THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
One, if not the most familiar scripture we know is the 23rd Psalm…
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
It talks about following Jesus…it starts with a promise from God’s heart…
As we read this scripture that a lot of us know by heart…
The 23rd Psalm begins with these familiar words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want."
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." (John 10:11). Truly, "the Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want."
What does it mean, The Lord is my Shepherd…it means I as His sheep follow Him, I trust Him to lead me…
The bible gives us truth…everything that God has told predicted thousands of years in advance has happened …we don’t need to doubt His ability to predict the future…He knows your particular future just as well as He knows how the ending of the earth system as we know it will happen…
Our lives actually are journeys…we are going somewhere…we are on our way whether we realize it or not…
Think about it…the earth spins around at about a thousand ??? miles an hour…while it goes around a gigantic fire ball called the sun and we don’t even feel we are moving…we can’t see or feel it…we are always heading to summer or heading to fall…going somewhere. We are headed into tomorrow and next week …we have been on a journey since we were conceived and…We will all end up at one of two places…
There are some scary places that people have to walk through as they journey and on your journey you will see some amazing things…you may experience falling in love, the birth of a child, you may travel around and see all sorts of world wonders…you will no doubt travel some dark valleys…you will see some pain along the way. No matter what …you are going somewhere on your journey. Your journey has some mystery involved…you see you may think you’re going one way when actually you can end up somewhere different than you intended…you will either follow someone who you can trust or you’ll follow your own course…the course you think you are charting…
God sent Someone to lead us… A shepherd - He knows the territory – He knows what tomorrow holds for you, He knows what you need to face it…what’s waiting next year or ten years in the future…or even next day… your destiny changes the moment you decide to trust Him…
God gave us some places that we have to visit if we want our journey to turn out good… We can trust Him, what He says…He wants to lead you through this life but the only way … is to come to the cross first.
The very first place is the cross if He is to be called our Shepherd…He will lead us to the cross…the cross is a gruesome thing if you think of it … it’s filled with violence, a Father giving up His child…
I have two wonderful sons, they’re grown men now, and I cannot bring myself to imagine…sending them to a place that would eventually take their lives…to watch as cruel people spit, slapped, plucked their beards, beat on them and eventually nailed their hands and feet to a cross to leave them hang there until the life ebbed away…while they cried out asking why I had forsaken them…especially knowing what good boys I have…but with Jesus He never did anything to deserve any kind of punishment…no my boys could not die for anyone’s sins no matter how good I think they have been…someone would actually have to die for their sin…and mine and yours… it was our Shepherd’s choice to lay down His life for us…
So the cross has to be the major part of our journey…after we stop there and exchange our sin for His innocence, His right life for our wrong life…we can begin our journey fresh and new…
He will ask us to take up our cross…our cross is laying our old life down …going to church, telling others about the cross, giving to help the ministry, praying, turning away from the things of the world, living in newness of life. We join the family of God…all on their journey…following the Shepherd…we read His words and listen for His voice as we follow…
We’ll be brought to green pastures to restore our souls and we’ll be brought to still waters to drink of His blessings…
Sometimes we will chose to walk in shadows…he does not lead us there …as we head into these valleys sometimes on our own the shadow of death is there…these valleys are many times deep… sin lurks and sometimes we get lost… but his rod and staff work in our life…His word and His Spirit correct us and lead us out…
He brings us to a banqueting table and anoints our head our mind and thinking we have the mind of Christ in agreement with His Spirit. Right when the enemy thinks He has us God brings His powerful word to rescue us. He feeds us with powerful word and our cup is filled with His presence…We can walk with Him without fear of not making it …we learn to trust Him and we overcome all the lusts, addictions, greed, unforgivness, worry, …. Whatever Satan hands out, our Shepherd is there for us and we will forever dwell in His house….!
When we think of all that God has done for us…the 22 Psalm sums it up.. 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!
The story is old through the ages His righteousness has been proclaimed…To you to me to a people yet unborn….we proclaim HE HAS DONE IT!
What has He done?...He has conquered death, hell and the grave…He came off that cross…He delivered His sinless blood to our Father …got God’s seal of approval…
The grave couldn’t hold him and it can’t hold us…I will rise when He calls my name…no more dark valleys no more pain!
