The Lord is my Shepherd, and I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me besides still waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his names' sake.
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
You prepare a table for me
in the presence of my enemies
You anoint my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Most people know this psalm. It's the one you hear at funeral. In fact, it doesn't matter whether you know God or not, you've heard this psalm. Oddly enough this psalm has more to do with empowerment and a stand on your chair and shout it feeling than it is with a somber funeral.
Let's take a look:
The lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want
The first thing to note here is the obvious "the lord is my". We can only function in the kingdom of God when we have chosen to become a part of it. The Shephard indicates that we have chosen to be under the lordship of Jesus Christ and we have chosen to be under his authority and positioning. Some people get everything else right, but they move somewhere or go somewhere that outside of the will of God for their life and they become ineffective, and they wonder what happened. They walked out of the care of the Shepherd. When we become a follower of Christ, our empty soul becomes full, and because our soul is full that would be enough. So everything else in addition to knowing Christ is a bonus! When we live our life with this mentality we will find its much easy to give and much easier for God to bless us, because we won't hold on too things tightly when we realize that everything in our life is just the icing on top of an already prosperous soul.
he makes me lie down in green pastures
he leads me besides still water
he restores my soul.
God is capable of fixing any situation. He takes us from the most tumultuous times and calms everything. Your whole life can change in one moment. Your life could be hell on earth, but one conversation, opportunity, or a check in the mail can change everything.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his names sake
Christians sometimes have this wacky mentality that God is only with you when we're always doing good. God is with us all the time once we become a follower of Christ. It's never God that chooses to walk away from us rather us that chooses to walk away from God. Ironically enough God is so on your side that sometimes he gives "freebies". God sometimes keeps us away from situations that we could mess up on for the sake of his name becoming famous.
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
There will be dark times in life, but God promises to be with us and to be the shining light. God leads us with the rod and staff and when we learn to follow him and allow him to lead we will discover a supernatural peace.
You Prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies
God gives us favor when we are with people that have chosen to oppose us. This psalm says that God will put us eye to eye with our enemies and we will not be shamed but be able to find common ground with them.
You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows
God has given us more than we even need to accomplish his will for us. We may not always see his provision, but he's given us an overflowing cup that gives us more than enough to accomplish any task.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life
There will be times of trials and tribulation but the promise of God is that they are followed by good things and the love of God. God may allow us to be tested but he loves to pour out his goodness and love on us, because that is the nature of a father.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
And the punchline it comes back to where we are planted and that is the house of God. God lives in his house and to be able to relate to him on a regular basis we need to be where he is. The blessing of God is available when we are planted in a place to be in line with the will of God.
Good times. Bad Times. God remains the same. His promises remain constant and true. So whether we are walking through dark days or having the time of our lives, remember God is with us caring and tending us. Just like a Shepherd does.
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