Psalm 23       New Heart English Bible1

 Verse ONE: 
[A Psalm by David.]The LORD is my shepherd; I lack nothing.

Psalm 23 is often, in our culture, used at funerals. It reminds us that God is THEE God of comfort. He cares for his sheep (us). He guides those who love him into peace and rest. When we are lost, he shows us the way, when we ask, and live for him. When we are broken and bruised, he heals us. Jesus, His Son, is our Savior. We need a Savior to forgive us. David, who wrote this, about 1000 B.C., shows us through this sweet passage, that the LORD cares for us, as a shepherd to his sheep. We are, throughout the Bible, spoken of as sheep. We wander, we graze, unknowingly often times into places we shouldn’t go, if He is not leading us. We have the choice as people to ask God to lead us. If we don’t, then he lets us stray and walk until we cry out to him…… baaaaaa…..baaaaaaaa…. Lead me Lord, won’t you lead me.

The stressors of life can bog us down. God is so good to relieve us of that stress, when we allow him to. Ask, and it shall be given, pressed down, shaken together and running over – peace grab it, it’s yours! You need it.  I need it. We need to accept it.

David seemed to have written this with such a sweet calmness, a quiet confidence, most likely as an adult, after many trials he had walked through, which taught him how to trust God completely. God never leaves us. He never waivers. He is with us all the days of our life. He completes us. He guides us. God is in fact our all and all.

Verse one, shows us his graciousness to you and I. He is relational. He did create us after all. We are in covenant with him. Therefore, he takes good care of us. Verse one tells us he has given us all we need. We won’t lack anything we need. He feeds us, guides us through our life, and protects us.  That is provision. Hallelujah! He gives me  – and you – provision to have what we need. Sweet Jesus! We don’t have to achieve or bounce through all kinds of hoops to have Him give us the things we need. Our abilities come from HIM. We don’t have to prove we are worthy, we are not. His grace at the cross cleansed us. We fail in our humanity. Oops we did “it” again!

The Shepherd, is a powerful representation of Jesus – the coming Messiah. Yes! We are awaiting his return, one day for eternity. Maybe we will beat the Second coming of the Lord, but either way, the Shepherd is keeping us safe so we will be in Heaven forever!

We don’t have to do this life alone. God is my resource to show me what to do. He is my friend to hear my conversations – the good, bad and ugly.  He is my shield. He is My Provider. Amen.

The next blog we will continue with the second verse of Psalm 23.

Until then, here is a list of reference scriptures for you to print or download this week. Take time to journal the 23rd Psalm. Ask God to reveal sweet refrains of his love and promises while you journal.  Accept the blessings you have, and the ones to come. If you are in need of something, healing, job, money, wisdom, whatever the need, ask him. He is ready to help you. He loves you so much! 🙂 So do I, my web friend. Rejoice in him, because he sure does rejoice over you!

Psalm 23 Cross Ref Scriptures 2018