seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
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 overflows.
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.
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
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.
- Psalm 23:4 Or the valley of the shadow of death
In a basement of the Baptist Church in New London or Gales Ferry.... at Vacation Bible school... I memorized this Psalm. Like many others raised in the Baptist Church, this Psalm, John 3:16 and Matthew 28:16-20 are really important verses to know. When I didn't have a Bible, I had these verses. Over the years, I've added one..... Jeremiah 33:3.
There are a lot of commentaries on this chapter. I'm sticking with the easy English just because I like what it says this morning. It's educational not just puffy.
We do not know when David wrote Psalm 23. Perhaps it was when his son Absalom tried to become king. David ran away. He went down to the River Jordan. He crossed it by the ford that we call Jabbok. He went on into a land that we call Gilead. There he met Barzillai. Barzillai was a shepherd. He kept sheep. Sheep are animals about 1 metre high. They give wool for making clothes, milk and meat for food. Barzillai gave David food and shelter. Shelter means a place to hide from the weather. All this made David think. God was like a shepherd. God was like a guide. God was a good friend. David put these ideas into Psalm 23. Many people know this psalm better than they know than any other psalm. It has given help to millions of people. This is because Jesus said that he was the shepherd in the psalm. If we believe in Jesus, we become one of his sheep. We can say, “The LORD is MY shepherd.”
Verses 1–2: God is like a shepherd. In Israel, sheep followed their shepherd. The man that wrote Psalm 23 said:
· he makes me to lie down in green fields: these were fields where the grass was new. Grass is a plant that grows in fields. Cows and sheep eat grass. Green fields means that the sheep would find plenty to eat. And they would sleep easily.
· he leads me to waters where I can rest: this was the best water. It was probably a well, not a river.
The shepherd leads the sheep to all that they need: food, rest and water. Jesus leads his people to all that they need. Remember - what we NEED is not always what we WANT.
Verses 3–4: God is like a guide. We do not know who led David to Barzillai. There was a guide. Just as the old shepherd Barzillai made David think about God, so the guide made David think about God. Some Christians think verses 3 and 4 are also about the shepherd and his sheep. Others think that it is about a guide. That guide led David through the wild places to where Barzillai lived. The two ideas are true. GOD IS LIKE A GUIDE. GOD IS ALSO LIKE A SHEPHERD. The valley of the River Jabbok was very dark. But with God as guide and shepherd David was safe. God brought David through the shadow of death. He will do the same for us - if we believe in Jesus. We must all die. It is a great help to know that:
· Jesus died and God raised him from the dead
· if we believe in Jesus God will raise us from the dead
Verses 5–6: God is like a friend. Psalm 23:1-4 is about life on earth. Psalm 23:5-6 is about life in heaven. Heaven is the home of God. People that believe in Jesus go there. They go there after they die. In the psalm, Barzillai made a great dinner for David. He poured oil, from plants, on David's head. This was usual in those days. He gave David wine to drink. You can make wine from a fruit that we call the grape. It made David feel very happy. But it also made David think this: I WILL ALWAYS LIVE WITH GOD. It is the same for us. If we believe in Jesus we can say, “I will always live in the house of the LORD.” The house of the LORD is in heaven.
When I was a kid in that church basement.... screen painting a pretty poem on a T-Shirt that I was going to be able to keep and wear.... I had no idea what the Valley looks like. I like to think God knew I was going to see that Valley one day.... and if I was going to make it out alive... I had to have something to hold on to.... something I could recite to myself.Remember the Wizard of Oz? The scarecrow, cowardly lion and Dorothy were just leaving on the yellow brick road? They were off to see the wizard... on the yellow brick road.... and it was going to be scary.... so they were chanting... "follow the yellow brick road.... follow the yellow brick road.... " Well to me, when I was going into the valley.... my chant was "The Lord is my Savior.... The Lord is my Savior".
