Psalm 23 for Anxiety and Exhaustion | Taylor Mitchell

If you’ve been feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or just plain exhausted, Psalm 23 offers a deeply comforting reminder: you are not walking through life alone.

Taylor joins Ellen to walk through one of the most beloved passages in Scripture—Psalm 23. From “green pastures” to “the valley of the shadow of death,” Psalm 23 paints a picture of a Shepherd who leads, protects, and stays near even in the hardest seasons of life.

Together, they talk about:

•  what it means that the Lord is our Shepherd when life feels out of control 
•  why anxiety often comes from our desire for control and certainty 
•  how God invites us into real rest
•  what it looks like to trust God in “valley seasons” that don’t end quickly 
•  how Scripture redefines suffering as a place of God’s presence, not absence

FREE DOWNLOAD: All Scriptures mentioned in this episode are available in a beautifully designed printable resource to encourage and strengthen your time in God’s Word. Click here for yours!

Resources:

• Psalm 23 Free Download
• A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller

Scripture referenced:

Ps. 23 | Prov. 3:5 | John 15:5 | Matt. 11:28 | Ps. 46:10 | Phil. 4:7 | Is. 43:2 | Ps. 34:18 | Rom. 8:28 | Is. 55:8-9 | Titus 3:5 | Matt. 11:28-30 | John 10:11

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Transcript

Taylor Mitchell [introduction]:
I think a lot of us do tend to have the mindset of, “Surely anxiety will follow me all the days of my life. Surely this valley will last me all the days of my life.” We kind of live in that feeling like something is chasing us, something's out to get us. Psalm 23 is a reminder for all of us who are in Christ: this is the truth. God's goodness, His mercy, will follow you all the days of your life.

Ellen Krause:
I'm Ellen, your host. Today, we are going to walk through Psalm 23 together, a Psalm that has comforted God's people for thousands of years. And what's amazing is that this Psalm isn't just comforting poetry, it's deeply practical for the weary soul.

Joining me today is Taylor. Hello, Taylor.

Taylor Mitchell:
Hello. It's so good to be here with you today and with all of you that are listening. We're so excited to delve into Psalm 23 together.

Ellen Krause:
Absolutely. This is one of my favorite Psalms ever that I memorized as a kid, even then not truly knowing what it means. Even the older we get, we can continue to be enriched by this Psalm.

Well, there's a resource that I'm going to be referencing throughout this discussion that just impacted my understanding of Psalm 23. It's a book written by Philip Keller, and he writes from this unique perspective of first-hand experience of being a shepherd. It's called The Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. I will put a link to that in our show notes if you're interested in that resource. It's incredible.

Also, we're going to be calling out many scripture verses in this podcast, not just Psalm 23. And we've created a free, beautiful resource with all of them on it that you can download from our website, keep in your Bible for whenever you need encouragement. We also will have the link to that in our show notes.

So let's jump in.

One thing that I love, Taylor, about Psalm 23 is that David, even though he himself was a shepherd, writes Psalm 23 from the perspective of being a sheep. Did you know that?

Taylor Mitchell:
I never really registered that, I'm not going to lie to you right now.

Ellen Krause:
I just think that's so important. Okay, so cool.

Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” And David understood something: just as sheep are very dependent on their shepherd, we also are dependent on God.

And that can be really hard for us because we want control, we want certainty, we want to know what the plan is. But God says to trust in Him with all of our hearts and do not lean on our own understanding in Proverbs 3:5. And He also says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” That's John 15:5.

Taylor Mitchell:
And that really does actually convict me personally because I consider myself to be more of a type B personality. I'm relaxed. Well, you know, actually, I'm more of a type C personality, which I've just heard recently is somebody that wants random things tidy, neat, and organized, and then everything else is a complete train wreck and disaster. There's no rhyme or reason or rhythm. That pretty much sums me up.

Ellen Krause:
[laughs] 

Taylor Mitchell:
But at the same time, I think at the core of me, I do really want to feel very secure in this life. 

I think that for a lot of us, this verse is probably convicting if we are trying to be the shepherd of our own life. We don't want to be led, we want to be the leader. And with being the leader, there's the consequence of carrying that really heavy mental load.

And we're carrying this heavy mental load in such a way that we weren't supposed to, because we're not supposed to carry this alone. We're not supposed to be the leader of our lives.

So when we try to shepherd ourselves, I think that these are some things that we can kind of use to check and balance. Take a look at these.

Are you trying to control the outcome of all these situations, and it gets you flustered? It gives you anxiety. You're trying to control the outcome, and you just can't.

Two, are you obsessing about the future? Trying to predict the future because you really think, “You know, the more I think about it and ruminate on it, the more likely I'm going to have control in this outcome.” That is an illusion.

Number three, do you overthink every decision you're about to make because it feels like if you don't get everything right, something bad is going to happen? I used to struggle with that a lot, especially around the time of me graduating college, not knowing what my future was. I was like, “My gosh, I have to get every decision right, otherwise I'm going to be in a trajectory that could land me somewhere that I was never meant to be.”

And then number four, are you trying to fix everybody around you? Are you trying to be in control of the people around you because it feels too overwhelming or too scary to not have everybody around you exactly how you need them to be for your own mental sanity?

If you think about it, all those things that maybe feel like you are having an illusion of control actually make you exhausted, extra exhausted.

So ask yourself today, if this resonates with you, where am I trying to control? And what do I actually need to surrender to God?

And maybe we just take a moment to pause and reflect on that if this was something that resonated with you.

Ellen Krause:
I know I need to think about that too. That's so important. Okay, I got a few things on my mental list there.

Well, continuing on, Psalm 23 verse 2 says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” And a sheep will only lie down when it feels safe, protected, and cared for.

And so many of us, we literally don't stop moving from the time we get up till the time we go to bed. Or maybe internally, we're not resting. We're just carrying this anxiety all the way into bed, and we even wake up stressed.

We want to get to a point where letting Jesus in—and Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28 when He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Taylor Mitchell:
That's refreshing to hear. Just that verse, just listen to it and let it wash over you: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

This is just such a good moment to think about that verse in combination with Psalm 23: “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” God wants you to come to Him and have rest.

And this isn't just a picture of what future rest will look like in heaven. Yes, we won't get perfect rest until we are in the presence of our Lord, but we have the Holy Spirit inside of us. God still invites us to come to Him when we are heavy laden in life.

So one thing that I want to just challenge myself with as I read this verse, that I'll also invite you to challenge yourself in, is to think about what are you consuming before you consume God's Word?

I like to think of time in God's Word as a really primary place in my life where God invites me to lay down all of my burdens at His feet and rest in His presence, to hear from Him.

And so then we have to challenge ourselves, okay, if that is one of God's primary places for us to rest, number one, what are we consuming that keeps us from being in God's Word? And then maybe even asking yourself the question of, what is preventing me from feeling that rest when I come to His Word?

And for some of us, it's perfectionism. Going into God's Word, we want to have that feeling of peace and rest and, “God, let me lay my burdens at Your feet.” But instead of feeling that, we're reading scripture, and in the back of our minds, we're actually going over our to-do list for the day. We're actually feeling stressed.

“Did I do my prayer right in my quiet time? God, I couldn't focus. I'm so ashamed that I can't focus. This is so hard for me.” And I'm just gonna avoid it altogether because it's just more overwhelming for me to try to sit down and see all these areas of my mind and my restlessness that really make me feel ashamed.

That's something that Mentor Mama and I and Ashley, we've all talked about before because we have what we have diagnosed in ourselves as squirrel brain. Squirrel brain can keep us from truly resting.

Ellen Krause:
Yeah.

Yes, this is so important for me because I really have a hard time resting. And I really find that when I'm intentional, when I take that time—especially for me in the morning—to read God's Word, to ask the Holy Spirit to fall afresh on me today, to lead me and guide me in whatever this day has before me, that's when I feel the rest because I know that whatever I might face, God is there with me.

Taylor Mitchell:
If you had any tips for other people that feel, “You know, I want my Bible time to feel like my place of rest. I want that to be where I lay my burdens down at God's feet, but I just feel stressed coming to it,” do you have any advice for them, coming from somebody who has struggled with ADD and focus and ups and downs of different seasons of life?

Ellen Krause:
Absolutely. For me, when I am going to read scripture, I actually will have my Bible sitting on my lap, but then I will also open the Bible app and put it on whatever it is that my eyes are seeing.

And so when I can hear it and see it, my mind is so focused on trying to do both of those two things that it doesn't have the capacity to start thinking about my to-do list for today.

So for me, that is my top, top, top tip.

Taylor Mitchell:
I love that. Thanks for sharing that.

And we won't harp on this part too long, but I had to just put that in there. I know some of y'all are feeling stressed coming to God's Word, and it doesn't feel like rest. There are great tips out there to do that.

And don't give up that journey of meeting with God and coming to His Word for rest. It's normal to have seasons where you ebb and flow. Don't let the shame keep you from coming back to His Word.

Ellen Krause:
Absolutely. And sort of continuing in this same fashion, Psalm 23 verse 2 finishes with, “He leads me beside still waters.”

So a shepherd leads his sheep to still waters because they are actually frightened by rushing water where they can easily be swept away. And interestingly enough, they will often refuse to drink from it.

So spiritually speaking, I think many people today are just drowning in the noise, the activity, everything that we've signed up for in life, and we're really thirsting for calmer waters.

Psalm 46:10 also says, “Be still and know that I am God.”

Taylor Mitchell:
Amen. Wow, these are great scripture pairings actually, Ellen, so thank you for bringing these two to mind.

This section feels so practical because in today's world, you really have to be intentional about seeking peace.

I think it's really good for us to be proactive, especially if you are a nervous Nellie like me. Okay, I can be an anxious person.

It's important to pray for peace. That's something I will never forget growing up. I used to be anxious about a lot of things, and Mentor Mama here would always tell me, “You know, you can pray for God's peace that surpasses all understanding.”

Ellen Krause:
Yes. 

Taylor Mitchell:
I remember you would always pray that, and you would say it in such a way that I knew Mom believed this verse, that I can pray to God that His peace that surpasses all understanding will wash over me in these certain situations.

She's prayed that over me in the past, and I have felt God's peace. I've prayed that prayer with other people who've been really stressed and anxious, and they've felt the Lord's peace.

I'm not saying this to say that we're the ones holding the power. It's the Lord that wants to give you peace. He wants to be your still waters amidst the craziness of your day.

So if you are stressed or anxious and those thoughts are compounding in your head, take one to two minutes of deep breaths. This is something I love to do when I am anxious.

And I will pray to the Lord while I'm deep breathing, and man, is that just so grounding—to actually slow down your breath and lift your eyes back up to the Lord and ask Him for His peace.

Ellen Krause:
Yes. You know, Taylor, so many times if I wake up in the middle of the night, that's something I say to myself: “God, please grant me Your peace that surpasses all understanding.” And even if I have to say it over a few times, I get so much peace from that.

And I just hope, if you're listening, that God is asking us—He wants us to ask for that, and He wants to give it.

Well, let's continue along with our sheep on their trail here. As a shepherd is moving his herd from the lowlands all the way up to the highlands, verse four describes part of this journey, and it's very familiar to most people. It says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”

And notice here that up to this point in Psalm 23, it's as though the sheep has been boasting about this amazing care that it's getting from its owner.

Notice what it says: “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name's sake.”

And then we have a turn here.

Now, starting in verse four, the sheep turns to address the shepherd directly. And so it becomes this intimate conversation of very deep affection as the shepherd guides them through the valleys that will be ahead because you have to go through the valleys to get to the highlands where the meadow grounds are superior during the peak time of the summer.

So here, as the sheep is addressing the shepherd, he's saying, “You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, and my cup overflows.”

So the valley is not the end. And in fact, so many times it becomes this deeper place of intimacy with God.

And there's other places in scripture that support this. In Isaiah 43:2, He says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” And Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.”

Taylor Mitchell:
Man, this verse—it's getting to the meat and potatoes of what is difficult and scary in this life, okay? And it is saying, “You are with me.” And because You are with me, I don't have to fear these terrible times. I don't have to fear evil. I don't have to fear the enemy. “You are with me.”

This verse is top tier in terms of things that you should have memorized or that you could share with other people when they're going through a difficult time.

Especially because I think for a lot of us, when we're in valleys, we can get trapped in this mentality of feeling like, “Okay, God, I've been praying to You. You haven't rescued me. I'm still struggling.”

Maybe some of us are going through seasons of this right now, or you have gone through seasons of it where it's like, “Wow, this walk through the valley of the shadow of death here, Lord, has been going on for a little too long. And I kind of anticipated that You would get me out of this sooner rather than later.”

And I truly do believe when you are praying those prayers, God can hear you, right? He 100% hears us.

But God is ultimately working out everything for the good of those who love Him, ultimately according to His purpose.

And I always go back to these scriptures that say God's ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

When we're in the valley for a long time and we don't know why, that does not mean that God doesn't have a purpose through it. When we're going through pain, that doesn't mean that it won't be used.

I remember when I was going through a very difficult time, I was in the valley for like a year of just torment with anxiety, and I would cry out to God. He didn't rescue me out of it, okay?

And I remember at the time reading something from Beth Moore where she cut straight to the point—and you know, you love Beth Moore for that because she won't beat around the bush and she'll tell you truth straight up.

She said, “God's main objective when you are in a valley is not to pull you out of the valley.”

Just let that soak in because sometimes we think, “God just wants me to pray to get me out of here, and He'll get me out of here.” That is not always His goal.

Sometimes character building requires a long season in the valley, and He's still good and He's still loving. He's still sovereign over your situation and your circumstance.

Keep coming to Him. Keep asking for the Lord's will to be done in your life. And that's something that I like to pray when I'm struggling: “Lord, let Your will be done in my life.”

And to seek that above immediate comforts and what we want. It's a difficult prayer to pray, but I think it helps loosen our grip from “Get me out of this hard time,” and ultimately be more concerned about His will being done.

Ellen Krause:
Yes. And after being part of Bible studies for decades, I've heard over and over and over again of people who have said, “You know what? I'm glad that God never took that valley from me because it was during that time I became closer to God than I had ever been before.”

So if you're listening, you can feel encouraged if you're walking through that, that God will see you through. And on the other side, you will see that it has been for His glory.

Well, let's continue to tend to our sheep here.

As the shepherd moved his flocks, he would often have to stop and take care of them. And especially in the summer months, the shepherd would repeatedly have to stop and pour oil over the sheep's head to protect them from flies.

And these flies were very pesty. They would crawl up through their noses, and then they would have this crazy erratic behavior, like banging their heads on things trying to get their heads to stop these crazy insects. Ultimately, these sheep could die.

And so it was really important that they regularly poured oil on the sheep's head.

This is really a word picture of the irritations that we face in our own lives. Just like the sheep needed this continual reapplication of anointment, we need continuous anointing of God's Spirit day in and day out to help us navigate frustrations in our lives.

And similarly, in Titus 3:5, He says, “He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

Taylor Mitchell:
I'll tell you what, the insight that you just gave on the anointing the sheep's head with oil is something I would have never, ever in my life known if it weren't for that shepherd book.

Ellen Krause:
I know, isn't it?

Yes, it's incredible, really. I mean, and he goes into detail. I spared you all the details about all the different types of things that can affect these sheep. There's a lot.

Taylor Mitchell:
[laughs] It's sweet to see the intimate protection of the Lord in that kind of picture of the shepherd anointing their sheep with oil.

And too, I love the idea of taking that picture and then asking ourselves, okay, what are the things that are tormenting our mind? What are the things that we need the Lord's protection over, that we need to ask our Shepherd to help protect us from, protect our minds from?

And I think that there's a lot of sneaky things that we don't think about. And it starts small, and if we don't catch them when they're small, we don't bring it to the Lord when they're small, it turns into these bigger issues.

Kind of like you said, Ellen, these things can lead to major problems.

And so for us as believers, I feel like part of our call is to renew our minds.

So if you feel the Holy Spirit nudging you, bring things to Him. Bring bitterness, bring the comparison, bring the resentment, the fears, the insecurities—bring that to Him. The Lord wants to be with you in that.

Yoke your burden to Him, and He will make it light.

Ellen Krause:
Love that.

And I think one of the most beautiful parts of Psalm 23 is at the end here where it says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

And in this particular sentence, if you go back to the original language, the word follow actually carries this idea of pursuing or chasing. David's painting this picture of God's goodness and mercy actively pursuing His people.

I mean, what more could we ask for? It's incredible.

Taylor Mitchell:
Mm. I think a lot of us do tend to have the mindset of, “Surely anxiety will follow me all the days of my life. Surely this valley will last me all the days of my life.”

And we kind of live in that feeling like something is chasing us, something's out to get us.

Psalm 23 is a reminder for all of us who are in Christ that this is the truth. And just let that soak in. Let that wash over you. Taking in a deep breath and just truly believing that truth: “Surely the goodness of the Lord and His mercy will follow me all the days of my life.”

Ellen Krause:
And that actually continues all the way to eternity because the very last part of Psalm 23 says, “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

So Psalm 23 is ending with the utmost security. We have a home in heaven that we will belong to. We will have the presence of God there always with us.

And if you think about it in terms of our sheep analogy here, because of Jesus, we are not wandering sheep without hope. We belong to the Good Shepherd, as it says in John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Taylor Mitchell:
So just a few questions that you can take a moment to ask yourself or bring with you along for the rest of your day:

Number one, where do I most need to trust God as my shepherd right now?

Number two, what burden am I carrying that God never asked me to carry alone?

And number three, what would change if I truly believed God was caring for me daily?

So take those three questions, maybe write them down in your journal or reflect on them now quietly in your heart. I think that would be a great way to practically apply this passage to your life.

Ellen Krause:
Absolutely.

And friend, if life feels heavy today, Psalm 23 reminds us that you are not alone, you're not forgotten, and you are deeply cared for by your Shepherd.

Thank you so much for joining us on this Coffee and Bible Time podcast. Thank you, Taylor, for being here with us.

And a reminder that we do have the free download where you can get all of the scriptures in this beautiful document that you can save for any time you need encouragement from Psalm 23.

So thank you for listening, and have a blessed day.