July 28, 2018 Saturday

“1 ¶  « A Psalm of David. » The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.” (Psalm 23:1-6 NKJV)

            Psalm 23 is probably one of the best-known passages of Scripture though most people may be exposed to it during funerals. That is understandable since Psalm 23 is a comfort to those who are dying and to those grieving a loss.          

            It is of great importance the position of Psalm 23 because before it is Psalm 22 which speaks of the horrific sacrifice of the Good Shepherd for us and Psalm 24 which speaks of the glorious power and position of our Good Shepherd! We can trust the promises of Psalm 23 because we have experienced the faithfulness of the Good Shepherd in Psalm 22 and we experience the glory and power of our Shepherd in Psalm 24.

            Each and every promise of Psalm 23 has such a depth of meaning this devotion does not have space to explain or to seek to understand them. A deeper study of each promise can be found in the book “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” by Phillip Keller. Mr. Keller was a shepherd for many years and gives a very different and beautiful perspective on what it means to be a shepherd.

            While Psalm 23 is a beautiful choice for funerals let us understand it is also a vivid description of our daily walk with Jesus. Sheep are by their nature cantankerous, foolish, self-destructive and unwilling to follow their shepherd. It is very easy to understand why Jesus sees us as sheep!

            In spite of the stupid and illogical way of sheep God loves and cares for us because we belong to God! But this ownership gives us a value and a place to be able to “dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.”

            As a sheep do you admit God owns you? Do you see the value and esteem which comes from God owning you? Does Psalm 23 affect your life and how you perceive death?

Over the last weeks the pain and the weariness have been so intense my mind wanders, words are hard to come by and my thoughts are not very coherent. The progress of whatever is happening is growing faster than the medications cover. I do not offer this for pity but as an explanation if the devotions are incoherent. Very few people read these devotions but they are offering of love and a sacrifice of praise to my Lord and My Love.