This
is a Psalm of Trust, words that express our implicit trust in God, in God's
goodness, God's provision, God's care for us. It speaks truth about how God has
been there for us in good times and can be trusted to be there for us in the bad.
Because we know God is there for us when all is well, we can rest assured, God
will be there for us when all is not. It
is a set of simple declarative statements, using simple but meaningful language
to speak truth concerning our relationship with God. So simple that we
encourage our children to memorize it, but so profound that they are often the
words repeated during times of deepest trial and in our greatest need.
“The Lord is my shepherd,”
The Lord – the God of the universe; the
one who spoke and all things into existence; the one whom without, we would not
live; the one who spoke the universe into existence and who reached down in to
the dust of creation and formed humanity. The Lord God is my shepherd, your
shepherd, our shepherd and we are
God's sheep. The shepherd lovingly takes
care of each of us; watches over and looks after us. God loves me; God love you; God loves
us.
As sheep of God, we belong to God, are
God's own.
We are sheep.
Compared to the God, who spoke the universe into existence our wisdom is that
of an animal; animals who can far too easily and far too often blindly wander
into trouble. We cannot see the whole
picture. We do not understand things
bigger or greater than our limited world. There are things beyond our
understanding. We are sheep in need of
being looked after and taken care of. We
need to have the God of the universe to watch over us. We need God to guide and direct us; to show
us the way.
We need to allow God to do this. To
be a sheep of the good shepherd is a choice; the right choice, the only good
choice, but it is our choice. But our ability
to understand does not change no matter what our choice.
To be a sheep we first need to see
ourselves for who we really are. We may
feel that we are wise, we may see ourselves as having understanding and
foresight, but in reality, compared to the most wondrous God of the universe we
are but lowly animals in need of being tended, provided for and taken care of.
Far be it from you or I, who are but
sheep, to turn to the shepherd and tell him that I know better than he does,
that I understand the way things work and that I should lead myself, that I
don’t need him to take care of me. For
if we did that, it would be our downfall.
We would end up lost and alone on a ledge looking down into the deep
abyss, with no way out and no one to turn to for help.
“I
shall not want.”
With the Lord of the universe taking care
of me, taking care of you, God gives us what we need. There is nothing that I should want, that you
should need that is not provided for us.
Everything that truly matters in life is given to us by God. We should not complain that we do not have,
or that we are not given all that we ask for. We are not a spoiled children who
get everything that we desire; who receive all that we see; who has a new toy,
a new gadget; a new pleasure everyday and quickly tires of it and tosses it
aside to join an ever growing pile of un-used, un-needed junk. God does not fill our lives with useless
junk. The Lord, the God of the universe
knows what each of us needs spiritually, emotionally, physically to be the
person we are called be and God is sure to provide those things. I shall not
want. You shall not want. There is no wanting with God
“He
makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he
restores my soul.”
When we realize our place in this world
and know who is taking care of us and trust God to take care of us, we can sit
back and look around us and see all the good things God has provided for each
of us. There is a roof over our heads,
there is food on the table. We have
cloths. Our houses are full of many things.
We can look to God and thank God for all the good things in our
lives. We can know that all the beauty;
all the goodness; all that is wonderful in our lives is there because of
God. Because we have learned to trust,
and allow God to take care of us, our lives can be at peace. We do not need to worry. We can trust God. God is trustworthy. My life is in God's hands, as is yours; our
future belongs to God; we can rely on God and know that it is God who gives
peace. We are comforted by this and know
that as long as we trust in God, as long as we rely on God, as long as we allow
God to lead and to guide is, all will be well.
“He leads me in right paths for his name’s
sake.”
When we rely on God, God guides and
directs each of us daily. God leads and
teaches us the ways of God. God shows
the way in which we should live. God
teaches us right from wrong. God guides
our steps and helps us up when we stumble and fall. God is our dearest friend and our most learn-ed
teacher. If we follow God, if we allow
God to instruct and to guide us, we will daily become more and more like
God. We will walk in the ways that reflect
God's glory in our meager lives. If we
follow God, the world around us will see God's goodness, God's beauty, God's
righteousness in me, in you, in us. In
essence, as we allow God to guide and direct us and show each of us how to live
our lives, the world will see God in all we do, all we say and in who each of
are. That is truly amazing.
“Even
though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear not evil; for you are
with me. For your rod and your staff –
they comfort me.”
Even when we allow God to guide and direct
us, even though we know we can trust God to take care of us and give us what we
need, God does not promise that living in this dark and sinful world, that the
darkness and sinfulness will not surround us and feel overwhelming at
times. God does not promise that
everyone we meet will treat us as God has called us all to treat one
another. God does not promise that bad
things will not happen to me or you, or to any one we hold dear.
There is darkness in this world. There is sin in this world. There are those who rebel against the
shepherd, who do not desire to allow him to lead them and direct them. The sin in the world can hurt and cause
pain. The darkness in the world can
surround and those that choose to turn from the master can bring harm. This is not fair. It is not good. It is not what God desires for any of
us.
God does not promise that we will not be
hurt by the darkness, but God does promise that God will be with us. God will walk beside us when life is
hard. God will be a comfort to us when
our hearts are ripped from us. God will
give strength at all times, in all life's hardships. God will hold us as a mother holds a small
frightened child, and will comfort us.
God is there for us, and we can know that we are able to face any trial,
we can withstand even the greatest blow when we have the Lord God, the creator
of the universe, at our side to help, to guide and to make sure that we will
make it through. We will not be crushed
because we know, we will not be abandoned.
“You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies;”
Even when we stand before those who wish
harm, as we face the darkness and the sinfulness of this world, God not only
stands with us, but is as our protector and our guide. God shows God's face to the world and
declares that we belong to God. God
endorses us. God sets a place at God's
own table for each of us and feeds us, so that all those, all that which wishes
us harm, will know the Lord the God of the universe stands behind us. Not only does God quietly keep and take care
of is; not only does God stand with us when all things have turned against us,
but God stands there boldly, with arms crossed and says, “If you mess with this
one, you mess with me.” God will fight
for us. God makes it known to all the
world that it is God who is our strength, it is God who is our refuge, it is
God who is with us and helps us make it through. Our God will stand up for us.
“You
anoint my head with oil; my cup over flows.”
In the ancient world, oil is a sign of
newness, of cleanliness and of healing.
Our God, our shepherd, the one who created the universe, the one who
takes care of us, refreshes us, cleanses us, makes us new and heals us when we
are broken. God makes sure we have
enough and enough to share. God is there
to guide and protect, to renew and to restore.
God knows when we are broken, when we hurt, and when we are in pain, and
tends to our wounds. When we are to die
of lack of water, God fills our cup and then gives us more. God is not content to just let us to make it
by. God will bring us back to health.
God will make us whole, and give us enough to share with those around,
so they can see God's goodness in us
and know God can and will also take care of them.
“Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,”
The Lord God is good and is full of
mercy. We have turned from God time and
time again. We have disobeyed. We have wronged God in so many ways. We do not deserve Gods love. We do not deserve God's care. We do not deserve God's protection. God gives us all this and more, anyway. God shows mercy to each of us, when anyone
else would condemn us for our faults and our misdeeds, throw us away as if we
were worthless, but instead God fills our lives with mercy and goodness. There is so much that surrounds us that we do
not deserve, there is so much beauty in our lives. There is so much we can see that God has
given to us and has done for us that are only in our lives, or a part of our
lives because God does not give us what we deserve, but gives us better than we
deserve. We deserve death, but God gives life.
We deserve punishment but God gives protection. We deserve to be abandoned, for that is what
we have all too often done, but God is continually there for us. God's mercy and goodness are a vast ocean
with which God fills our lives and we know that like God's love and care will
always be with us, even to the end of our days.
“And I shall dwell in the house of the
Lord my whole life long.”
The house of the Lord is God's temple, the
place where we all go to worship and praise God. Because of all God has done; because of all
God is doing; because of all that God will do for us, we do not desire to only
praise and worship God once in a while; one day a week or at certain designated
times, but we want to dwell in God's house all day, everyday. We want our whole lives to be filled with praise
for God. We want to worship God from the
moment we rise in the morning to the moment we rest at night. Even then we want to continue to worship, in
our dreams. We want to dwell in a place
of worship. We want to live a life
filled with praise. We will live giving
God the glory and with our last breath we will tell of God's greatness. For the Lord the God of the universe takes
care of us, watches over us and guides us.
God is our shepherd, all the days of our lives.
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