weekly sermon

                        10-26-08

The True Walk!

Last week I touched on several passages of scripture that talked about walking in the Son. God really moved me, when I was preparing that particular message, to talk about one passage of scripture in more depth.

This beautiful Psalm is one that I learned as a child. I was directed by my great grandmother to learn this passage to memory. At the time that I learned it, I had no clue what it really meant. The more I grew in my adult walk with Christ, the more I began to see what those words really meant. One can not read this particular Psalm without being moved in a direction that would make their lives a much better way of life than they could possibly imagine. I try in every possible way every single day to live by the instructions that are given in this set of verses.

There will be a small bit of scripture to read since we will be discussing a complete chapter of this book of the Bible. For a little background first I want to talk about the author. This passage was written by a man named David. He is well known in Bible reading as the young boy that slew Goliath with a stone, he was a great musician, great poet, commander of armies, adulterer, eventually King, and writer of many of the scriptures in the book of Psalms. With that being said let us dive right into this exceptional message.

Psalms 23:1-6 "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 anointest 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."

There are many things here that I want us to take a look at in this scripture. That the Lord is our shepherd, that we lie down in green pastures, that we are lead beside still waters, that our soul is restored, that we are led in righteous paths, that we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that we will fear no evil, that rods and staffs comfort us, that we have a table of food, that our head is anointed, that our cup runneth over, that goodness and mercy follows us, and that we will dwell in the house of the Lord.

The Lord is our shepherd. What does this really mean? I have touched on this in the past. We are as sheep wondering in a vast meadow [earth] with a shepherd that watches over us. If you know anything about the life of a shepherd, they eat, drink, and sleep protecting their flock. They will do everything they can, even giving their life, to protect their flock. This should really say something to us. This Psalm was written around 1000 B.C., meaning Jesus was not even born, yet it was known that eventually THE Shepherd would come and actually give His life for His flock. Jesus came as the Lamb of God and shed His blood to save the souls of man.

God makes us lie down in green pastures. This plush green pasture was to give the sheep a place to have great rest. It is saying here that God gives us a zone that is comfortable to us where we can find complete rest. This is our comfort zone.

God leads us beside still waters. Here we notice that first, we have water to refresh ourselves, and also that this water is still. What does this really mean for us? The waters are not troubled. We have a place that is still and serene where we can, first rest, and also refresh ourselves. This is a true peace of mind.

God restores our souls. We have a shepherd that watches over us, a comfortable plush pasture for great rest, and calm still waters that allow us refreshment. During this time of rest and refreshment and peace of mind it gives us time to reflect on the paths we should be taking to be in the graces of God. These paths restore our souls in the eyes of God.

If we look at those paths, they should be for the name sake of God. If we keep this in mind then we would not stumble, fall, or go astray. Many folks that backslide in their faith with Christ forget this one thing. They stray from the paths that are for His name's sake and take their eyes off the true work that God has called us here to do.

As I stated last week, we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Let us also remember what was taught last week, that we do not stop or set up life in this valley. We walk all the way through it, to the other side where death can not rule.

We fear no evil because we have a shepherd that will do everything in his power to protect us even if it means giving up his own life. I recall here of the old road runner cartoons where the coyote tried to steal sheep. There was a dog that clocked in for his shift to guard this flock. The dog did everything he could to protect this flock from the coyote. Of course it was made comical but it also showed how the protection and guidance was given to this flock. The dog would punish the coyote and also steer the sheep in a direction that was best for their safety.

If you have ever seen this cartoon that I am speaking about, you would have noticed that the dog actually had a rod and staff. He would use that rod to beat on the coyote and guide the sheep in the right direction. He would use the staff to take the enemy away from the flock so the rod could be applied. Here we see that God, as our Shepherd, uses the rod to ward off our enemies and at times uses it on us to keep us in line.

It says that God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. This is a two fold statement. First that we a very well fed. We have a table of food for us at all times, even in the presence of our enemies. It also shows our enemies what type of God we have, that prepares our nourishment for us, that we may be well fed.

God anoints our head because in those days the anointing was a ritual performed at royal engagements. Even though He is considered our Shepherd and us as His sheep, He still treats us as one of the royalty. God has never came to diminish us, but to make us joint heirs to the throne with the one and only Christ Jesus.

Next it says our cup runneth over. Not only do we have a table of food prepared for us and treated like royalty, but we are also given so much that our cup runneth over. God here not only fills our needs, but there is also enough to over fill our wants. This over fill of our needs is our wants. We are not talking about just getting by here, we are talking about getting the things that we want also.

It then states that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. The goodness that God gives and the mercy of God Himself are available to us at all times. Are we really prepared to accept this goodness and mercy? This is just a matter of acceptance. If you really need or want something, you just have to accept what God has to offer. More often than not, what God has to offer is much better than what we could have come up with on our own.

Lastly it states that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If we could really understand what this passage of scripture is saying, then we would have no trouble entering the gates of Heaven and living with God forever and ever.

The author of this Psalm, David, was not only the things I stated above, but he was also a murderer. When he became the adulterer he had the husband, of the female he was lusting after, killed. He did great works but also performed great sin and still he was denoted as a man after God's own heart. This statement was made by God himself.

The reason that David could be denoted as this in the eyes of God was due to the fact that he lived by the lines that God penned, through him, in this scripture. If you can kill your worldly mind and start to truly have faith and believe every one of these promises, by God, then you can live a life of pure pleasure, given to you by God Himself.

Have you ever been in a place of total comfort and rest, refreshed, completely fed mentally as well as physically, protected fully, anointed as royalty, given so much you could not hold it all, and had such mercy given to you that you could know beyond a shadow of doubt that your soul would live forever in place of greatness?

If you have looked at your life and you can not answer yes to ever single question that I have asked, then you do not yet truly know the love and power of our Saviour.

Let me take this opportunity to introduce you to a Shepherd that wants you to have all these things if you will just follow Him. His name is Jesus Christ. The only way to get to the Father is through the saving grace of Christ Jesus. The only way to do this is through a simple prayer. If you find this life one that you would like to have then all you have to do is say the simple little prayer.

Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.

If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.
 

With Love in Christ,

Pastor Stone