Today's Reading: Psalm 23:1-3
Overview of Psalm 23-
| |
From the Matthew Henry Commentary-
Many of David’s psalms are full of complaints, but this is full of comforts, and the expressions of delight in God’s great goodness and dependence upon him. 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. I. The psalmist here claims relation to God, as his shepherd (v. 1). II. He recounts his experience of the kind things God had done for him as his shepherd (v. 2, 3, 5). III. Hence he infers that he should want no good (v. 1), that he needed to fear no evil (v. 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 (v. 6). 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. And, as in the foregoing psalm he represented Christ dying for his sheep, so here he represents Christians receiving the benefit of all the care and tenderness of that great and good shepherd. | |
Psalm 23:1 (ESV) 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
From the Treasury of David-
David had himself been a keeper of sheep, and understood both the needs of the sheep and the many cares of a shepherd. He compares himself to a creature weak, defenceless, and foolish, and he takes God to be his Provider, Preserver, Director, and, indeed, his everything. No man has a right to consider himself the Lord’s sheep unless his nature has been renewed, for the scriptural description of unconverted men does not picture them as sheep, but as wolves or goats. A sheep is an object of property, not a wild animal; its owner sets great store by it, and frequently it is bought with a great price. It is well to know, as certainly as David did, that we belong to the Lord. There is a noble tone of confidence about this sentence. There is no “if” nor “but,” nor even “I hope so;” but he says, “The Lord is my shepherd.” We must cultivate the spirit of assured dependence upon our heavenly Father. The sweetest word of the whole is that monosyllable, “My.” He does not say, “The Lord is the shepherd of the world at large, and leadeth forth the multitude as his flock,” but “The Lord is my shepherd;” if he be a Shepherd to no one else, he is a Shepherd to me; he cares for me, watches over me, and preserves me. The words are in the present tense. Whatever be the believer’s position, he is even now under the pastoral care of Jehovah. John 10:11 (ESV)11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 1 Peter 2:25 (ESV)25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. John 10:27–29 (ESV)27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. Hebrews 13:20–21 (ESV)20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Lord thank you for being my good shepherd. Thank you that you have maintained that role in spite of such great cost. Thank you for finding me, lost, and for tucking me into your tender care at no doing of my own. Thank you for the security that is offered by being in your care. Thank you for the eternal security in knowing that you will not allow me to remove myself from your care. Thank you Father for your might and for your commitment to maintain me! Thank you Lord for letting me hear your voice and for training me. Thank you for being the omnipotent overseer of my soul! Please O Lord teach me how to know my heart. Please transform me daily and watch over me.
From The Treasury of David-
Others, far wealthier and wiser than I, may want, but I shall not.” “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” It is not only “I do not want,” but “I shall not want.” Come what may, if famine should devastate the land, or calamity destroy the city, “I shall not want.” Old age with its feebleness shall not bring me any lack, and even death with its gloom shall not find me destitute. I have all things and abound; not because I have a good store of money in the bank, not because I have skill and wit with which to win my bread, but because “The Lord is my Shepherd.” The wicked always want, but the righteous never; a sinner’s heart is far from satisfaction, but a gracious spirit dwells in the palace of content. Psalm 34:9–10 (ESV) 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, Matthew 6:31–33 (ESV)31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Luke 14:33 (ESV)33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Thank you Lord that you not only command me to renounce all affection and concern over the things of this world, but you promise to provide my needs. Thank you that you offer your tender care and affection in replace of my toil and stress to attain what I might think needed in my flesh! Lord let me daily surrender to this first call of seeking your kingdom and righteousness! Show me each day what this is to look like and ravish my heart as I seek yours.
Thank you Lord that you are my portion. How can I be left to want when you are my very portion and you will never leave me or forsake me? Thank you that you are my strength when I have none. That you are the top prize of my life even when my flesh, the world, or the enemy may try to convince me otherwise…
Psalm 73:25–26 (ESV) 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? | |
You feed me and lead me-
| |
Psalm 23:2 (ESV) 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. Ezekiel 34:14 (ESV)14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.
Thank you Lord that you feed me and give me rest in the pasture of your Word. Thank you that you lead me into action with confidence of one following the bank of a quiet river with a sure direction and route. Thank you that this river need not put fear in me but you are in full control of the waters.
From Opening Up Psalms-
They do not lack food because they are made to lie down in green pastures.
From the Treasury of David-
That silence is golden indeed in which the Holy Spirit meets with the souls of his saints. Not to raging waves of strife, but to peaceful streams of holy love does the Spirit of God conduct the chosen sheep. He is a dove, not an eagle; the dew, not the hurricane. Our Lord leads us beside these “still waters;” we could not go there of ourselves, we need his guidance, therefore is it said, “he leadeth me.” He does not drive us. Moses drives us by the law, but Jesus leads us by his example, and the gentle drawings of his love.
Let me follow you well Lord that I would not take my own path of curiosity or self, but that I would walk humbly with you and that I would always defer to your lead. Let me be surrounded by faithful friends that would guard me from the deception of sin that I might not put an idol before you or otherwise step to the left or to the right.
| |
Make me right for your purpose O Lord-
| |
Psalm 23:3 (ESV) 3 He restores my soul.
Thank you Lord that you do not leave me to wallow in my shame and guilt. Thank you Lord that you restore me unto a right state of being. Thank you that due to your rescue, "all is well with my soul". Thank you that you exchange my past life of self that resulted in my uncleanness and replaced it with your path that causes me to bear the righteousness of your holy Son. Thank you that you do this not simply for me, but for the greatest and oldest cause there is- for the sake of your name, for the sake of your glory. This fact brings ultimate security Lord because regardless of my merit or performance I know that you lead me on for your own sake as your Son's blood has made covenant to attest that your purpose is to redeem me and who shall challenge your purpose O Lord?
Philippians 1:6 (ESV)6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
From The Treasury of David-
“He restoreth my soul.” When the soul grows sorrowful he revives it; when it is sinful he sanctifies it; when it is weak he strengthens it. “He” does it. His ministers could not do it if he did not. His Word would not avail by itself. “He restoreth my soul.” Are any of us low in grace? Do we feel that our spirituality is at its lowest ebb? He who turns the ebb into the flood can soon restore our soul. Pray to him, then, for the blessing—“Restore thou me, thou Shepherd of my soul!” Psalm 25:11 (ESV) 11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV) 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Thank you Lord for showing me the way to live in obedience and for blessing me in my doing!
From the Treasury of David-
“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The Christian delights to be obedient, but it is the obedience of love, to which he is constrained by the example of his Master. “He leadeth me.” The Christian is not obedient to some commandments and neglectful of others; he does not pick and choose, but yields to all. Observe, that the plural is used—“the paths of righteousness.” Whatever God may give us to do we would do it, led by his love. Some Christians overlook the blessing of sanctification, and yet to a thoroughly renewed heart this is one of the sweetest gifts of the covenant. If we could be saved from wrath, and yet remain unregenerate, impenitent sinners, we should not be saved as we desire, for we mainly and chiefly pant to be saved from sin and led in the way of holiness. All this is done out of pure free grace; “for his name’s sake.” It is to the honour of our great Shepherd that we should be a holy people, walking in the narrow way of righteousness. If we be so led and guided we must not fail to adore our heavenly Shepherd’s care.
Thank you Lord that this obedience along the straight path results in my abiding in you and in ever greater intimacy with your Son…
John 14:21 (ESV)21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
From Opening Up Psalms-
Christians often vex themselves with the question of whether they are ‘finding the Lord’s will’ for their lives. What consolation we have in this part of the Lord’s shepherdly care! The Lord has promised to lead his people. We should not concern ourselves so much, then, with finding the Lord’s will as with walking close to the Lord. Peter Jeffery well says: ‘Our problem is not really one of guidance, it is one of closeness to God.’
From the Matthew Henry Commentary-
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, in the way of my duty; in that he instructs me by his word and directs me by conscience and providence. Theses are the paths in which all the saints desire to be led and kept, and never to turn aside out of them. And those only are led by the still waters of comfort that walk in the paths of righteousness. The way of duty is the truly pleasant way. It is the work of righteousness that is peace. In these paths we cannot walk unless God both lead us into them and lead us in them. (3.) They are well helped when any thing ails them: He restoreth my soul. [1.] “He restores me when I wander.’ ’ No creature will lose itself sooner than a sheep, so apt is it to go astray, and then so unapt to find the way back. The best saints are sensible of their proneness to go astray like lost sheep (Ps. 119:176); they miss their way, and turn aside into by-paths; but when God shows them their error, gives them repentance, and brings them back to their duty again, he restores the soul; and, if he did not do so, they would wander endlessly and be undone.Application and Prayer: Lead me today Lord along the bank of the calm river. Let me take breaks daily to feed on your Word and I pray that you would bless me with intimacy with your Son. Show me how to always listen for your voice and how to stay close to the river bank. I ask this in Jesus name, amen. Soli Deo Gloria! View blog from a computer or iPad for more content. Follow @dailysurrender |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting- I will probably post it if you dont seem to be a crazy person!