As I prepared to come and write today I asked the Lord what He wanted me to write about and a song immediately came to my mind. It is a song by Chris Tomlin, “How Can I Keep from Singing”, listen to it and then we will talk about how our Lord loves each of us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQI5wxtH6OYIf you noticed in the video there were scriptures on several of those pages and I wrote those scriptures down but the one I want to use today is Psalm 23. Many times we hear this Psalm at funerals and have probably recited it before. If you were raised in the church you were probably challenged to memorize it but let’s look at it close today and begin to not look at the words but look at the meaning behind those words. Let’s meditate on how amazing our God’s love truly is.
Psalm 23
(1)”The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want, (2)He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, (3)He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. (4)Even 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 overflows. (6)Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
When I think about how amazing God’s love is towards us I can’t help but think of how that is demonstrated in Psalm 23. The Lord is our shepherd what more could I ask for? What more should I want?
I don’t know much about sheep herders but I do know that they care for their sheep and they make sure that no go missing. In Luke 15:4 Jesus uses this illustration of a shepherd, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? (5)And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders (6) and goes home.” The Lord is that Shepherd to us, in fact He goes on to say, (7)”I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” The Lord is my Shepherd, after reading the words of Jesus; it is so much clearer to me what my Shepherd would do for me if I were lost.
The Psalmist goes on to say that He restores souls and guides even when I am on slippery ground. A dear friend of ours preached on this Psalm one Sunday and he brought an entirely new perspective on it for me. He had mentioned that often times pictures associated with this Psalm are pictures of luscious green pastures and valleys but rarely do we see pictures of the valley of shadow of death. Generally what came to my mind was someone on their death bed but that is not what the scripture is talking about at all. You see, this scripture is written for the living, not the dead. Going back to the sheep, according to the message I heard on this, our friend described this as a journey between those luscious green pastures where the sheep had to travel. Pictured below is a valley of the shadow of death. This picture is in the Judean wilderness on a road between Jerusalem and Jericho. I found it and others at http://lluker.faculty.ltss.edu/wadi-kelt.htm
As we walk sometimes we have to go through those valleys that are rigged and dry but that doesn’t mean that we are dying, although sometimes if feels like it. If we allow Him to guide us, we will safely reach those green pastures. Now that makes my heart want to sing, what about you?
As you seek Him today be sure to thank Him for being your shepherd, for going after you when you stray, and for guiding you to the green pastures.
If you have time listen to the song once again, this link has the words in case you want to sing along.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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