WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU FOUND OUT THIS PSALM DID NOT APPLY TO YOU?

AUTHOR’S NOTES

If you cannot, in all honesty, say The Lord is my Shepherd, then sadly, this piece of Scripture is not for you.
It only becomes applicable when you know the Shepherd personally.
To become one of His sheep, you need to take a definite step of faith and put your trust in the One who died that you may live.

I hope and pray that this article helps you take that vital step which will allow you to say:

The Shepherd knows me and I know the Shepherd.

 

PSALM 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside still waters.

He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This Psalm is probably the best known and best loved portion of scripture.
It has been memorised by countless school children early on in their education, and is dear to the hearts of people suffering from all manner of ailments.
It beautifully sums up the Psalmist’s relationship with God, and in 116 words captivates those who put their trust in Him.

• It is the Psalm of the sickroom because of its divine tenderness.
• It is the Psalm of the deathbed because rarely does a Christian pass from earth to eternity without repeating the words:

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me….

•  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. This is the secret of a happy life – every need supplied.
•  Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me. The secret of a happy death – every fear removed.
•  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The secret of a happy eternity – every desire fulfilled.

(J. R. Littleproud)

Although it is the best known piece of Scripture in the world the Psalm is NOT for everyone.
It is applicable only to those who are entitled to say:

• The Lord is my Shepherd.
• It is true that the Good Shepherd died for everyone, but sadly not all are His sheep.
• Not all know the Shepherd.
• Not all have put their trust in Him.

To become one of His sheep takes a definite act of faith.

The theme of the Psalm is the confidence of the godly in Christ, the Shepherd.

The One who died for the believer is the one who lives, and cares for the believer.

His saving work is sufficient for all, but effective only for those who have put their trust in Him and actually believe in Him.

Psalm 23 can be divided into 7 parts:

1. The wants.  Having our faith firmly grounded in the Saviour, the believer can say:

I shall not want.

2.The spiritual wants. The believer can rest assured that these will be met, and can say:

He satisfies my soul in green pastures,

and He leads me beside still waters.

3. The failures. Sadly believers are apt to fail, and fall into sin, there is also a sadness of the soul, something is missing. How blessed we are that we can say:

The Shepherd restores the soul, and leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.

4. Death. We may have to face death. The soul may have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. How blessed we are to be able to say:

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff comfort me.

5. Enemies. There are those who oppose our love of our Saviour. There are those who will have nothing to do with the Creator. How blessed we are that we are able to say:

The Lord is greater than all our enemies, and can support us in their very presence, and can anoint us with blessings and make our cup run over.

6. The future. Many of us experience apprehension over our future in this world. Which path in life should we take? What of our loved ones? There is such wickedness all around us. How blessed we are that we can say:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

7. Eternity. There is eternity which lies before every person on earth. Can we imagine eternity? This holds no dread and fear for the one who can say:

The Lord is my Shepherd.

How blessed we are that we can say:

I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

We must take note though that everything hinges around one tiny word.

That word is “MY”

• The Lord is MY shepherd.

The present tense of this wonderful Psalm is rich in meaning.

• The Eternal God is my refuge – not was.
• He leads me beside still waters – not led.

Is He your Shepherd?

Do you know His voice?

If you know Him, find Him a comfort, live with Him and He with you, you can indeed sing the whole Psalm through to the end with joy.
But, if you don’t, then the rest of the Psalm does not belong to you.
You cannot, in all honesty, claim any of the promises and assurances given.
Unless we know the Shepherd personally, there is no use pretending that all is well.

The use of the wonderful hymn Amazing Grace, is a case in point.
It has become popular to use this hymn at funerals and many other solemn occasions with increasing regularity, sadly though it is very plain to see that the Grace offered by our Lord and Saviour is not required, and the Giver not needed.

Millionaires may be financially very rich, but without God they are pitifully poor.
When we can say, God is mine! we are rich, beyond measure.

A good shepherd makes his sheep lie down and rest, so that they may relax, regain their strength and grow stronger. How wonderful it is that God makes us lie down that we too may relax and regain our strength.

How many of us have grown irritable and impatient with people? Have we been living so strenuously, driven by work and a myriad of other pressures that we have forgotten when to stop and take stock of our lives?

 We need to lie down in green pastures.

Perhaps some of us need to be made to lie down, to feed and to rest.

A wonderful Godly woman I know had to go into hospital for a spinal operation which would take a long time to heal. After surgery, she had to lie on her back for weeks without moving. She described the utter frustration she experienced of being forced to lie still and do nothing for so long as almost unbearable. After days and days of excruciating pain and enormous discomfort, she finally turned to reading the Scriptures and meditating on God’s word. The choice was to either wallow in self-pity and do nothing, or use the only part of her body not affected by the operation. Slowly but surely her frustration subsided as she learnt to relax and let the Word of God wash over her. It was on that hospital bed, over many weeks that she learned the wondrous truth that God makes us lie down for a reason! That God leads us along rough paths that we may come to the green pastures and streams of quiet waters, to restore our souls, and at the end of the steep road, untold blessings await us. Blessings that enrich and blessings that strengthen, making us stronger, less selfish and above all enriching our daily walk with our Shepherd.

How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
Matthew 18:12-13

What a beautiful story of the love our Saviour has for all of us, even for one that goes astray. He finds us, lays us on His shoulder and carries us back to the fold, and restores our soul.

We are all prone to temptation, we are all torn and at times broken with sin and yet He, with infinite patience and tenderness picks us up and heals us and restores us.

We may faint along the path of life, become discouraged and sink, but The Shepherd comes to us and comforts us, He gives us new hope and puts us back on our feet and restores us.

Oh the love that will not let me go.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness.

We need guidance; we do not know which way in life to choose. We do not know where the path we choose to follow will lead us. But one thing is for sure, if we walk in God’s right way, He will lead us home.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil.

There are households all across our country that mourn the passing of a loved one, where there is a blackness of sorrow and terrible anguish that a life has been taken, and where there is no hope or comfort to alleviate the loss.
The sting of death is sin.
Sin unconfessed and unforgiven.

Contrast that with the home where there is no bitterness in any heart of the household. Their sorrow has been turned to joy by the unspeakable richness of the hope that lies with all its occupants who know that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for sin, so that we may live with Him in glory when our time comes.

Which of these two homes is the real valley of the shadow of death?

Christ has robbed death of its sting for the believer.

The worst thing that death can do for us is really the best thing that can happen to us.

O death, O grave, I do not fear your power; the debt is paid. On Jesus in that dark and dreadful hour, our sins were laid.

One old saint was overheard to say;

I don’t mind the Lord taking down my tent, but I hope He takes it down gently!

(William MacDonald)

Pay attention to the fact that for the believer we walk through the valley.
For the unbeliever, they will remain in the valley.

For the believer, they will fear no evil, because the Shepherd is with them!

The Shepherd’s rod and staff are there for comfort and guidance, and He may use the rod for correction from time to time for our own good.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

We remember that Jesus spread a table for His disciples in the presence of His enemies on the night of His betrayal.
In Luke 22:1-21 we read of the feast of unleavened bread drawing near, and how the chief priests sought how they might kill Jesus. Judas communed with the priests on how to betray Jesus to them.

In V15 we read that Jesus desired to eat the Passover with them before He suffered.

In V21 Jesus says: Behold the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.

With His enemies plotting and scheming from within, and those plotting and scheming without, our Saviour fed and blessed those that were with Him.
He was not deterred by the actions of those who hated Him or those who would have nothing to do with Him.

My cup runneth over.

The story is told of a man who literally kept a daily book account with the Lord. On the one side he put down all he did for God, and on the other side he recorded what the Lord did for him. If a friend helped him and cheered him, he put that down. All favours and mercies were faithfully recorded, day after day. After a few weeks he gave up. It’s no use, he cried out, I cannot get a balance. I am hopelessly in debt.

That is the story of every life. Our cups are overflowing with the goodness of our God!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

• All the past has been goodness.
• All the past has been mercy.
• All the future will be goodness.
• All of this will follow me all the days of my life.
• What a loving God we have!

True Christians have a very deep sense of the absolute Holiness of God and huge respect coupled with fear of the One to whom they will stand before one day, to give an account of their lives. They know they have broken His law and realise the terrible consequences of having done so. That is why they are so grateful that their sins have been forgiven by such a loving God, but until a person has been brought to these convictions, he or she is not ready to become a Christian on the terms offered by the Holy God of the Bible.

Mankind does not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself but because it contradicts them.

Please make a note of the final words of this Psalm:

 We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

 What a wonderful destination we have to look forward to.

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whosoever believes on Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

 What you do with God’s wonderful gift will determine what God will do with you.

THE LORD: HE IS MINE AND I AM HIS.

•  The Lord is my Shepherd. That’s relationship!
• I shall not want. That’s Supply!
• He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. That’s Rest!
• He leadeth me beside still waters. That’s Refreshment!
• He restoreth my soul. That’s Healing!
• He leadeth me in paths of righteousness. That’s Guidance!
• For His name sake. That’s Purpose!
• Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. That’s Testing!
• I will fear no evil. That’s protection!
• For Thou art with me. That’s Faithfulness!
• Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. That’s Discipline!
• Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. That’s Hope!
• Thou anointest my head with oil. That’s Consecration!
• My cup runneth over. That’s Abundance!
• Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. That’s Blessing!
• And I will dwell in the house of the Lord. That’s Security! 
• Forever. That’s eternity!

This post is dedicated to my spiritual Mother, Mrs Virginia Ross, who convincingly lives and walks the Christian life. Her love, encouragement and prayers over many years have helped me beyond measure, for which I am eternally grateful.

Happy Birthday!