Kuhn Center - Psalm 23
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1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
READ THE ENTIRE PSALM FIRST
ask who knows what a shepherd is and explain
The Lord provides us with guidance
His Word is a Lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path
think about what a lamp does…etc.
we live in an incredibly dark world
this darkness is caused by people doing wrong, by sin
God made the world to be lived in a certain way
society has largely forsaken God and what He wants for us, even though He’s done so much for us
you have the choice to either continue walking in the darkness or to walk in the light of God
His Word is the light, and we have lots of His Word, He’s given us total instruction for life
there is no question as to how God wants us to live, we don’t have to wonder or debate what is right
So His Word is the light, and the Lord is our shepherd, He leads us, guides us, gives us advice for how to live life
many people do not have someone in their life to give them guidance
often this leaves people feeling like they are just drifting through life or that they have to figure everything out on their own
God provides us with everything we need for living a good life how He wants us to live
you might say, “Well it doesn’t address modern problems with the internet and social media” “it doesn’t talk dealing with people smoking weed” or something like this
it doesn’t, it was written 2000 years ago, BUT it does give us principles to live by that can apply to ANY situation in life
these things are what is important, it doesn’t have to address every single situation that we could possibly be in specifically
but if the Bible tells you to treat your neighbor as yourself, then that can cover any situation
God not only provides us instruction with how to live life, but we can have a relationship with Him as well
He loves us, and He can help us through life
we can do this by prayer and getting to know Him better through His Word
if we reach out to God and we really mean it, if we really have intentions on asking Him for help, if we really believe, He can help us and guide us through life
if you mean business with God, He’ll mean business with you
don’t just pray once, not get what you want immediately, and forget about it, keep at it, He hears you
if we reach out to Him sincerely, mean it, and really are trying to get close to Him, I think you guys would be amazed
If we turn to God, He will turn to us
So God can not only provide us with guidance and instruction for life, He can help us more on a personal level by loving us and being there for us
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
What better shepherd, leader, loving God could we have than one who died for us?
He died for us out of love, so that we don’t have to suffer and that we can be renewed and have a new and improved life
“I SHALL NOT WANT”
“I lack nothing” - God provides us with the most valuable thing we could ever have
a real Fatherly relationship with the God of everything
the ability to have prayers answered
the ability to become a new person, to change, and be what God wants us to be
guidance in our life
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.
God helps to bring our life out of chaos
we talked earlier about sin causing darkness in this world, these things often bring chaos or unpredictability
for instance, you try to steal something on impulse or desparation and wind up in jail
The Lord, with His guidance, can guide us toward better places
of course our life won’t be perfect, we may still run into issues
but God is leading us toward peace, He’s leading us in a way that will wind up with a peaceful outcome
if we extend this, if you follow God’s way for life one winds up in heaven with ultimate peace forever
if we reject this, we wind up with a troubled life and end up in hell
if we just talk about day to day life, living God’s way leads us toward a more peaceful lifestyle, much less chaotic and prone to crazy things happening
much more stable, because God’s Word never changes, therefore His instruction never changes, and if we follow it, we will have a stable foundation in our life
think about family life, God wants us to get married and stay with the one person forever
this has many advantages, there will be stability, you will get to know the person you love for a whole lifetime and therefore be closer
you’ll be able to raise a stable family
but if you don’t follow God in this way, you’ll end up having chaos throughout life, going from one person to the next, and if you have kids they might be confused or having to deal with new people all the time
the point being, that God, as our shepherd and leader, leads us toward a peaceful way of living life if we follow Him
as the verse says “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.
He restores our soul, I’ve told my story, the same thing can happen to you
you might feel like you are just defeated, that you have just been ground down into dust by life
but God can flip all of that around - He can give you a purpose for living, He can give you new things to life for, if you have struggles or problems with certain wrongdoings, He can help you to overcome these things
If we reach out to Him and really mean business with Him, He can change our direction in life
if you’re traveling in one direction, you just keep going and going and going and you get further that direction
if you’re living a life of sin or wrongdoing, as you keep traveling, you’ll just get more and more entrenched in that way of being and things will very likely just keep getting worse for you
often it’s very hard to change who we are, I mean, we are what we are, and for many people, me included, it’s very hard to change the way you are
God can provide us with supernatural help to change this and we don’t have to do it all ourself
So if we’re ground down by life, it can be exhausting, it can be depressing, and sometimes it’s not even completely your fault, it’s just your circumstances
God can restore us to what He wants us to be, He can help shape us into what He wants us to be even if we couldn’t do it ourself
and if it’s our circumstances He can give us the ability to deal with our circumstances
the Bible says if God is for us, who can be against us?
if God is on our side, we have the ultimate person on our side, and with the new purpose He gives us, with being able to answer our prayers, with the hope He gives us
this can make life in bad circumstances tolerable because of the hope that we have in Him
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.
Shepherds would walk around with kind of a stick, or a cane, to help with the guidance of the sheep - so it’s saying that God’s guidance comforts us
“Though I walk through this dark world, I don’t have to fear, because God’s with me”
talked earlier about “If God is with us, who can be against us”
Imagine this: if you have a good relationship with God, if you are being close to Him through prayer and living like He wants us to live, He is with us
When we are saved, we receive the Holy Spirit of God inside of us, so God is with us wherever we go
what an amazing thought this is. without Him, we are just walking around as just us. our imperfect self
but with God, He is with us wherever we go, able to provide us with guidance, able to provide us with comfort, etc
The Bible says that God is the God of all comfort, we all have struggles in our life in different ways
Jesus said to His followers that He would be with them always, even to the end of the world
He can provide us comfort in times of sadness or in times of anger, He can provide us with the ability to resist temptations to do things we shouldn’t
He can just be the leader that we may not have had
there is a reason that the Bible calls God our heavenly Father - that’s His role in our lives
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
the first part of this verse again is talking about God’s ability to help us live in a dark, hard, evil world where sometimes, people are just plain old out to get us
but God is with us through all of that
PART B
in the Bible days if you were annointed with oil, it means you had some oil similar to olive oil rubbed on you to symbolize that you are set apart for God, that you were special
every believer is special to God, the Bible says the angels rejoice when just one sinner is saved, gives their life to God
that could be you!
so it’s basically just saying that you are special to God
God loves us all, and He wants to be close to each one of us
if we live for Him and put our belief in Him, we are all special to Him, we are set apart for Him and special
He has His purpose for us, and He has the ability to change us to be able to live out that purpose
God cares about all of us, each of us are special to Him, it’s just a matter of if whether or not you’re going to reject God and what He’s done for us
PART C - CUP RUNNETH OVER
what this is saying is that the believer throughout His life will be showered with blessings, with things that God has done for us
it doesn’t mean He’s just going to suddenly make our life perfect - struggle is necessary at points to help us grow as people
but what it means is that God provides, He helps us to get through life
sometimes He even surprises us with stuff
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.
Goodness - blessings and help through life
mercy - forgiveness for when we mess up
even believers mess up and need to ask God to help change us - nobody is perfect
but God provides us with infinite mercy, He’ll never just say “nope, you’ve went too far this time”
it doesn’t mean that we can just go around sinning just because we want, but when we mess up, we can be sure that God will forgive us
PART B
We end on an amazing thought, we don’t only have this life, which is often pretty hard, to look forward to
not only does He change believers in this life, but He does one better after we die
There is heaven, and there is hell
you have ultimate paradise that lasts forever
or there is punishment
ultimately, the choice is in your hands what happens to you
you can either reject God and go on living your life rejecting all the things He has done and could do for us and the love that He has for us
or you can accept it, have your life changed, and eventually wind up in this ultimate paradise, where you will be with God forever
We are truly blessed that God even reaches out to us at all, and since we have the opportunity, we should be taking it
and when we take it, we need to be sincere, God knows the innermost parts of your heart
if you genuinely reach out to Him, He will show you love and mercy, He wants you to be saved
so it’s your decision whether or not you accept Him and His love or reject Him
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