Good Morning Friends,
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in
want. He makes me lie down in green
pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for
his name’s 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 before 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.” (Psalm 23:1-6)
Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar passages
in the Bible. It’s familiar because it
speaks so clearly to the issues which trouble our lives.
We need someone who will be there for us when
we need help and who is strong enough to provide the help we need. It’s so comforting to know that the Lord is
available for us. And it’s comforting to
know that He is our shepherd – the One who will provide what we need. He watches over us and comes to our aid so
that the deepest needs and wants of our lives will be satisfied.
Our souls need restoring because they have
been marred so deeply by our sin. The
Lord provides the restoration we need.
David speaks of green pastures and quiet waters. Those are images of places of peace and rest
and that’s what our troubled souls need so desperately.
We need guidance along the right path. We’ve made so many wrong turns in our lives
that it has become clear that we have trouble discerning the right path to
take. We need someone who will point the
way for us. The Lord promises to be our
guide and we can always count on Him to point us toward the best path – the
righteous path.
There are places that are so frightful and
through which no other human being can travel with us. Death is the most frightening of all those
places and it is the loneliest place that any of us will ever face. What a marvelous promise that there is a
Shepherd who will even walk with us through death’s dark valley.
Trouble – distress – heartache – error and
sin – fear – those are all places to which our souls make frequent visits. David reminds us that we don’t need to walk
through those places alone and without help.
There is a Shepherd if we’ll turn to Him.
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment