Friday 13 November 2026

Psalm 23

Background
This week we are reading the story of Jacob. Today we read that night closes around Jacob at the River Jabbok. Years earlier, he fled from his brother Esau with a stolen blessing. Now he returns with family, possessions and fear. After sending everyone across the water, he remains alone. A stranger seizes him, and the darkness becomes a place of struggle. Jacob wrestles until dawn with one who is described as human adversary, angel and God. God meets Jacob bodily and powerfully and will not allow him to cross into the future unchanged.

The day’s theme, 'Challenge', begins here. In Genesis 25-50 we can read Jacob's story. He spent a lifetime manoeuvring: gripping his brother’s heel, exploiting hunger, wearing another person’s clothes, bargaining with God and outwitting Laban. At the River Jabbok, his skill cannot control the outcome. He is wounded, asked his name and made to speak the identity once used in deceit: Jacob, the supplanter. Truth comes before blessing. God does not erase his past, but gives him a new name, Israel, and a future no longer founded only on grasping.

Yet transformation does not arrive as triumph. Jacob crosses the river limping. The wound is not presented as shame, punishment or evidence of weak faith; it becomes part of his testimony. An inclusive Church must resist praising only strength, speed, independence and polished success. God’s people include those who live with pain, disability, trauma or limitation, not as objects of pity, but as people who bear blessing and wisdom.

Today's psalm – 23 – offers no escape from such struggle. The Shepherd leads us beside still waters, but also through the darkest valley. The table is spread not after danger has vanished, but in the presence of enemies. God’s care is tender and defiant. Goodness and mercy pursue those whom violence, prejudice and poverty have taught to expect pursuit of another kind.

The hymn 'Come, O thou traveller unknown' (Singing the Faith 461) deepens this challenge by presenting faith as a journey sustained by God’s presence. IGod meets us where we are, but does not promise to leave our assumptions, loyalties or arrangements undisturbed. The hymn recognises that divine guidance may lead towards encounters we would rather avoid.

Sung alongside Psalm 23, STF 461 also widens the meaning of the Shepherd’s care. God’s guidance is not a private path to safety while others remain exposed. To follow the Shepherd is to be led towards the threatened and to refuse comfort purchased through somebody else’s exclusion. The hymn’s trust becomes active courage. It is about listening where testimony has been dismissed, sharing power and allowing God to reshape the community around the needs and gifts of those pushed aside.

Read together, the passages and hymn challenge easy pictures of blessing. Jacob receives a name but must still face Esau. The psalmist trusts a shepherd but still walks through the darkest valley. Faith does not make us untouchable, but it gives us courage to tell the truth and meet people we have harmed and seek repair.

The God of Abraham blesses Jacob, but also challenges the systems of rivalry, inheritance and domination that shaped him. The same God shepherds a people towards a house where goodness and mercy are not rationed. Churches often ask God to bless what already exists. Today's reading and the hymn ask whether we will follow when God leads beyond familiar ground, and wrestle honestly until unjust habits are named and changed. Psalm 23 asks who still lacks safe pasture, restorative water or a place at the table.

Dawn comes, and Jacob limps towards reconciliation. That is the challenge: not to emerge invulnerable, but truthful; not dominant, but dependent; not guarding privilege but making room for others. Will we allow God to unsettle our identities, challenge our self-sufficiency and lead us across the river towards neighbours we have feared, justice we have postponed and a table wide enough for all?

To Ponder:

• Where is God challenging me to loosen my grip on control, privilege or self-protection, and what truthful step towards repair or reconciliation am I being called to take?
• Whose wounds, bodies or voices are still treated as inconvenient in our common life, and what must change so that everyone can help shape the table rather than simply be invited to it?

Prayer
God of Abraham, meet us in the struggle, loosen our grip on control and self-protection, and give us courage to speak the truth about ourselves and the harm we have caused. Faithful Shepherd, walk with us through shadowed valleys, honour every wounded body and silenced voice, and lead us towards justice, repair and reconciliation. Send us from the river changed – humbler, more dependent on your grace, and ready to make room at your table for all. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Dr Adrian Burdon
The Revd Dr Adrian Burdon is Superintendent Minister of the Telford Circuit in the West Midlands District and Moderator of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Adrian has been a presbyter since 1988. In addition to serving in Shropshire, Adrian has worked in the Oldham Circuit, on the Fylde Coast, in Leeds city centre and north-east England, and as a mission partner in the South Pacific.