of my enemies
To show them the beauty of me
In your hands
Surely You are the original artist of all things
And all things are made beautifully
I will depend on Your hands forever
I just got back from my vacation at Malang, Indonesia. It was really nice to be able to enjoy the sunrise at Bromo’s peak and sunset at South Malang Beach. The scenery was also amazing. To think that God is the One who created this beautiful world, makes me wonder how beautiful is His sense of art and what a great artist He is.
As an artist (graphic designer to be exact), I often have to focus all my time just to think for inspiration. Inspiration is something you couldn’t get anytime you want to. A famous painter, Sir Joshua Reynold (1723-1792) once said, “Nothing comes from nothing – invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory.” Even the greatest artist in this world can’t make an original masterpiece. I’m glad I was created by The Greatest Original Artist of all things in this world. And guess what? He is still painting me until now!
Have you ever seen an unfinished painting? I bet it would look not good. Maybe you will even wonder what kind of picture is this? But there is a good news. Although my painting has not finished, I know He is still holding the brush. When you see your life right now, you will only see an unfinished painting. Maybe it’s messy, something isn’t right, it’s blur, and you don’t even know what kind of picture it is. But later after He finish the painting, you will see a really beautiful big picture of your life.
Live your life because you know your painting is on the right hands and will be finished beautifully in the end.
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