What happens within us, interiorly, when we read, listen to or sing Psalm 23? Many people experience comfort and consolation. Why that is so?

Psalm 23 opens with these reassuring words: "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want" (v 1). It is a firm and steady assurance that the Lord will provide in the face of challenging life situations.

For the weary and stressed out, in need of refreshment and rejuvenation, Psalm 23 consoles by saying that the Lord will give us "repose" and lead us to ""restful waters", where our "drooping spirit" will revive (vv 2-3).

In a hectic and competitive world, where many of us live confused and muddled lives, we are promised that the Lord will guide us "along the right path" (v 3).

What happens when we are traumatised by our losses and griefs and walking "in the valley of darkness" (v 4)? Psalm 23 tells us that the Lord, with the protective "crook" and the guiding "staff", will journey with us.

Even more than that, Psalm 23 assures us that "goodness and kindness shall follow (pursue) us" all the days of our life, and we will "dwell ... in the Lord's own house ... forever and ever" (v 6).

During life's difficult moments, let us meditate on Psalm 23. Its comforting words will enable us to live serenely in the knowledge that, come what may, God will see us through with overwhelming love and blessings.