Day 7 - Psalm 23
Psalm 23 is one of the most well known Psalms in the Bible! Before David who writes this Psalm became king, he was a shepherd. He understood a shepherd's role, what he did, how he loved, protected and cared for his sheep.
This Psalm is a picture of a shepherd and his sheep. In this picture the Lord is the Shepherd, and David is the sheep.
Verses 1-3 speak of how He provides for us, gives us rest and refreshment, how He leads us and guides us. Why does He do this? The end of verse 3 tells us it is “for His (the Lord’s) name’s sake” it is for God’s glory. It is also to show us and others what an amazing shepherd we have and how much He loves us.
I am sure we have all been through ‘dark valleys’ (v4) in our lives, those tough moments in life, whether it is relationship breakdown, loss of loved ones, sickness or depression, to name just a few, in those moments where is God? Where is our shepherd? He is right there with us, through it all. Our shepherd’s rod and staff comfort us in those times, the word for ‘comfort’ here can also mean repent, to change direction. We can be sure we won’t stay in the dark valley, the Lord our Shepherd will comfort and gently correct and guide us, and He will lead us out!
In verse 5 the picture changes from shepherd and sheep to the King's banquet, the Lord invites us to dine with Him as His special guest, He will honour us above our enemies even though they surround us.
To show how special we are to Him, He anoints our head with oil (oil can also represent the Holy Spirit) and fills our cup to overflowing. Our God is a God of ‘more than enough!’ He lavishes us with Grace and love, and that grace, His goodness and mercy, will follow us all the days of our lives (v6) and even when our days are done, we will live in eternity with our gentle, kind Shepherd King forever!
Think it over / Meditate on
Memorise v6 and let this truth go with you today and every day.
If your going through a hard time, pray and start thanking God that He is with you, and will lead you through it.
Ben
Ben Parsons, Lead Pastor - Sutton Central location