WHO IS MY LORD GOD?

A Psalm of David – Psalm 23
After praying about what to address on this blog, in the early morning today Psalm 23 came to me.  This is a Psalm of encouragement whether things are going well or not so well with his children.

Verse 1 tells me right away that He is not just the King of kings and Lord of lords, and over all things, He is our Shephard, as David was tending his sheep. “I lack nothing” meaning He is our provider, protector, peace, and is present in our lives.

Verse 2 "He makes me lie down in green pastures, leads beside quiet waters…" The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures when I need to rest and enjoy His provision of nature and all that He is.  He leads me besides quiet waters – another example of peace with Him and His presence with us.

Verse 3a… "He refreshes my soul."  There are times that my soul needs to be refreshed in Him and reassured of my salvation. So, I look to His promises, rather than looking outwardly or at myself.  When I look at myself, both inwardly and outwardly, I will surely see flaws or areas where I fall short of what the Lord’s desires for me are.  However, when I look at His promises, I am comforted by the peace that He gives me when I commune with Him.  

John 15: 7-8 to abide in Jesus is to develop a habit of having a constant communion with Him. He is our Lord and Friend.  John 10: 28 -30 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no one can snatch them out of My hand…"

Who are these people?  Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and have repented of their sins, have ask the Lord to come into their hearts, and they follow Him.

Deuteronomy 31: 6 & Hebrews 13: 5 “I will never leave nor forsake you.” Since God has promised never to leave nor forsake us His children and God can not lie, how can we not trust Him to do what is best for us?  How can we not forsake our earthly desires for what our Lord God wants for us-which is always best for us.?

Verse 3b “He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.”  My desire has always been to please the Lord.  I have disappointed Him at times.  The Holy Spirit has put me back on the right track.  I make an effort not to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit.

Ephesian 4: 30 “to not grieve the Holy Spirit. of God by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption.” The key is to obey the commandment of the Lord.

I Thessalonians 5: 19 “Do not quench the Spirit.”

1 Thessalonians 5:20–21 ”Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold to what is good.” We should not reject or ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 4 “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me,”

At the age of 9 years old, I believed these words and still do.  We walked to school on a busy street and each day passed by homeless men (many who I assumed to be drunk with alcohol).  However, I was not afraid and made it a point to speak to each of them as I walked by. I still speak to the homeless and give money when the Spriit leads me.

Recently, when I was ill, I felt as though I was in the valley of death. I was not afraid but acknowledged that the Lord could be calling me home.  I told him that if He was not through with me that I needed to be healed. The feeling of being in the shadow of death turned to being at peace with whatever God decided to do. All praises and thanksgiving to our Lord that I am still able to serve Him. As David’s rod and staff protected the sheep he tended, God’s rod and staff  healed me to work on His behalf for another day. Each day is a blessing and an opportunity to served others and share Gods goodness and way to Salvation.

Verse 5  "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." I am blessed before those who have sought to harm me and the Lord uses it for good for my enemies to see.

The anointing of our head with oil keeps us protected from those who attempt to cause us harm and cause us to stray away from the way of the Lord.  It keeps us protected from the enemy getting into our heads and trying to destroy our minds.

When David says his cup overflows, he is saying that the blessings of the Lord are exceedingly more than what is needed.  God is enough for those that belong to Him.  
 
Isaiah 26: 3 NIV
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in You."

Verse 6: "Surely, your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

I can not express to the depth that I would like to about how blessed I am. Just knowing that God’s goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life is worthy of His honor and praise. This is the greatest hope that I can have known that I will live past this life into eternal life with Lord, and He will be with me. I learned as a very young Christian that I am never alone.   He is not a shepherd that will leave me unattended.  If I stray, He will run after me and bring me back into the fold.

John 10:11 Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

John 10: 14, 17 Jesus said , “I am the good shepherd; I know my  sheep and my sheep know Me—Just as the father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep."

Jesus said, “The reason my Father loves Me is that I lay down My life—only to take it up again.”

This Psalm has been an encouraging poem for me for the greater part of my life. May the readers of this blog be blessed by this Psalm.