No two ways about it, it has been a difficult few days, and we are in a difficult time. N., who has been part of our lives for so long, whom we have come to know and love and care for deeply, has died. We wish it weren't so. We wonder how we can go on without him [her]. We have unanswered questions. We know fear, and grief, and sorrow all rolled into one.

Many years ago, there was another person who had some of these same feelings. Not sure where to turn. Scared to death. Heartbroken. A shepherd by occupation, he spent his days corralling his sheep, keeping them fed, keeping them moving, untangling them from prickly bushes, rescuing them from steep ledges.

Perhaps it was in a moment of trouble and perplexion that the shepherd David looked to God for help and consolation. And he wrote down th…