The 23rd Psalm has been with me since I was a second grader. I memorized it over 50 years ago, and so many people memorize this poem in childhood. It's very short, but it's very important for every child in the world to know psalm 23 because you never know when you may need it. As I researched this book and looked for stories, I found the story of a man named Maurice Pink, and had the opportunity of talking to him. He's up in his 90s and living in England, and he was a sailor with the British Royal Navy. He was on board the HMS Repulse on December 10th, 1941, when it was struck by Japanese torpedoes and sunk. It sunk very quickly, and his very survival is a miracle, he was down in the bottom, in fact the hatches were open and he found the latches and the gates and he was able to strip off his clothes and jump naked into the South China Sea, but he said I was so confused I didn't know where I was,and the sharks were circling and I didn't have a life preserver and I didn't see anybody else and there was smoke and confusion. But he said at that moment psalm 23 came into my mind and he said it was like a life preserver that held me up until I was recused. And then he said would you like for me to read to you what I have written about that day? And I said I would like it very much, so this is what he wrote: there are times in your life when times don't go right and you feel all

alone. That happened to me on December the 10th 1941 when I when I was on the battle cruiser HMS Repulse with the nearby HMS Prince of Wales. We were by the Japanese air force which resulted in both ships being sunk. I found myself alone in the water, not able to see anyone else. It was then that the 23rd psalm came into my head and I realized that I was not alone, I had a shepherd. The lord was my shepherd, I did not need to want. I was not in green pastures but in oily waters but he restored my soul. Even though I was in the valley of the shadow of death I was to fear no evil for he was with me. The rod and the staff did not ring a bell with me until voices above were shouting. Looking up there was a big destroyer beside me with nets over the side which allowed me to climb to safety. That was my rod and staff. I didn't see a table set before me but I did get a cup of the ship's cocoa. He said since that say goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life and when I look back on my life I wonder what would have happened if I had died. There again I have the answer: I would dwell in the house of the lord forever. Thank you lord for being my shepherd and for the 23rd psalm.

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