Psalm 23---Your every need is met when you trust in God's provisions

Psalm 23:1-6 (NLV)

The Lord is my Shepherd. I will have everything I need. He lets me rest in fields of green grass. He leads me beside the quiet waters. He makes me strong again. He leads me in the way of living right with Himself which brings honor to His name. Yes, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of anything, because You are with me. You have a walking stick with which to guide and one with which to help. These comfort me. You are making a table of food ready for me in front of those who hate me. You have poured oil on my head. I have everything I need. For sure, You will give me goodness and loving-kindness all the days of my life. Then I will live with You in Your house forever.

In one of the final scenes of the 1989 TV miniseries entitled “War and Remembrance” the British actor, John Gielgud plays a Jewish professor who is sent to the gas chamber at one of the German concentration camps.  As the victims are shoved into the chamber and everyone is screaming (a very unsettling scene) the camera focuses on this professor who starts praying the 23^rd Psalm.  As terrifying as this scene was to see someone about to die, the reciting of the 23^rd Psalm (from a voice of a Shakespearean award-winning actor) left an indelible remembrance for me.  It made me believe that were I in a situation where I knew that I was going to die, I would want to recite the 23^rd Psalm.  Recall that the 23^rd Psalm (along with the Lord’s Prayer) was also prayed by the flight 93 passenger, Todd Beamer, with a GTE operator before his death.

Why is Psalm 23 such an important, memorable psalm?  Why was Psalm 23 the only Bible passage recited by public school children in the 1950s and 1960s before this practice was banned?  What is so good about these 6 verses?

I think a primary reason is because of all the primary emotions of life that it addresses.  So many real and potential needs of our lives are addressed in these few verses.  Our lives are filled with real and potential fear, worry, stress, discouragement, confusion, loneliness, danger, weakness, emptiness and so many other challenges.  Note how this Psalm addresses the following needs*:

-- the need for rest                       He makes me lie down in green pastures

-- the need for peace                    He leads me beside quiet waters

-- the need for encouragement      He restores my soul

-- the need for guidance                He guides me in the paths of righteousness

-- the need for courage                 I fear no evil

-- the need for companionship       Thou art with me

-- the need for comfort                 Thy rod and staff comfort me

-- the need for protection             Thou prepares a table before my enemies

-- the need for strength/healing    My head anointed with oil

-- the need for provision                My cup overflows

-- the need for God’s presence      Goodness and mercy follow me

-- the need for security                 I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever

-- all other needs                          I shall not want

Do you believe what these verses claim?  Do you believe that God is your faithful shepherd?  Do you believe that no matter what your problem in life is, God is there to help you?  Do you see better why this Psalm is the most beloved Psalm and perhaps most beloved 6 verses of Scripture in the entire Word of God?  Be sure that you have this Psalm memorized and use it often to benefit your soul as you face problems and challenges of your life.

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* I have this list written in my Bible, but could not find the source, 

even after checking the internet.

Wisdom throughout your body

Proverbs 4:20-27 (GWT)

My son, pay attention to my words.  Open your ears to what I say.  Do not lose sight of these things.  Keep them deep within your heart because they are life to those who find them and they heal the whole body.  Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.  Remove dishonesty from your mouth.  Put deceptive speech far away from your lips.  Let your eyes look straight ahead and your sight be focused in front of you.  Carefully walk a straight path, and all your ways will be secure.  Do not lean to the right or to the left.  Walk away from evil.

While Solomon wrote these words of wisdom to his son, we should consider these direct words of wisdom from the Lord to us.  Whoever is reading this, cross out “My son” and insert your name.  Now note all the references to parts of your body—your ears, eyes, heart, mouth, lips, and legs.  While these words of wisdom refer to your physical actions, they more deeply refer to your spiritual actions.

Ears:  Ears refer to the ability to hear.  However, many people (including me) cannot hear well or at all.  Biblically, ears also refer to understanding and acting upon what you hear.  Many times Jesus spoke the phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear” (e.g. Matthew 13:9 and 43, Luke 14:35, Revelation 2:7, at least 12 other verses).  What He meant by this phrase was something to the effect, “I know that what I am teaching to you is difficult and you might resist My teaching because it will require some changes in your life, but don’t ignore Me.  Listen carefully to what I am teaching, think carefully to understand what I am teaching, and act on what I am asking you to do or be.  Don’t forget.”

Eyes:  Wrong use of your eyes can cause all kinds of serious sin.  For men, it’s primarily sexual immorality.  For women, it might be covetousness or envy.  Eyes looking straight ahead have several important implications---being truthful (eyes glancing sideways suggest lying/deceiving), not comparing yourself to others (leading either to prideful superiority or jealous inferiority), being obedient to God’s Word, and always moving forward with your life and goals, not being sidetracked. 

Heart:  Proverbs 4:23 defines your heart as the source of your life.  You are to guard it more than anything else because what is in your heart dictates what your life is like.   Easton’s Bible Dictionary[1] defines your heart as the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life, the home of the personal life, and the seat of the conscience.  The heart is naturally wicked (Genesis 8:21, Ecclesiastes 8:11) and must be changed before you can obey the Lord (Psalm 51:10-14).

Mouth/Lips:  The commandment here is to be truthful, don’t lie and don’t deceive.  Yet lying and deceiving are natural consequences of a life without God and, unfortunately, may continue after becoming a Christian.  Lying and deceiving are done to save face, to shift blame, to protect others from knowing the truth, to get your own way, to get out of doing something and many other reasons.  What is the underlying reason for lying and deceiving---human pride---the number one cause of sin and the main source of evil.      

Legs:  Like the proper use of your eyes, you are to use your legs to walk a straight path; that is, to walk away from evil and walk toward obedience to the Lord.  Make a fist in front of your eyes.  Your fist represents sin.   Sin is always there.  The unbeliever always walks toward the fist; the believer always tries to walk away from it.  Sin, represented by the fist, is always around, but it’s our attitude and actions in confronting it.  You are to walk to straight path, not wavering left or right.  Funny how I think of the Johnny Cash song “Walk the Line” where the first stanza words have a lot in common with this passage from Proverbs: “I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.  I keep my eyes wide open all the time.”

Pay attention to what the Lord is speaking to you through His words right now.  What part(s) of your life need to be changed?  Ask Him for forgiveness and a fresh start and a new resolve to use your ears, eyes, heart, mouth, and legs according to His will, not yours.   

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[1] http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/eastons-bible-dictionary/heart.html

You cannot love God if you do not love others

I John 4:20 (TEV)

If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen.

Pretty strong language here.  How would you like to hear the Lord call you a liar?  You don’t like anyone calling you a liar, much less your Creator.  But, His Word here clearly states that you are a liar if you have hate for anyone else while claiming to love God.  What does “hate” mean? 

Earlier in this letter, John wrote “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer has eternal life in him” (I John 3:15).  So the word “hate”, according to I John, means to murder.  Jesus made it clear in Matthew 5:21-24 that even to call someone a bad name is the same as murdering that someone.  So these verses clearly reveal God’s attitude when a person hates another person. 

Think about this……..if God was willing in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for all humankind, He was not differentiating amongst people, both nice people and not-so-nice people.  He was showing His love to all people as He declared in John 3:16.  So if you say that you believe in God and in His Son, you absolutely cannot hate anyone.  If you do, then you cannot love.  It is impossible to love and hate at the same time.  As a Christian who has taken advantage of God’s love for you and has the love of God in your heart, you are expected to love others and cannot hate anyone. 

This does not mean that you need to like what every one says or does, but you are to love others, especially another brother or sister in Christ, because you are a disciple of Christ and Christ loves them.     

There’s this story of a Christian couple whose son died in the Vietnam War by falling on a grenade and saving another soldier’s life.  Some kind of reunion was planned where this couple was able to meet the soldier.  He showed up drunk, was very profane and showed little gratitude for this couple’s son.  As the drunken man was escorted out of the room, the couple looked at one another and one of them said, “How could our son have died to save a “thing” like that?”  Yet isn’t this exactly what God did through His Son for all people, some (perhaps many or all) of whom might be called “things”?  Such is the love of God for all people.  It is this kind of love that His believers must follow and exemplify too.   

Is there someone in your life that you would admit that you hate, but in light of what you have just read, can you ask the Lord to help you overcome your hatred and begin to love that person because of the love of God in you? 

Perfect peace.....

Isaiah 26:3 (NASB)

The steadfast in mind Thou will give perfect peace because he trusts in Thee.

 

The Navigators Topical Memory System uses this verse as the primary verse on peace to memorize.  Three questions to think about from this passage:

·  Who is the “steadfast in mind”?

·  What is “perfect peace”?

·  What is “trusts in Thee”?

What comes to your mind when you think of “steadfast”?  Who comes to mind when you think of those you know who exhibit steadfastness?  The Amplified Bible uses the phrase “mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You” to describe the steadfast in mind.  It is a mind that stands on the Word of God, not on its own nature that is inherently unstable.  The steadfast in mind is a person who has accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord through whom our very nature has been changed (II Corinthians 5:17).  Steadfastness is NOT rigidity or narrowness or inflexibility.  It is remaining true to the teachings of Scripture and having faith and trust in God.  For other Biblical teaching about being steadfast of mind and heart, look up Psalm 57:7, I Corinthians 15:58, and Hebrews 6:19).

Perfect peace means peace originating from God through Christ.  The Hebrew word “perfect” means “full” or “complete”.  Jesus used the same meaning of the word in Matthew 5:48 “You are to be perfect (complete) just as your Father in heaven is perfect”.  Perfect peace is complete, there’s nothing more that you can do to add to it and such peace is all you need. 

Who receives perfect peace?  The steadfast in mind.  Why?  Because the steadfast in mind trusts in God.  He trusts that God knows best, that His Word is perfect, and that He is in control of all things.  Our finite minds, senses, and experiences cannot see God and all that He does, but we believe in His Word and trust that it is true.  Who might you know who exhibits this kind of trust, this kind of steadfastness?  Realize that to others you can serve as this example.  

St. Francis of Assisi is commonly credited, although his authorship cannot be proven, with this wonderful and well-known quote that summarizes the meaning of a steadfast mind having perfect peace:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Meditate on these words and enjoy the perfect peace of God Almighty in your life forever.