May we live in the daily enjoyment of this blessing, receiving a fresh anointing for every days duties. David wrote about this in Psalm 25. The word Psalms alludes to a $10.00 USD. [12] Must admit that I have been dealing with a few trials lately and when I read this verse it kind of caught me by surprise! Daily devotional with John Piper. We have the supports and comforts of this life from God's good hand, our daily bread from him as our Father. Let us stick close to Him and thank Him for His wonderful grace. iv. As you survey your life, what path has God led and guided you through? (2.) You may be in a dark place but you must keep walking. Published by Thomas Nelson, 2005. [4]. c. I will fear no evil: Despite every dark association with the idea of the valley of the shadow of death, David could resolutely say this because he was under the care of the LORD his shepherd. 2. The promises are for those who have been born again not those who simply like the sound of it for a funeral! To call God a shepherd is to acknowledge His sovereignty over their lives and submit to His will. Ethan Collins November 17, 2020, Psalm 23 is undoubtedly one of the most well-known passages in Scripture. Heb 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, Psalm 2 Bible Study The Current Rebellion & The Coming King, Psalm 8 Bible Study The wonder of God and the second man, Psalm 16 Part 1: Testing's in the journey through life and death, Psalm 16 Part 2 - Hope in the journey through life and death, Psalm 22 Part 1 - Prophecy of the crucifixion and the wrath of man. Maybe this verse should have read 'though I close my eyes and sprint through the valley of the shadow of death' This verse speaks to us of the trying times in our lives where there is darkness, confusion and fear. Everyone loves this Psalm. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.. WebThe MacArthur New Testament Commentary is now completethirty-three volumes that take you through the whole New Testament, detail by detail, verse by verse. There are no halfway measures when it comes to the Lords provision for our lives. He had the honour of being King over all Israel, yet seen the lows of having his own son, Absalom, rise up against him and take the throne. Alex is a family man and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. 'What happened exactly to me in the dream?' 19 (Dallas: Word Books, 1983), Hartley, J.E., in Bromiley, Geoffrey (General Editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume Three: K-P Revised (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986), Keller, W. Phillip, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970, 2007, 2015), Kidner, Derek, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms 1-72, Vol. ii. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me (v. 4c). Instead of speaking about his Shepherd, David speaks to Him. He rammed it home so much that come lunch time we were saying 'I WILL eat my lunch', 'I will EAT my lunch.' A servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the son abideth ever. While I am here I will be a child at home with my God; the whole world shall be his house to me; and when I ascend into the upper chamber, I shall not change my company, nor even change the house; I shall only go to dwell in the upper story of the house of the Lord forever. He is their shepherd, and they may call him so. Those that would be satisfied with the fatness of God's house must keep close to the duties of it. 45 ratings The MacArthur study Bible - John MacArthur. 4 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996), Waltner, James H., Believers Church Bible Commentary: Psalms (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 2006, Baker, Warren (ed. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. [1] As I mentioned, this is one famous Psalm. i. 'My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. He is the source of life and a great provider. To eat at the Kings table in the presence of your enemies would show your enemies that the king holds you in high regard, and would demonstrate their powerlessness to hurt you. The wonder of wonders is that through the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives we can actually go through these times without fear! Taking the Lord's Supper in an Unworthy Manner. In this he had certainly an eye, not only to the blessings of God's providence, which made his outward condition prosperous, but to the communications of God's grace, received by a lively faith, and returned in a warm devotion, which filled his soul with joy unspeakable. It is the valley of the shadow, deep indeed, and dark, and dirty; but the valleys are fruitful, and so is death itself fruitful of comforts to God's people. Because the sheep have this tendency to wander and get lost, a shepherd must always guide them in the right direction. There is something about people who truly know their God. Many a time we should have fainted unless we had believed; and it was the good shepherd that kept us from fainting. I'll close with this for is gives a great summary of the wonderful provision of God as outlined in this Psalm. i. 1 Samuel 17:35), and the latter for control since discipline is security., iii. This gives us amazing confidence when we need it most. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. Are we blessed with the green pastures of the ordinances? Welcome to FaithGiant, where you can find everything you need to live a life of faith, hope, and love. Note, A child of God may meet the messengers of death, and receive its summons with a holy security and serenity of mind. Gods shepherding care from the previous verse brought restoration to Davids soul. Though God may suffer his people to fall into sin, he will not suffer them to lie still in it. Hence he infers that he should want no good (ver 1), that he needed to fear no evil (ver 4), that God would never leave nor forsake him in a way of mercy; and therefore he resolves never to leave nor forsake God in a way of duty, ver 6. Pastor John MacArthur | The MacArthur Commentaries Grace to You. But the confidence David had is that the great shepherd will always know what we need and when to provide it. Now David wasn't saying here that 'the Lord is my Shepherd, whom I do not want'! i. Observe, (1.) I recently did a study on this psalm for a home group church meeting. Regardless of destitution, famine, storms, and other uncertainties, Gods flock is well-provided for in all seasons. He is a great leader who leads people to righteous living. We do not die, we do but sleep to wake in glory. The sucking child may play upon the hole of this asp; and the weaned child, that, through grace, is weaned from this world, may put his hand upon this cockatrice's den, bidding a holy defiance to death, as Paul, O death! Psalm 23 distinctively stands out compared to other chapters in the Book of Psalms and receives a larger magnitude of respect. III. Then from the pulpit you would hear the same person say that if you didn't do this, this, and this you could lose your salvation or the Holy Spirit would leave you etc. When a soldier is in the presence of his enemies, if he eats at all he snatches a hasty meal, and away he hastens to the fight. Psalm 23:4 I will fear no evil, for you are with me, There is a switch here from 'He' to 'You'. But mostly, they were comforting because they were in the hands of a caring shepherd. How much would you have had in your cup? (Spurgeon), ii. All rights reserved. David wrote Psalm 23 based on his experiences with God. Or a psalm concerning the Messiah that has its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. I. And I will dwell in the house of the LORD It is a psalm which has been sung by good Christians, and will be while the world stands, with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction. Here is a prospect of the perfection of bliss in the future state. When, after one sin, David's heart smote him, and, after another, Nathan was sent to tell him, Thou art the man, God restored his soul. God wasnt just a shepherd to others in a theoretical sense, but He was Davids shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.. God was the one providing for him, God was the one anointing his head with oil (which was what gracious hosts did for their guests in Israel) so he knew that he would have more than enough! Psalm 23 is a song of gratitude that tells Davids relationship with God as his shepherd. The Kings crown, Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 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. i. With no one to turn to, we develop true and steadfast love and trust in the Lord. It's not somewhere that you set up camp thinking that is all you will ever know. From his performing the office of a good shepherd to him he infers that he needs not fear any evil in the greatest dangers and difficulties he could be in, v. 2-4. What is also interesting, even before we get into the actual verses, is that this Psalm is part two of what we could call a Messianic trilogy. He does not say there shall not be any evil; he had got beyond even that high assurance, and knew that Jesus had put all evil away; but I will fear no evil; not even the Evil One himself; I will not dread the last enemy, I will look upon him as a conquered foe, an enemy to be destroyed, For thou art with me. The New Testament speaks of Jesus as anointed (Luke 4:18; John 20:31; Acts 5:42; Hebrews 1:9, etc.). Here is one word indeed which sounds terrible; it is death, which we must all count upon; there is no discharge in that war. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. I have called you by your name. The idea is of a sturdy walking stick, used to gently (as much as possible) guide the sheep and protect them from potential predators. For a shepherd, the healing purpose would be significant. Though not often recited in its entirety, few are unfamiliar with the famous valley of the shadow of death.. It is to live with Him. (Kidner), ii. and flame will not scorch you. 'Blessed be the day on which that Psalm was born! The good man has his enemies. (2.) The Shepherd's staff: The staff was used by the Shepherd to direct the sheep in the way in which they should go, and, in the case of a wandering nosey sheep, to pull it back into line [11] . Be assured! WebVerse 1. The ASV, which is also in the public domain due to expired copyrights, was a very good translation, but included many archaic words (hast, shineth, etc. Even in a fearful place, the presence of the shepherd banished the fear of evil. In terms of how it is loved, look at how one old theologian from the 1800's spoke of it. (2.) the Holy One of Israel, your Savior (Isaiah 43:1-3). The rod and staff were comforting to the sheep, because both were intended for the sheeps benefit. The shepherd recognizes when the sheep require green pastures and when they require still waters. It is the duty of Christians to encourage themselves in the Lord their God; and we are here directed to take that encouragement both from the relation wherein he stands to us and from the experience we have had of his goodness according to that relation. 5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. [10] We have another source of confidence in our shepherd Jesus that even David didn't have when he wrote this psalm 3000 years ago. Imminent danger supposed: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that is, though I am in peril of death, though in the midst of dangers, deep as a valley, dark as a shadow, and dreadful as death itself," or rather, "though I am under the arrests of death, have received the sentence of death within myself, and have all the reason in the world to look upon myself as a dying man, yet I am easy." It is a Psalm of life, rest and peace. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. It is well to know, as certainly as David did, that we belong to the Lord. However, he was confident that God is with him all the time. Sheep are easy targets for parasites, lice, and flies. The subsequent trips through the valley become progressively easier as trust increases. The constancy of it: All the days of my life, as duly as the day comes; it shall be new every morning (Lam 3 22, 23) like the manna that was given to the Israelites daily. The paths that the Shepherd takes us on are the righteous or 'right' paths. Let not those fear starving that are at God's finding and have him for their feeder. And finally we have the small matter of that which occurs after 'the days of my life'. But, what makes it so compelling? Depression and other illnesses can enshroud us in darkness and threaten us with death. Here David pictures God as a gracious host who provides all that he needs even in times of apparent difficulty. Do you? He remembered what need they had of a shepherd, and what a kindness it was to them to have one that was skilful and faithful; he once ventured his life to rescue a lamb. God makes his saints to lie down; he gives them quiet and contentment in their own minds, what ever their lot is; their souls dwell at ease in him, and that makes every pasture green. Lets look at the meaning and significance of each verse written in Psalm 23. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. [4] I read in a John Hunter book that as well as being able to say 'The Lord is my shepherd' we should be able to say 'The shepherd is my Lord.' i. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Gods motivations for treating His people rightly stem from the perfection and goodness of His nature. [13] Boy it used to annoy me how church leaders and other Christians would create such confusion concerning this! Those that feed on God's goodness must follow his direction; he leads them by his providence, by his word, by his Spirit, disposes of their affairs for the best, according to his counsel, disposes their affections and actions according to his command, directs their eye, their way, and their heart, into his love. He is currently The intimate portrayal of God as a shepherd is what makes Psalm 23 unique and unforgettable. The psalmist genuinely expressed his understanding and experience with God as his shepherd. The profound way of weaving Davids testimony to bring glory to God through this Psalm is utterly magnificent. By this therefore he illustrates God's care of his people; and to this our Saviour seems to refer when he says, I am the shepherd of the sheep; the good shepherd, John 10 11. Below are some of his most touching and eloquent comments on each verse. Jesus the Messiah was also a descendant of King David. 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