Prayers for My Wife

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/29/2025 3:49 AM

 

There will be no Spiritual Diary for the next two days as my wife, Sandra, is having cancer surgery this morning (04-29-2025), and will probably be in the hospital today and a part of tomorrow if all goes well.  I am asking for those who read this SD to please pray for her that the Lord will be with her to calm he mind and trust in the Lord to be with her and those who are operating on her.  May the Lord bless this surgery and give her direction as to what to do in following up so that all of the cancer will be eradicated from her body.

 

Thanks in advance for those who will be praying for her, it means so much to me.

 

4/29/2025 3:54 AM

PT-1 "Three Unwavering Assurances" (Ps. 25:1-7)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/15/2012 11:29:44 AM

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus: PT-1 “Three unwavering Assurances”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 25

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 A Psalm of David: To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. 3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. 4 Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. 6 Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.

    8 Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. 12 Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. 13 His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.

    15 My eyes are continually toward the LORD, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. 18 Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins. 19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many, And they hate me with violent hatred. 20 Guard my soul and deliver me; Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all his troubles.

 

            Psychologist M. Scott Peck writes:  “Once we truly know that life is difficult—once we truly understand and accept it—then life is no longer difficult.”  This statement is recorded from a book written in 1978 entitled, “The Road Less Traveled.”  The statement that life is difficult is true as far as I am concerned, and yet as the title of a song that I have heard sung there is “Joy in the Journey.”  I believe that the song is by Michael Card who too I am sure realizes that life is difficult.

           

            We see in this psalm that David realized that life is difficult, but David “succeeded in the journey because he held to three unwavering assurances.”  Those three unwavering assurances will be the outline that we will follow and as always they are provided by Dr. Warren Wiersbe.

           

            The word way which is highlighted in yellow is used four times in this psalm.  The word path or paths is used two times highlighted in red.  In verses four and five David is crying out for wisdom.  We see he is surrounded by enemies as highlighted in light blue.  David realizes that he is a sinner as highlighted in dark blue.  These highlighted words are things seen in this psalm that help to describe what this psalm is about and we can see that even though this psalm was written by David who was facing difficulties we can put ourselves in his place when we are going through similar things and then we can gleam truths from this psalm that will help us through those difficult times.  The apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters to the church at Corinth that one of the reasons that they were going through troubles was to receive help from the Lord in order to help others who were going through similar difficulties.  David is helping those who read and apply this psalm to get through their troubles.  It is the second letter to the Corinthians that this is found.

 

            The Help We Need Comes from God (vv. 1-7):  “1 A Psalm of David: To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. 3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. 4 Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. 6 Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.”

           

            The word that is translated “soul” is used close to 800 times in the OT and 475 are translated as soul in the AV with 117 as life.  It can mean seat of emotions or seat of appetite or living being (with life and blood).  There are other meanings to the word but we see that David is lifting his “soul” to the Lord and the word Lord is Jehovah.  We see others in the OT and NT that lift their souls up to an idol, but David was lifting his soul to the Lord.  David knew that the Lord was the only true source of encouragement.  I have heard that the word encouragement means that someone is pouring courage into another so David was asking the Lord to pour courage into him in order to get through this difficult situation.  “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God (1Samuel 30:6 KJV).”  I don’t know if this was the time that David was using to write this psalm, but I do know that that story in this portion of Scripture was a very difficult time for David.

           

            David’s desire was to trust the Lord and David did not want to be ashamed for David wanted to bring glory to the Lord.  David was asking the Lord for wisdom, for God’s guidance but he was also asking for insight to understand the Word, for only then could he understand God’s ways and understanding his own path.  David asks in verse four to know God’s ways and for God to teach him His paths.  David wanted to be led in God’s truth and to be taught by God, for David realized that God was the one who would give him salvation.  Salvation here could mean deliverance from the trouble that David was in. 

           

            In verse seven David reminds God of His compassion and His lovingkindnesses.  One may wonder why David had to remind God of these two qualities that God possesses, but I believe that this is what the Lord wants us to do when we pray for this shows that we know about such things that God possesses.  Daniel prayed to the Lord about things that God had promised in His Word to do, but Daniel prayed sincerely about them in Daniel chapter nine.  Moses also reminded God of things that He possessed.

            I believe that when we study the psalms that David has written that we can understand why the Lord said that David was a man after God’s own heart.  We know that in the heart of God is compassion and lovingkindness and David was seeking this from the Lord in this psalm.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can see from this psalm some of the difficulties that are troubling me and it is good to understand how David reacted to difficulties he faced so that I can follow the things that he writes about.  I suppose that David is my favorite person in the OT and Paul is my favorite in the NT.  My son’s name is David Paul McKenzie and that is why he was named that.

 

 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Trust the Lord.

2.      Seek wisdom from the Lord.

3.      Confess my sins to the Lord.

4.      Remember God’s compassion and lovingkindness.

5.      Continue to learn contentment.

 

1/15/2012 12:59:10 PM

 

 

             

"The Return of Jesus Christ" (Ps. 24:1-10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/14/2012 9:48:53 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  “The Return of Jesus Christ”

                                               

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Psalm 24:1-10

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 A Psalm of David: The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.  3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face- even Jacob. Selah. 7 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 8 Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”

 

            We need to remember when we began to look at Psalm 22 that it was said that Psalm’s 22-24 were a trilogy about the Shepherd and we saw in Psalm 22 that the good Shepherd died for His sheep and then rose again, and then in Psalm 23 we saw that the good Shepherd lives for His sheep to take care of them, and now in Psalm 24 we will see that the Great Shepherd will return for His sheep:  “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1Pe. 5:4). 

           

            This psalm may have been written for when the ark of God was brought up to Jerusalem by David as some think, but it also looks to the return of Christ in its prophetic form.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that this is an antiphonal psalm.  (A hymn or psalm performed by two groups of singers chanting alternate sections).  He also reports that the psalm was sung in Herod’s temple each Sunday, and that some connect the psalm with our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday.  Some in the early church would sing this psalm forty days after Easter as that is when the Lord Jesus was to have gone back to heaven after His passion and then He will return again as He spoke of “"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne” (Matt. 25:31).

            Dr. Wiersbe writes that this psalm presents a threefold privilege God has given His people.

 

            We Are Stewards Who Enjoy His Goodness in Creation (vv.1-2):  “The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.”

           

            This first statement in verse one of Psalm 24 is a statement that many people do not believe, and yet it is true for this is the Word of God and God cannot lie.  Many people today believe that there are certain parts of the earth that are theirs because they have paid for it or in fact are paying for it monthly, but the truth of the matter is that all of the universe belongs to the Lord because He created it. 

            God has chosen the earth and the people whom He created on this earth to live out the greatest drama ever imaged and that was having the second person of the Godhead come to earth to live on His earth and to die on His earth for His people.  We know this as we have read it in His Word, but there are times when we seem to not think about it in the way we should think about it for this was the greatest thing that ever happened on His earth.

           

            As believers we are to care for the earth and not spoil it for we are all stewards of God for He has created us.  God created us and before He created the world and verse two speaks of God creating the world out of water.  “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water (2 Pe.” 3:5). The creation story in Genesis tells us that this verse in 2 Peter is true, that God did use water to create the earth:  “1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”  The word used for “moving” is interesting in that it can mean shaking.  John MacArthur speaks of this event by saying that when the Holy Spirit was moving over the waters He was kind of like incubating the earth.  When a mother chicken lays and egg and sits on it to keep it warm in order to have the little chicken form inside the egg and this is kind of like what happened to the earth, the Holy Spirit was incubating the earth causing it to be formed in the way He wanted it formed.  We must remember that water was used.

 

            We Are Worshipers Who Experience His Grace in Redemption (vv. 3-6):  “3 Who may climb the mountain of the LORD?  Who may stand in his holy place? 4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. 5 They will receive the LORD’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. 6 Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.  Interlude”

           

            “3 Who may climb the mountain of the LORD?  Who may stand in his holy place? 4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. 5 They will receive the LORD’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. 6 Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.  Interlude” (NLT)

           

            The verses here and also in Psalm 15 as they are parallel and they emphasize that when we worship the Lord we have to move up higher for Psalm 2:6 says, “"But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.’” 

           

            Verse four speaks of those who can worship the Lord and they must have hands and hearts that are pure.  The Levites who carried the Ark of God had to be ceremonially clean and believers today must have their hearts right before the Lord, making sure that they have taken inventory of themselves to find out that they do not have any sins in their hearts that have not been confessed.  Paul writes to the Corinthian believers in chapter 11 about having their hearts right before the Lord before taking communion and speaks of some who did not follow this process:  “27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.”  

           

            In the rest of verse four there is a warning that believers must not worship idols and are not to lie.  We mentioned before that an idol is anything that can come between you and God and it doesn’t have to mean a gold or silver statue. 

           

            The reward of doing these things in verse four is salvation, yet we know that there is no one who can do this on their own and so it had to be done for us in order to receive the gift of salvation.  Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness as Genesis 15:6 tell us and believing in what Christ has done for us is part of the process of salvation along with admitting to God that we are sinners in need of His precious gift of salvation.  In the statements above referring to 1Cor. 11 I was applying the first part of verse four to those who already are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

           

            Worshiping the Lord in the way we should worship Him is seen in verse six and this happens after a person has put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  However as we have seen believers must keep themselves clean in order to have this kind of fellowship and worship of the Lord.

 

            We are Victors Who Celebrate His Glory in conquest (vv. 7-10):  “7 Open up, ancient gates!  Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter. 8 Who is the King of glory?  The LORD, strong and mighty; the LORD, invincible in battle. 9 Open up, ancient gates!  Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter. 10 Who is the King of glory?  The LORD of Heaven’s Armies- He is the King of glory.  Interlude” (NLT)

            “7 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 8 Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”  (NASB)

           

            This may have been what David was thinking about when the Ark of God was brought up to Jerusalem in the day he had it brought into the city of Jerusalem through its gates.  We can also think about the time when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the city of Jerusalem on what is called Palm Sunday and some of the people were celebrating His arrival, and some were planning to have him killed.  This can also picture when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back as described in Revelations 19 and will begin to fight a battle with those who are trying to destroy Jerusalem and He will destroy them.  “11 And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God.   14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God; 18 in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great." 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army. 20  And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Rev. 19:11-21)

           

            I believe that those who come with the Lord Jesus Christ are those who have been taken in the rapture before the tribulation period began, the entire Church, His bride will return with Him and help to rule during the 1000 years that the Lord Jesus Christ will rule from Jerusalem.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe ends his commentary of this psalm with these words, “As children of God, we belong to three worlds:  the world of creation around us, the world of the new creation within us (2Cor. 5:17), and the ‘world to come’ of the wonderful final creation that will be our home for eternity (Rev. 21-22).”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to quote from the last chapter of 2 Peter for this portion of my SD today:  “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today: 

 

1.      I want to be a person that is ready to tell others about the saving grace of the Lord and live a life that is pleasing to the Lord each day.

2.      Continue to learn contentment as I serve the Lord and trust Him to rule in my life.

 

 

1/14/2012 11:38:51 AM

PT-2 "Psalm 23" (Ps. 23:4-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/13/2012 8:29:07 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  PT-2 “Psalm 23”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Psalm 23:4-6

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Psalm of David: The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not 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 the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I 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 have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

 

            In the Valley—Serenity (v.-4):  “4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

           

            We see in this verse that the personal pronoun changes from he to you and this conveys that David is no longer talking about the shepherd, but he is now talking to the Shepherd.  David is saying that the Shepherd is not before us when we go through troubles, but beside us and because of this it gives comfort to those who belong to the Shepherd.

           

            Sheep do not like darkness, sheep do not have good eyesight, and sheep do not like new circumstances and therefore they need the shepherd to walk along side of them to calm their fears.

           

            Dr. Wiersbe explains that “the rod was a heavy cudgel with which the shepherd could stun or kill an attacking beast, and the staff was the shepherd’s crook, which he used to assist the individual sheep.  At evening, he would have the sheep pass under the crook one by one so he could count them and examine them (Lev. 27:32).  It gave the flock peace knowing that the shepherd was there and was equipped for any emergency.  He is ‘Immanuel God with us’ (Matt. 1:23).”

           

            We can see from Jesus’ teaching in John 10 that He is not the hireling who would run away at the sign of any danger; Jesus is the true Shepherd who will lay down His life for the sheep.  What is it that we need in times of trouble it is that the Shepherd can provide for us?  Peace is what we need and according to Romans 5:1 those who belong to the Shepherd have peace with God, but we also have the peace of God:  “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7).” 

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “the closer we are to our Shepherd, the safer we are and the more His peace will fill our hearts. (See Isa. 40:9-11; 43:1-3; Rev. 1:17-18)”

 

            In the Fold—Certainty (v.5):  “5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”

           

            There are some who believe that the metaphor changes here from the shepherd and his sheep to a host with a guest, but that is probably not the case, although I have heard stories of people who had been captured by their enemies and one man was reading his Bible and the person who had captured him asked him if how he could believe something like that.  The man was being feed by those who captured him and he was reading Psalm 23.

           

            Table does not necessarily refer to a piece of furniture for the word simply means “something spread out.”  There are flat places in the hilly terrain that are called tables and this was a good place for the sheep to feed because of the flatness of it.  It was also a good place for the sheep to rest after eating. 

           

            There were times when the shepherd would put food in a trough when he got the sheep back to the sheep fold and after eating they would get sleepy and lie down and sleep for the night knowing that they were safe because of the shepherd being there.  The sheepfold was made up of stones and had a kind of “doorway” that led into it and that is where the shepherd would lie down for the night and so the sheep were protected.  Jesus said in John 10 that He was the door to the sheepfold.    “So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:7-9).”

           

            As the sheep were entering the sheepfold the shepherd would examine them to make sure all were okay and if some of them were cut he would put oil on them, and make sure that they had water to drink. 

           

            I think that I failed to mention yesterday that sheep do not like to drink in a stream that is moving fast for it frightens them and so there were times when the shepherd would have to make a dam in the stream in order to slow the flow of the water so that the sheep could drink.

 

            In the Father’s House—Eternity (v.-6):  “6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” 

           

            At the end of the day when all was quiet the shepherd could look back at the day and see that the Lord had given him a good day, and so it was with David as when he was older he could look back at his life and see how the Lord had taken care of him throughout his life and had given him goodness and loving kindness throughout his life even though there were many difficult times, times when David had sinned, but knowing that God had forgiven him.  The word “surely”’ can be translated as “only” and that makes it more understandable when only is used here. 

           

            David looked forward to being with the Lord at the end of his life, for David knew the Lord in a way that most don’t and this can be seen by his life and also by the Psalms that he wrote that bring glory to the Lord.

           

            The house of the Lord was not a reference to the temple and here is what Jesus said about a house:  “1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.  4 “And you know the way where I am going." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:1-6).   

           

            This is a fitting end to this wonderful Psalm knowing that all who have trusted the Shepherd will be with Him forever in the house He provides for us.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that we can see from the verses in John 14 that Jesus’ death on the cross was the way that He prepared a place for us, for without His death on the cross there would be no way for anyone to be with Him forever.  David knew that and so can we.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Study to show myself approved unto God, being a workman who does not have to be ashamed.

2.      Continue to be ready to tell others of the hope that lies in me.

3.      Continue to learn contentment. 

 

1/13/2012 9:56:56 AM  

 

PT-1 "The Great Shepherd who cares for His Sheep" (Ps. 23:1-3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/12/2012 9:09:24 AM

 

My Worship Time                            Focus:  PT-1 “The Great Shepherd who cares for His sheep”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Psalm 23:1-3

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 A Psalm of David: The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not 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 the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I 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 have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

 

            This is one of the most beloved portions of Scripture in the entire Bible, but Dr. Wiersbe points out that the psalm has been primarily used at funerals, however Psalm 23 focuses on what Jesus does for us “all the days of our lives” and not just at death.

           

            “This is a psalm of the Great Shepherd who cares for His sheep and equips them for ministry (Heb. 13:20-21), the ‘great High Priest’ (Heb. 4:14) who ‘ever lives to make intercession for us’ (Heb. 7:25).”

           

            This psalm was probably written when David was old as he looks back at how the “Great Shepherd” had cared for him throughout his life, and not written when he was a young lad tending his father’s sheep as many think.  Dr. Wiersbe thinks that this psalm could have been written when Absalom was trying to take over the kingdom.  Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “While people of all ages love and quote this psalm, its message is for mature Christians who have fought battles and carried burdens.”

           

            Let us briefly take a look how God is seen as Israel’s Shepherd.  “Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day (Genesis 48:15 NIV).”  “But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed supple, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel (Gen. 49:24 NIV).”  This continues throughout the Bible (Pss. 28:9; 80:1 95:7; 100:3; Isa. 40:11; 49:10; Jer. 31:10; Ezek. 34:11-15; Matt. 10:6; 15:24; Mark 6:34).  We can also see that Jesus; the Promised Messiah was also seen as a shepherd (Eze. 34:16, 23; Mic. 5:4; Zech. 13:7; Matt. 2:6: 26:3; Mark 14:27; John 10). 

           

            I believe that one of the reasons that there is so much written about the Lord being the Shepherd is because people are a lot like sheep.  In John MacArthur’s message on 1Peter 5:1-2 which he entitled “Shepherding the Flock Part-1” he tells the story of when he and his family went to New Zealand and visited a sheep farm.  Before going he said that he read a book on shepherding that was written by a shepherd from New Zealand and the reason for this was to know about sheep and what he found out was that sheep are like humans and said that perhaps that the Lord created sheep for spiritual points. 

            As long as we are on the subject of sheep I have to say that I believe that when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and found out that they were naked and then they put on some fig leaves to cover their nakedness.  God is said to have killed and animal in order to cover their nakedness, but the Bible is silent as to what that animal was that was killed.  I believe that animal was a sheep as it would picture the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 

           

            One more thought and that is that I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was born in the cave that was where the Passover lambs were born, for Paul writes that Jesus is our Passover.  Jesus died when the Passover lambs were slain and so I think that it would be fitting for Him to be born where these Passover lambs were born. 

 

            In the Pasture—Adequacy (vv. 1-3):  “1 A Psalm of David: The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not 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 the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”

           

            Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “’The Lord’ is Jehovah God, the covenant making God in Israel.  The compound names of Jehovah in the Old Testament reflect the contents of this psalm:

            ‘I shall not want’—Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide (Gen. 22:14)

            ‘Still waters’—Jehovah-Shalom, ‘the Lord our peace’ (Judg. 6:24)

            ‘Restores my soul’—Jehovah-Rophe, ‘the Lord who heals’ (Ex. 15:26)

            ‘Paths of righteousness—Jehovah—Tsidkenu, ‘the Lord our righteousness’ (Jer. 33:16)

            ‘You are with me’—Jehovah-Shammah, ‘Lord is there’ (Ezek. 48:35)

            ‘Presence of my enemies’—Jehovah-Nissi, ‘the Lord our banner (Ex. 17:15)

            ‘Anoint my head’—Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, ‘the Lord who sanctifies’ (Lev. 20:8)”

 

            When we read “the Lord is my shepherd” it means that the Lord is shepherding me and this can be seen in the shepherds that are in and near the Holy Land, for their practices are not much different than they were in the days when David was a shepherd.  This involved in taking care of the sheep in ways that we see are portrayed of a Pastor caring for his flock, the flock that God had given to him to care for as seen in 1 Peter 5.  (The sermon mention above is a wonderful way to understand how the shepherds care for the sheep and how Pastors are to care for their flock). 

           

            In John 10 we see that Jesus is the “Great Shepherd” and as mentioned this psalm is a picture of how the Lord Jesus Christ cares for His flock today.  “11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12  "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14  "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.’”  “Hebrews 13:20 “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord.”

           

            In verse two we see the word “lead” and the word means to lead gently.  Cattle are driven, but sheep are lead.  A Pastor who has a flock is to lead it and not drive it, for he is called by God to lead his flock and to teach them and to care for them like a shepherd cares for his sheep.  To find a Pastor who will do this is not as easy as it use to be but when you find a pastor like that they you know that this is a good place for worshiping the Lord.

           

            The word “paths” in verse three means “well-worn paths, ruts.”  “When sheep start to explore an exciting new path, it will lead them into trouble.  ‘Do not be carried about by varied and strange teachings’ (Heb. 13:9).  God cares for us because He loves us and wants us to glorify Him (‘for His name’s sake”.  The shepherd cares for the sheep because he loves them and wants to maintain his own good reputation as a faithful shepherd.”  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We will try and look at the rest of this psalm in the next SD.

           

            The thought of having the God of creation as my Great Shepherd who will lead me and guide me through the good and difficult times of my life gives me confidence and increases my faith and also teaches me contentment knowing that He is always there to gently lead me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     With the help of the Word of God and the Spirit of God I desire to not stray onto a “new path” but be lead by the Shepherd.

2.     Continue to learn contentment.

 

1/12/2012 11:02:40 AM