He told me to tell you that
Ihave been hanging out with Jesus in the 23rd Psalm. They say that if you want to hear the voice of the Lord to read your Bible out loud, so I have been shouting as I read. I’m in a season where I really need to hear the voice of the Lord. Does that make sense?
Most of us know the first part of this Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd.” I don’t know about you but I need someone to lead me, to guide me, to care for me, to protect me, to provide for me and to give me perspective. Who better than an omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God who created me, cares about me and loves me, therefore, He always wants the best for me.
The second part of that first verse is, “I shall not want.” One of the benefits of this love relationship with God the Father through God the Son is contentment. If the Lord is our shepherd we will be satisfied.
The Apostle Paul captured this idea in his letter to the Church at Philip-pi, “I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” The last part of that is Philippians 4:13, some of us know it like this: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
I see a lot of hope in this passage. We need hope, in our families, our churches, our school and in our community. Without hope we might as well find a bridge to jump off of.
My life is not perfect but verse six says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” That’s my testimony, that God is good all the time - and all the time God is good.
God is constantly blessing my socks off but verse four talks about hardships. It states, “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.” This is where hope comes in.
When I get jammed up God is there taking care of me, my hope is not in my circumstance, the market or in what the doctor says about a health crisis, but my hope is in the Good Shepherd.
While there is great comfort in this Psalm there is also a challenge. King David wrote about the journey of life. In order to navigate the journey, we need to be able to say, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Can you make that claim today? He asked me to ask you that.
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