{"id":2699,"date":"2020-05-31T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/?p=2699"},"modified":"2020-06-06T21:27:58","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T04:27:58","slug":"psalm-23-the-lord-is-my-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2020\/05\/31\/psalm-23-the-lord-is-my-shepherd\/","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 23:  The LORD is my Shepherd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sunday Service - Psalm 23:  The LORD is my Shepherd\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AjrAKUBUj7k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Psalm-23-v1-outline.pdf\">Psalm-23-v1-outline<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Psalm-23-v1-outline.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download>Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The 23<sup>rd<\/sup> Psalm is a Psalm of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">comfort<\/span>, a Psalm that celebrates right relationship between God and Man.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the twenty-third psalm, God reveals himself primarily as our <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">shepherd<\/span>.&nbsp; As we <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The relationship that David is talking about here between himself and God is a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">forever <\/span>relationship, that should be getting deeper and more fulfilling for us all of the time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>23&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>The <\/strong><strong>Lord<\/strong><strong> is my shepherd,<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The <\/strong><strong>Lord<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Who is my Shepherd?&nbsp; The capital LORD in your bible tells you that the word used here is Yaweh, the divine name of God.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we read this psalm, we tend to focus on all of the 7 things that the Lord does for <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">us <\/span>that are mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But look how the Psalm begins and ends.&nbsp; The psalm is about <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">God<\/span>, what <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">He <\/span>does.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tone of the 23<sup>rd<\/sup> Psalm is at its heart very <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">personal<\/span>.&nbsp; Up to now in the Psalms, God has been referred to as king, deliverer, or even the impersonal rock or shield, but calling God our shepherd emphasizes the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">relationship <\/span>between God and us.&nbsp; David is thinking about the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">comfort <\/span>and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">care <\/span>that God gives us <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">personally<\/span>. The trust that the sheep place in their shepherd, confident that He will lead them rightly because of who <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">He <\/span>is.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psalm 23 is a song of David proclaiming his <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">confidence <\/span>as one who has lived, having put his trust and faith in God as his Lord, and who will carry this confidence through death and beyond to \u201cdwell in the house of the Lord forever\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who\u2019s shepherd his he?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>My shepherd-<\/strong>-Personal shepherd<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God is only <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">our <\/span>shepherd if <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">we <\/span>are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">His<\/span>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 23<sup>rd<\/sup> Psalm is written from the perspective of the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">sheep<\/span>.&nbsp; King David is giving us a picture of what it\u2019s like to be one of God\u2019s sheep.&nbsp; Psalm 100:2 says <strong>Know that the Lord Himself is God;It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.&nbsp; <\/strong>And again in Psalm 95:7&nbsp; <strong>For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Calling us believers sheep is not so much a complement to us, as it is a picture of the total <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">dependence <\/span>that we have on God as our shepherd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>King David calls himself a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">sheep<\/span>.&nbsp; Sure, he is King over Israel, but he is most fundamentally <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">also <\/span>a sheep, just like all believers, under the care of the Great Shepherd, the Lord.&nbsp; It\u2019s important to remember that first and foremost, we are all fellow brother and sister sheep under the care of our Great Shepherd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See God doesn\u2019t look at things the same way that men do.&nbsp; God looks at the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">heart<\/span>.&nbsp; It\u2019s often the ones that people overlook that God uses and elevates because they\u2019re not going to get prideful and full of themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shepherding sheep was the traditional <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">occupation <\/span>of Israel.&nbsp; It was because the Israelites were shepherds that they came to live in the land of Goshen.&nbsp; As we read in the Exodus of God sending his plagues to the Egyptians, we see over and over, God <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">sparing <\/span>the land of Goshen from the plagues.&nbsp; God made a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">distinction <\/span>between the Israelites and the Egyptians in these plagues, using the separation of the two peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See this lifestyle of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">trusting <\/span>the Lord and letting the Lord be our shepherd is going to be <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">loathsome<\/span>, or <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">hated <\/span>or disgusting to non-believers.&nbsp; This life we have been called to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">separates <\/span>us, just like it separated the Israelites living in Goshen from the Egyptians elsewhere in Egypt.&nbsp; As Christians we are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">consecrated<\/span>, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">set apart<\/span> for service to God.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I shall not [be in] want<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Notice that the LORD is his shepherd <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">now<\/span>\u2014present tense.&nbsp; The Lord is now my shepherd, and notice that David is saying, so I won\u2019t be in want in the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">future<\/span>.&nbsp; It\u2019s a statement of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">trust <\/span>and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">faith <\/span>in God\u2019s power to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">provide<\/span>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">want<\/span>\u201d means a lack of something that is <em><u>needed<\/u>.<\/em>&nbsp; It\u2019s not so much that the LORD will give us everything that we desire. In Psalm 84:11 it says <strong>For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No good thing does God withhold from those who walk uprightly, but many of the things that we <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">desire <\/span>are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">not <\/span>good for us, at least in the way and in the timing that we want to see that desire fulfilled.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>prayer is always answered.&nbsp; Sometimes the answer is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Yes<\/span>, sometimes the answer is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">No<\/span>, and sometimes the answer is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Wait<\/span>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 23rd Psalm is a Psalm of comfort, a Psalm that celebrates right relationship between God and Man.&nbsp; In the twenty-third psalm, God reveals himself primarily as our shepherd.&nbsp; As&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-services"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2295,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2019\/03\/31\/cared-for-by-god-or-cfbg\/","url_meta":{"origin":2699,"position":0},"title":"&#8220;Cared For By God&#8221; or &#8220;CFBG&#8221;","author":"Robert","date":"March 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Psalm 23 Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want. Is God really Lord and Shepherd of YOUR life? When or where do you feel wedged, stuck, or in a tight spot? God RESTORES the WORN out! Psalm 23:2-3 The Lord makes me lie down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1657,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2016\/10\/02\/a-time-of-repentance\/","url_meta":{"origin":2699,"position":1},"title":"A Time of Repentance","author":"Robert","date":"October 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Psalm 32:1-7 Psalm 38:3-4,18,22 Psalm 51:1-12 Psalm 130:1-4 Jeremiah 17:7-10,14 Micah 6:6-8 Matthew 4:17","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2760,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2020\/08\/02\/psalm-236\/","url_meta":{"origin":2699,"position":2},"title":"Psalm 23:6","author":"Robert","date":"August 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/gYr0nqUw5a4 Psalm-23v6-OutlineDownload 6\u00a0Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, Surely God\u2019s blessings are something that He can count on and have confidence in.\u00a0 The only conclusion, based on who God is, and David\u2019s personal relationship with Him, that David could come to, is that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/gYr0nqUw5a4\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2710,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2020\/06\/14\/psalm-233-follow-your-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":2699,"position":3},"title":"Psalm 23:3-Follow your Guide.","author":"Robert","date":"June 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yMC5R86st8o Psalm-23-outline-v3Download He restores my Soul.\u00a0 He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name\u2019s sake. He restores my soul In Psalms 43:5, David cries out during one of these times Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/yMC5R86st8o\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2730,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2020\/07\/05\/psalm-234-your-rod-and-your-staff-they-comfort-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":2699,"position":4},"title":"Psalm 23:4 Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.","author":"Robert","date":"July 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/zba1VMImODg Psalm-23v4part2-outlineDownload When shepherds were out in the field, they typically carried a rod and staff.\u00a0 Your rod Protection One of the primary purposes of the shepherd\u2019s rod was for protection.\u00a0 The rod was a branch with a knob on one end which was used like a club or to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/zba1VMImODg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1367,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2015\/10\/04\/the-admission-plan\/","url_meta":{"origin":2699,"position":5},"title":"The Admission Plan","author":"Robert","date":"October 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On a separate piece of paper write down the responses to the following prompts as if you were confessing your sins to God and asking Him to forgive you. Don't be in a hurry to finish, but brutally examine each area with all honesty and with the Spirit's strength You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}