Psalm 23 begins; “The LORD is my Shepherd: I shall not want…” but it doesn’t stop there. Pick up your bible and read the rest.
God, you are our Shepherd…our Good Shepherd. No one else can lead the way He leads. No one else can take care of our want. By His presence and unconditional love we are able to lie down in green pastures, not just any pastures but green pastures, abundant with “good” grass, wide open so that we can be well fed and know we are protected. Besides not wanting– physically or emotionally –He also lead us in paths of righteousness for His Son’s name’s sake. On His Son’s “good name” we can know which path to walk that will bring Him glory and honor… which is our purpose.
Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of the shadow of death He is there! He has promised it and He always has been there even through the toughest of times. If someone asked us the question; “Does your God love you?” we can say unequivocally – YES!! For He has delivered us, rescued us and leads us and by thanking Him, we realize we shall not want for anything that we would need to fulfill our purpose. This goes for the darker side of life as well when we are “unsure” if God is with us. “If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as day, for darkness is light to you.” Psalm 139:11-12. Since God has ordained the darkness it is His as well. But from His perspective ALL is light. From our perspective… with our eyes and hearts cast low in worry and fear it is just darkness. He has ordained whatsoever comes to pass and we can take comfort in that knowledge even though there are times when it is too much for us.
Because of His unconditional love we have nothing to fear …we forget that and He remind us continuously if we are really reading His worth seeking Him. But we fear because we are uncertain there is such a thing as unconditional love. That is not what we see or experience in this world. He tell us that He will walk through everything with us like a Good Shepherd who knows that when we are afraid we can get lost. He stays with us. And by His presence we are comforted.
But He goes further! He prepares a victory banquet in front of His enemies! This victory is over sin and death and because of His work we can celebrate that victory won by Christ — in FULL VIEW of this enemy.
By focusing on what is true…His grace…His unconditional love…His desire to provide…“The LORD is my Shepherd: I shall not want…” God helps us to THINK CLEARLY about His work. No wonder our cup overflows! And with that we know His goodness and mercy does follow us all the days of our life and enables us to know that we dwell in the house of the Lord forever. His home is our home since He is always with us!
God Bless.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
