Sunday April (26
Notes
Transcript
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 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.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou lanointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Pastor Charles Swindoll provided us with food for thought on this morning as he quoted;
“The matters we or the world might consider trivial, He cares about and wants to remedy. He longs to relieve our worries and has promised to supply our most fundamental needs.”
― Charles R. Swindoll
David uses the most comprehensive and intimate metaphor yet encountered in the Psalms, preferring usually the more distant ‘king’ or ‘deliverer’, or the impersonal ‘rock’, ‘shield’, etc.; whereas the shepherd lives with his flock and is everything to it: guide, physician and protector.
There are some fundamental truths in this text that I just would like to remind you of on today; one fundamental truth that we must remember is that the Shepard provides for the sheep. Literally the Shepard is always with the sheep. The Shepard is the sheeps everything protection, provision it is all depending on the Shepard.
Another reminder in the text is that David uses wording in this text that could disqualify some folk from these blessed benefits. He uses the word “my” this really takes the text to another level because the word my is a personal pronoun. Meaning this truth that David is speaking is most definitively true , however it is Davids personal truth. Suggesting to the thinking Church that God being your provider, your protector, your promoter has to be personal. It would be a completely different conversation if the book said that the Lord is “A” Shepard; that means that anybody would be able to get in this place of provision without a personal stake in the matter. Since there must be a personal involvement in your heart concerning god the reality is the question must be answered what is God to you.
Is he your shield, shelter and your sanctuary or is he the one that you call on when you are in trouble , but when the trouble eases and the storm passes we vear off to our old personality and ways again.
I would imagine that there are some experiences that david encountered that gave him the Holy Boldness to say that the Lord is MY Shepard. Maybe it was the challenges that he faced in the pasture while he was tending sheep, maybe it was the protection that he had while fighting Goliath, Maybe it was the way that God kept him while the king was trying to kill him. Who knows!
But you to have a story: Maybe it was the way that God kept you throughout your misunderstood childhood, maybe it was the way that he protected you, (not just during this corona pandemic) but he been protecting you way before now, and this is not the time to forget what he has already done for you!!
Shadows are only formed when there is an object that stands between you and the light. If David is in the shadow of death it suggests to the reader that there is something that stands in front of David and the Light !!!!