by Michael D. Young

My Shepherd sees I shall not want.
He leads me unto pastures green.
He fills each valley as a font,
With waters sweet with heaven’s sheen.
 
For I have wandered far away,
On dusty roads and rocky trails, 
And long have thirsted through the day,
With pain like jagged, sharpened nails.
 
My Shepherd shall restore my soul.
He leads me in a righteous path.
Though death may loom, I am kept whole,
And spared the shadowed valley’s wrath.
 
For I have languished, sore and faint,
And feared to be as helpless prey.
When evil rears without restraint,
To cast all hope of help away.
 
My Shepherd shall provide a feast
That far exceeds what I can take.
Within the clutches of the beast,
His goodness cannot e’er forsake.
 
For I have hungered through the night
And knew not where I else could turn.
I trembled in my bitter fright
That gnawing hunger e’er would burn.
 
My Shepherd shall provide a place.
A house to keep and serve me well.
A mansion bounded by his grace,
In which I may forever dwell.
 
For I have journeyed far alone,
Without a house in which to stay.
And made my bed upon a stone,
Yet hoping for a better way.

Michael D. Young is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Western Governors University with degrees in German Teaching, Music, Educational Leadership and Instructional Design. Though he grew up traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and their three children, where he creates online curriculum for BYU. He enjoys acting in community theater, playing and writing music and spending time with his family. He played for several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a member of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. 

He is the author of the novels in The Canticle Kingdom Series, The Last Archangel Series, the Chess Quest Series and the Penultimate Dawn Cycle (The Hunger), as well as several non-fictions works, including An Advent Carols Countdown, The Song of the Righteous, As Saints We Sing, and The Song of the Saints. He has also had work featured in various online and print magazines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, Mindflights, Meridian, Nugent Magazine, The New Era, Keeping Tab, Allegory, Liahona, and Ensign. He has also won honorable mention three times in the Writers of the Future contest.