A Psalm Of David (Psalm 23)

(the Lord is our Shepherd.)

This, I believe is probably one of the most well known passages in the bible and probably the most well-known passage in the Book of Psalms. Let me give you a hint. "The Lord is my Shepard...". Yes. That's it. Psalm 23 is the passage we are looking into today.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
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 goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

psalm23

This passage is only made up of six verses, but each verse is pretty long. Let's take a look at each verse, separately.

VERSE ONE.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

It says that our Lord, our God is our Shepherd. So what is a shepherd? Well, these people are to look over the sheep or lamb. Lamb and sheep are usually somewhat, stubborn creatures. As you see sometimes, they run off everywhere and get lost all the time. So if GOD is OUR Shepherd, what are we? We are the sheep. The stubborn creatures that run around and get into trouble. Is that true about us? YES. We as "sheep", we...

~ run off to other roads we are not intended to be on.
(ex. do not follow God's commands, lured into temptations)
~ get lost and may possibly move away from God.
(ex. fall away from God through sin)

That's why we need a "shepherd" to look over us. And who is our shepherd? God. And he is an AMAZING shepherd as well. Why? Verse 2 shows us.

VERSE TWO
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

He, "God" makes me lie in green pastures. Well, God doesnt REALLY make us lie down on grass, but what this means is that he gives the best for each and everyone on of us. In the verse, it mentions "GREEN" as well. Would God let us lie in "yellow" pastures? Not. He gives us GREEN grass, or whatever crops/plants there are. Sheep EAT grass so, God gives us this. This also shows that God PROVIDES for us.

The second half of the second verse says that he LEADS us by quiet waters. The word "LEAD" is used. This shows that we should FOLLOW our LEADER (God). I, personally am not sure what "quiet waters" represent, but I think it can demostrate that God leads us through and by peaceful places. He leads us to PEACE and his Grace. What else does this wonderful God do? Its continues in verse 3.

VERSE THREE
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Here, I can say that David is being more... relevant to "humans". God restores our souls. God guides us to righteousness. If we ask our Lord for forgiveness, he will generously give it to us and he will restore our soul. Take away the sinful things we have done, and wipe our slates clean. He guides us as well. How? Through the GOSPEL. The BIBLE. As I have been told before, an acroymn for BIBLE is... Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. And, it is true. Everything in the Bible teaches us right from wrong, and if we follow his commands, we will become more like God and be righteous people.

VERSE FOUR
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

This is a longer verse, but it has a LOT of meaning and gives relief. Throughout the verse it talks about God's presence and fearing no sin or evil. Even if we walk in the SHADOW OR DEATH, which can mean temptations, trials, sin, lures, We will fear NO EVIL. Why? Because you are with me you rod and staff comfort me. The "rod" and "staff" can represent many things such as, prayer, or the bible, or pastors as well. They are sent and used by God and ourselves so we can be comforted and so we can fear no evil. This verse is a very relieving verse. It gives you comfort and it reminds you that no matter what goes on in life, God is with you and you have NOTHING to be afriad of.

VERSE FIVE
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Here, it tells us that God has prepared a table for you. In heaven God has already reserved a spot for you as long as you have believed and your name is in the book of life. If you believe, you have a table prepared for you and have given you salvation. In the past, and possible nowadays as well, when you "anoint someone's head with oil" you are usually blessing them. Well, in this verse that is EXACTLY what it means. God blesses us with many things. Food, water, shelther, friends, family, EVERYTHING we have is a blessing from God. Because you have some many blessings, your cup overflows, not with water or a drink, but from the overfilling amount of blessings God has blessed us with. We should learn to spread and give those blessings to others as well.

VERSE SIX

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Love and goodness with follow us because we have God and he blesses us forever until the day we leave the earth to join with God. Because we are believers of Christ and we love and obey him, we will dwell with God forever. The house of God is the CHURCH, but it can also represent God. We must learn to abide in him FOREVER. Follow his commands, fulfill his purpose for us in life, and follow God. If we abide in God, he will abide in us (John 15:1-17).

~~~
Conclusions/Things to take away:

1. GOD IS OUR LEADER, WE MUST FOLLOW HIM. -verse one-
2. GOD PROVIDES US WITH THE BEST THINGS. -verse two-
3. GOD GUIDES US AND WILL FORGIVE US. -verse three-
4. GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US. FEAR NO EVIL. -verse four-
5. GOD HAS RESERVED YOU IN HEAVEN IF YOU BELIEVE. -verse five-
6. GOD WANTS YOU TO FOLLOW HIM AND ABIDE IN HIM FOREVER. -verse six-

SUB it,
Smij Nahc † [God is with you. ALWAYS.]
God Bless You ♥