Psalm of the Good Shepherd
By Ronald Ramsey
June 2017
Introduction
The crucifixion of Jesus has always been such a part
of being a Christian to me. All of my
life I have experienced a lot of pain and as I grew up and without Jesus I
began to drink to not deal with the pain and ended up with a terminal blood
disease. When I came to Jesus He healed
me from the blood disease and the addiction.
But I was still left with struggling
with the addiction, the physical toll on my body and the terrible memories that
filled my soul even as I tried to shut them from my mind. So the pain continued with seasons and
changes like the tides. Pain was always
there just worse at times.
Recently the pain grew and I grew so
much weaker as the memories came out and as my body dealt with what later has
been diagnosed with Small Fiber Neuropathy and had to leave a wonderful
Congregation and wonderful people at First United Methodist Church in Jefferson
City, TN.
As I go through the process of
disability I have asked the Lord for healing but this time He said “I will heal
you through the pain and suffering.”
Psalm 22 has always been a favorite of
mine since it spoke to me about how Jesus suffered for me and taught us how to
deal with suffering. Christianity is the
only life and relationship with God that not only explains suffering but shows
how redemptive it can be.
I also believe that Psalm 23 is not
possible without Psalm 22 for how could we ever trust the Shepherd without
seeing and experiencing His suffering for us!
From this I learned what has become to me a central part of my theology.
God never asks anything of us He hasn’t already given to
us,
and God never asks us to do anything He hasn’t already done
for us!!!
As you read the scripture and work on
this study I hope you will use what I call the Trinity prayer for study.
1. Before you start to read the
Bible or work on a study pray God will guide you so that He can reveal Himself
to you.
2. As you study ask God to help
you see what He wants you to see and reveal Himself to you. For the purpose of reading the Bible and
studying is not to get knowledge, or even to teach others but it is allow God
to reveal Himself to you and for to be strengthened in your relationship with
Him.
3. Ask God to guide you in
applying what He has revealed to you so you can become the Christian He has
created you to be.
It is my hope and prayer that not only will the Good
Shepherd reveal Himself to you, but that you will learn how to become a better
sheep!
Psalm of the Good Shepherd Part
1
“Then Micaiah told him, “In a vision I saw all Israel scattered
on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘Their
master has been killed. Send them home in peace.’ ”” (2 Chronicles 18:16
NLT)
“Like sheep with a shepherd.” That is how God sees humanity as he looks
upon our lives and how we live. We are
Shepherdless because we have sought to “kill” our Master and indeed we did.
In our desire to be our own gods so we
pushed God away, killed or refused to hear those who called us back to God and
then in our self crowning achievement we killed the Son of our Master hoping to
solidify our own godhood.
But our Master outwitted us (not a
hard thing to do) and by His death redeemed even death and made it our way to
be with Him. Jesus opened the tomb and
made it not a place of death but a seed bed for life where even our bodies will
be resurrected and become eternal!
In this study we will look in depth at
Psalm 22 and experience the only scripture that gives us a view into the
suffering of Jesus Christ whose crown is made of thorns. We will come to see the result of that
suffering and hopefully see that all of our suffering can be redemptive.
For so many of us Psalm 23 is the one
we want to read and listen to. But in
truth there would be no Psalm 23 without Psalm 22! For we are able to trust the Good Shepherd only
because He has “laid down His life for us.”
For not only are we the sheep of His pasture, but the sheep of His
suffering!
It is my prayer that you will
experience the fullness of God’s love for you not only in Jesus but the
offering and suffering of the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Please
read aloud Psalm 22 and ask God to help you experience what is happening. It might be helpful to read the Gospel
passages that show Jesus dying for us.
See how they fit together and then you will be amazed the suffering of
Jesus in the New Testament is described so vividly in the Old Testament.
In
the room below jot down any questions or observations God has given to you.
“A good question does not
just lead you to an answer but also to a better question!”
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