The King of Love My SHEPHERD Is ...

The King Of Love My Shepherd Is

Quiet Time, January 17, 2012…

Psalm 23

My QT took me through the words of the popular hymn (MHB 76), and God gave me a fresh perspective of Psalm 23.  Whenever I have looked at the psalm, I have thought of the provision and protection of the Good Shepherd. This time around, I realized that Psalm 23 paints a beautiful picture of how calm, restful and peaceful my life as a Christian is supposed to be. The lesson this is that, if my life is hurried, stressed and hassled, then I should know that I’m living outside of His will and ideal relationship. In contrast to my previous notions of a pasture with bleating sheep, or a shepherd and one bleating sheep etc, I see two friends taking a nice, cool walk in nature’s corridors. It is quite interesting to compare the various versions of the text, and I gained new insight, drawing on the NKJV, the NLT and the GNB.

The Lord is MY Shepherd …

-     This means that I share Him with no one else. He devotes His time, love, full attention etc. to me, and we belong to each other. I am His, and He is mine. There’s a bond there that is not shared with anyone else. There’s a calm knowing and assurance that we have a friendship, a relationship, and it’s a special one.

I shall not want/ I have everything or all that I need …

-    It’s a positive confession/declaration where I am saying what is, and what will be. In the present, I have everything I need, and in the future, I shall not want.  If I’m to trust in these words, then I should not stress over anything or let my need overwhelm me at all. He is my sufficiency. Note that it doesn’t say ‘He will give me everything I need’ – he is not now about to take an action to give me anything – by virtue of being in a relationship with Him alone, I have everything I need and I lack nothing. If He has it, then I also have it – He created the universe (Ps. 24), and so everything He created is mine, and He gives me direct access to all His riches in glory (Phil 4:19).

He makes me to lie down in green pastures/ He lets me lie down in green pastures …

-     He knows and values the importance of rest, and so He gives me rest, and where I refuse it, He “makes” me lie down in green pastures. Here, He is teaching me to slow down, rest, enjoy the calmness of a walk with Him. Jesus was never harried and constantly on the move – He had restful moments – in fact, rest was so important to Him that even in the midst of the storm, He found time to rest! Where I need rest, if I don’t take the initiative to rest, He may bring circumstances that will compel and force me to rest. If my life is one big whirlwind, then I must know that it is not the way the Good Shepherd designed it to be.

He leads me beside the still waters/ He leads me to quiet pools of water …

-    I’m picturing the sheep and Shepherd taking a leisurely stroll by some pools of crystal-clear water, and the water gently lapping along the edge of the pools … a very calm and serene setting. Here, I can spend quality time with Him without any distractions. There is no noise, and we can chat with him as we stroll along, occasionally stopping to look at our reflection in the water. All this stands in contrast to taking a stroll along the beach with noisy waves, shifting sand, etc…

He restores my soul/He gives me new strength/He renews my strength…

-     He knows the stress and potential frustrations in my life, and knows that by all means, I will fret and wear myself out with life and its issues, so He provides the inner strength that I need; the renews the strength and energy that I use up in stressing and running around chasing my own tail. To be able to access this new strength and restoration, I need to be close to Him – I need to be walking with Him and spending time with Him. The condition of my soul is most important to Him, and He makes sure that my soul, like a tender plant is constantly watered.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness/He guides me along the right path, as He has , bringing honor to His name …

-     He shows me what righteousness is, and He orders my steps according to it. He shows me what is right so that I have no excuse to say that I didn’t know – the Bible is the manual that gives me everything I’m supposed to know.  When to the right or left I stray, His voice I may hear behind me saying ‘this is the way, walk in it’ (Is 30:21).  The purpose of this is not just to equip me, but to keep me from being a disgrace to Him … He leads me, and if I follow Him, then my obedience will yield good fruit that will bring honor to His name. If my light shines before men, then they will see me distinguishing myself through righteousness, and will glorify my Father in heaven (Matt 5:16). Amen.

Yes, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, or the darkest and deepest valley…

-     No matter how dark and dreary things get, no matter how bad life seems to be, and if I find myself in a dark place where I don’t see anything, I must remember who my Shepherd is.  Perhaps I don’t have a sense of direction, or like Christ, I feel abandoned, and I want to cry out and say … My God, my God, why have You forsaken me (Ps 22:1),  I will remember that He is indeed beside me, and so I will not, and have no reason to be afraid. He may be next to me and just be silent. His silence does not mean He isn’t there. It’s a test of my faith in Him, and to see whether I will grope around in the dark, trying to find my solutions from the plethora of solutions that the world offers, or whether in the darkness, I will try to find only His hand beside me and hold on to it for support and for dear life. My survival in the darkest valley depends on who and where my Shepherd is. He is right near me, and says I should call to Him (Jer 33:3), and He will open my eyes to see amazing truths.

His rod and staff protect and comfort me…

-     With His rod, He disciplines me when I am being foolish, and he shoos away anything that will be a distraction to me, helping me to stay focused. He uses the staff to guide me … to keep me within the safe boundaries as we walk along the path. He steers me away from trouble. My curiosity may lead me too close to the edge, and He will have to remind me that even though the field is wide ad open, as is life, I must be circumspect where I choose to walk.

He prepares a feast/banquet for me in the presence of my enemies/where my enemies can see me…

-     He puts my enemies to shame, and doesn’t go chasing after them, but instead, He lets things work out for my good, and then shows them how I will survive because He is with me. He sets the stage for a banquet that honors even a sheep and servant like me, and uses that as evidence to show the enemies the futility of their plans. In the midst of opposition He shows them that I still enjoy victory because I serve the Living God. He puts them to shame, and shows them their plans didn’t and can’t work. Notice that His focus is on me, and not the enemy … if we were all to focus less on what the devil and some enemies have done, or are doing, and rather focus on building a relationship with the Shepherd and walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:16), then we can surely overcome all things that come our way – enemies within and enemies without.

He anoints my head with oil/ He welcomes me as an honored guest …

-     Just as Samuel did for David to show God’s acceptance of him (1 Sam 16:23), the Shepherd anoints me to show that I am selected and consecrated unto God – it shows the enemies that I belong to Him – He himself anoints my head, and it’s also to show that I am blessed and highly favored. It does not just equip me to do His will, but it also shows that I have His seal of approval and serves as a message to any Goliath that wants to harm me, who my Keeper and Shield is.

My cup runs over/my cup overflows with blessings/He fills my cup to the brim…

-     No good thing will He withhold from the upright (Ps 84:11). He gives me not just access to His wealth, but He provides me with everything that I need, and I don’t have to worry about anything. My life is full of many blessings – not just the big, recognizable ones, but even the little things that may put a silent smile on my face … when He brings a taxi juuust in the nick of time, or when He prompts me to use a different route in traffic, and I discover my initial choice was jam-packed with traffic, or when the message to me is the same, regardless of with radio station I tune it to … He’s always finding new ways to bless and surprise me with goodness!

Surely/I know that goodness and mercy/Your goodness and unfailing love shall follow/pursue me/shall be with me…

-     His goodness and unfailing love will ‘pursue’ me all the days of my life – He won’t wait for me to come to Him. Instead, His goodness will chase after me. In other words, He will never give up on me – He will constantly follow me and keep His eye on me, and His love will never let me fall (Gen 28:15). The stubborn sheep that I am, there are times when I will wander off on my own, oblivious to the dangers around me, but surely, He will pursue and preserve me … His goodness will cause me to find favor in unexpected places, and even when He doesn’t seem to be present in certain situations, His goodness would have pursued and overtaken me, to prepare the way for me.

I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever/Your house shall be my home as long as I live …

-    I will enjoy His presence forever – both here on earth and also in heaven… I will forever be in His presence, provided that I seek after Him (Matt 6:33). I will walk with Him here on earth because that is the surest way to make it in this world that is not meant to be a home, but a transient space.

O for a closer walk with God, a calm and heavenly frame (MHB 461)… the serenity of Psalm 23 is just hitting home - the picture of what my life should be like, and how living as a hurricane is not His plan for me. It’s a sweet, calm and rewarding love relationship that He wants, and if I’m in that ‘space’ with the Shepherd, then I truly have all things, and can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13). Amen!