Title: The Lord as My Shepherd / Psalm 23
Contents As long as I have Jehovah as my shepherd / Psalm 23
Jehovah
If there are verses in the Bible that are most loved, one of them is Psalm 23. So, all believers will be memorizing this verse. However, the meaning of these words is so profound and profound, the more you chew them, the more grace and strength you get. So, today, we are going to share the grace of Psalm 23, which we are most familiar with. Verse 1 of the text can be translated like this: “As long as the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need, as long as I have the Lord as my shepherd. , I have everything I need) In other words, the text is a relation concept, which means that we have everything we need as long as our relationship with God is that of a shepherd and sheep.
One of the most important things for a human being is a relationship. When we have this relationship right, we succeed. So, if you look at the Ten Commandments, commandments 1-4 tell us the secret of having a straight relationship with God, and commandments 5-10 tell us the secret of having a straight relationship with people. So instead of saying, "In the beginning was the Word," Barth said, "In the beginning was relation."
T.S. Eliot (1965 d. ), a famous British poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, writes in his poem The Wasteland that modern times are empty and full. What should be is empty and what should not be is full. But as long as we have the Lord as our shepherd, there is nothing lacking. The problem is that God created us so that we lack nothing, but everything is twisted and lacking because of our greed and sins.
Of course, life is not a rose garden. There are many thorns, and rocks cover it, sometimes the Red Sea. But the saints who have Jehovah as their shepherd have everything they need.
Many years ago, I was invited to the Hebrew University and stayed there for 6 months. He got an apartment on the Mount of Olives and lived with his wife. During that time, I have had the opportunity to visit many places. We went to the Valley of Death, the setting of Psalm 23. There was a steep cliff, and sheep were eating grass in the gap. In the distance, the shepherd was watching.
However, these sheep had several characteristics.
(1) Every animal has a weapon to defend against it. Either they have weapons like teeth, claws, or horns, or they have smells or protective colors, or they have quick feet, poisons, tricks, etc. However, the sheep cannot survive without a shepherd to protect themselves.
(2) When a sheep falls, it is so dull that it cannot get up by itself. So the shepherd must go and raise him up.
(3) Sheep are very hungry, so if they eat grass and sleep in a shaded place, they will just catch it even when the sun is shining. I'm tired and I'm sleeping. Then release the goat and make it move. So let's go to a shady place.
So sheep cannot live alone without a shepherd, and so are we. Without the Lord, the shepherd, it is always insufficient, and it becomes food for wild beasts, and even if it falls into the water, it falls over a stone. That is why the Bible says that as long as you have the Lord as your shepherd, you will not lack.
Then there will be nothing lacking. I said I have everything I need. What is the content?
(1) First, it puts us at rest and guides us.
To make a shepherd means to be led by him. When I was in the military, I was tasked with feeding sheep for the patients of the unit, and there was a time when I was assigned to feed sheep for the patients of the unit. However, what was discovered at that time was that sheep were animals that could not at all know what poisonous weeds were and where to rest. So, if left alone, the sheep lost their way, ate poisonous herbs and drank without distinguishing between poisonous waters.
Humans tend to pursue only their own interests. But in most cases, self-interest is actually more harmful. Therefore, the Lord said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." It means seeking citizenship in heaven. Why? Because there are benefits to being a US citizen.
(2) Second, He revives our souls.
Because this world is a wilderness, it is easy to get tired and irritable at times. Moreover, there is a lot of suffering that people have as a minority. So there are a lot of irritating things in the immigrant church, and we fight well. Because souls have dried up.
(3) Thirdly, He is with us.
In the world, it is a great comfort to have a wife together, a husband together, and a child together. But they are not always together. We can't be together when we go to jail, and we can't be together when we have major surgery. How terrifying it is to lie down and go through multiple doors since I had nose surgery years ago. Moreover, when we die, we always have to go alone. But the important thing is that the Lord is always with you. Matthew 28:20 also promised, “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
(4) Fourth, he said that he would give us a table, fill the cup to overflowing, and pour it out. It means to give them food so they don't starve, and to pour out blessings overflowingly.
So the Lord said. “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly”. But why are we not prosperous? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” says the Bible.
(5) Lastly, the most important thing is that God's blessings will continue to be given throughout life. How long? It means that it will be given to you forever until you go to the kingdom of God.