Deficiency

Deficiency

Psalms 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.”

Let's begin like this: Are you happy? We can only live once. So, we all want to live a happy life. I want my life to be happy. How about you? Ask modern people what a happy life is. Some people will say that a life of wealth, honor and power is a happy life. Others will say that a simple life with a home, wife, and children is a happy life. Another person will say that a happy life is eating whatever you want. The answer to, “What is happiness?” is different for each individual.

This may be because people have different values and standards

for happiness.

“You are special” written by Reverend Max Lucado. The main character of the book, Punchinello, is a wooden doll similar to Pinocchio that lives in a village called Wemmicks. People in Wemmicks compare each other and constantly compete. The best way to be recognized as the town's best man is to buy lots of special boxes and balls. So Punchinello bought boxes and balls every time he got money in order to be recognized by the villagers. The villagers looked up to the people who bought lots of boxes and balls and envied them. Punchinello buys more boxes and balls by selling his books, his house and his bed. Later, he sleeps between the boxes and the balls. When Eli, the carpenter who made Punchinello, finds out what he has done, he reminds Punchinello that the boxes and balls that he is so obsessed with do not bring true happiness. Instead, Punchinello has abandoned his dear friend and his happiness.

I’m going to quote that part to you for a moment:

“Punchinello felt a big hand on his shoulder. ‘Do you know what you paid to get the boxes and the balls?’ Punchinello answered, ‘My books, my bed, my money, my house.’

‘Young man, you paid a lot more than that.’ While Eli spoke, Punchinello thought about what he had sold more. ‘You paid for your happiness. Think about it, you haven't been happy at all, have you?’ Punchinello hesitated for a moment before answering, ‘Yes.’ ‘You also lost your friendship with your friends. Most of all, you lost faith. You didn't believe I made you live happily ever after. Instead, you trusted the boxes and the balls.’Punchinello looked at the scattered balls and boxes. Suddenly they seemed worthless and insignificant. ‘I think I'm just making trouble.’ ‘It's okay. You're still special.’ Punchinello lowered his head and smiled. ‘You are special. Not because of what you have, just because it's you. You are precious to me, and I love you. Don't forget that, young man.’”

What did you learn from this illustration? I've seen so many people living their lives in a hurry, thirsty for the things they lack. Some people think they lack knowledge, so they try to study for the rest of their lives. Some people are always fretting about their lack of money. Some people compare themselves to others because of their lack of charm and live their lives in misery. This society is competing against one another, comparing themselves to each other and becoming ill by its unfulfilled ‘deficit.’ These are the lives of modern people.

However, today we read that David, the author of Psalm 23, says that his life was a life without a shortage. Obviously, there were things lacking in his life and yet he still said that. What scarcity did David have? He lost his beloved son Absalom. The shock, the sadness, the loss, the longing that David had at that time would have been tremendous. In addition, David lost faith in his people and was criticized by them. David also acted like a fool, drooling in front of the enemy in order to keep his life. The king of a country pretended to be mad in front of the enemy so that he could live. David is a man who lived a life of such scarcity.

What deficiencies do you have?

In my case, even though I was studying in the United States, I felt a great lack because I was not good at English. I said to myself every time I felt that feeling, “Why did I come to the United States just to suffer so much?” Do you think I felt this way because I didn’t study enough? In fact, even students who study at Harvard often commit suicide or fall into depression while competing with each other because they think they have bad brains. Many people feel a lack of learning and a "deficit" in their intelligence.. Others feel a great deal of deficiency in that they don't make as much money as others. What kind of deficiency can we, as ministers, have? Maybe we can feel this kind of deficiency:"Why can't I build a big church? Why can't I preach better than others? Why can't I communicate well with the saints?" Because modern society is a competitive society, it is forcing modern people to have this feeling of deficiency. In this period of time, if there is a word of God that you and I should pay attention to, it is the words of Psalms 23:1, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be want.” David experienced so many shortages in his life, so how could he say, “I shall not be want.”? The reason is that, unlike others, he relied on God even when experiencing lack . God, whom David had relied on, is a self-sustaining God (I am who I am). God does not exist by anyone's help, but he himself existed before the beginning of the earth.

Here's what we need to realize: Jehovah God is the true shepherd of our lives, and he is also almighty God, who can protect our lives and lead us on the right path for his name’s sake. David actually lacked a lot. However, in his confession of faith in God, who never makes mistakes and is always responsible for David’s life, he confesses that there was no shortage in his life through his happy expression, "I shall not be want." This is not to say that we are not deficient, but that God is omnipotent and provides us with everything we need when necessary.

You need to take a closer look at David's life to better understand this. David was the eighth son of Jesse and took on the task of taking care for sheep that his brothers did not want to do. David's brothers did not like to do nomadic things, such as shepherding, so it fell on Jesse’s youngest son, David. At that time, the Egyptians ignored the nomads. Therefore, David may have dreamed of becoming a soldier of Saul, as brave as his older brothers, and fighting for his country on the battlefield. Yet whenever David looked at God, he praised God and thanked him for caring for the sheep. Gradually, he felt less deprived.

In Psalms 27:1, this is what David says. “The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?” David is saying that God is his light, his salvation, and the strength of his life, even when he feels lacking. David's life was difficult, but he looked to God and was not afraid of the deficiencies.

The Apostle Paul also says that even in the midst of difficulties, shortages, and persecutions all around him, he does not suffocate because he looks at Jesus, who is a treasure. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10. ”[7] But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. [8] We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; [9] persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. [10] We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” Paul realized that when he carried in his body the persecution, the deprivation and the disillusionment of Jesus, Jesus' life was giving him life.

Everyone feels want at some point in their lives. But if we can look at Jesus, who's more valuable than the gold and silver that we may feel a lack of, then his life allows us to confess our faith, like David’s faith, that we’re not lacking. Why is this? Is it because of our own confession? No! It is because of the living God, his son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that he sent.

When you compare yourself with someone, you always find yourself lacking. From the moment you perceives it and obsesses over it, your life begins to become unhappy. The Bible that does not say that David envied his brothers and lived unhappy life because he was obsessed with his deficiencies. That's because he believed and followed God, and was very satisfied with his life even in a poor environment. David acknowledged that he lacked things in his life, but he was happy to take care of the sheep as he had to do, relying on God. When you look at someone who looks better than you at the scene of your life, you see yourself with a lack of self. If you look at other people's businesses that thrive rather than God's, you will find yourself with a sense of inferiority. When that happens, you should look at the living God. Then you and I must look at Jesus, our savior. Then you must look at the Holy Spirit, who leads us to the right path. Do you want to be tied to your own deficiencies Or will you be bound by our Lord to live a life of victory, through the confession of faith that there is no shortage?

This is the secret of David's life in a world where he was deficient, yet was able to say that there was no shortage in his life.

One day Jesse called David in and told him to deliver food to his brothers on the battlefield, and to see if they were safe and how the war was going. David was thrilled to be able to take this opportunity to go to war where his brothers were fighting the Philistines. In contrast to David's excitement, the battlefield was filled with gloom. The reason was the Philistine Goliath, who was 9.5 feet tall. Israeli soldiers were all depressed because of their "deficit." They told themselves“ I am shorter than Goliath; I am less courageous than Goliath. I am less trained in the military than Goliath. I am less experienced in war than Goliath.” As he observed this, David remembered God, who was with him in his life when he protected the sheep from lions, bears, wolves and eagles. His heart was filled with great faith, so David spoke to Goliath in a loud voice, in contrast to the Israelite soldiers, who were obsessed with their lack. 1Sm 17:26 “David asked the men standing near him, ’What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?’” What we need to look at here is the red highlighted part. Let's read that part again. "The armies of the living God" That's right. In reality, David was living with lack, but he always confessed" the living God"

There are still tough realities in our lives, like Goliath. Is the God that I and you believe in living now? Or is this God locked behind history? If you and I, who have to do both academic work and church work and take care of our families, are saying, “I can't handle all this. There are so many things I don't have enough of. We're running out of time, we're running out of money, we're running out of wisdom, we're running out of enthusiasm,” than the God we believe in is probably a dead God If we think in our hearts that we have such deficiency, even if we don't talk like this with our mouths, we should know that God that you believe in and I believe in is different from God that David believed in. Because the God that David believed in was "the living God," whereas the God we believe in is "the dead God." Let's say hello to the person next to us. "My God is not dead."

The book features an old man. The old man goes out to the sea and catches fish. He catches fish every day, but he doesn’t catch as many as he wants to. Then he was lucky enough to catch a giant tuna. For a while, the old man hangs the tuna on the boat, but then on his way home, he meets a shark and almost loses the tuna. When the old man gets home, the big tuna has turned into a tuna with only a scraggy bone left. The old man leaves his grief behind, enters the house and falls into a deep sleep. And then the old man gets up again and heads for the sea. This is what I remember from when I read The Old Man and The Sea.

I thought about the lives of modern people through this novel of the old man and the sea. I thought of modern people who are competing in the vast ocean, who are struggling in the face of a life that doesn't work out as they wish, and who are going well, but their happiness is not long-lasting. That's why Hemingway, who wrote the novel, was forced to kneel before the futility of his empty, meaningless life.

Thomas Shepherd confessed, "My heart is a bottomless vessel." Our spiritual impatience will not be satisfied with the good things of the world in that bottomless vessel. That's why Jeremiah the Prophet made this confession. “My people have committed two sins：They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Money, honor, and a nice car and a big house can't make up for our lack of life. Why would the rich commit suicide so often? If you have everything, unless your mind is filled with spirituality, you will never confess like David.

I want to tell you a story about a man who was never satisfied. This young man was raised by an incompetent and irresponsible father who always beat his children. The young man decided not to live in poverty like his father when he grew up. He decided to work hard and succeeded as a businessman, making a perfect family by getting a good house, a good car, a good wife and even a son. The man owned an expensive sports car called a Lamborghini and treated it with fondness. One day he was cleaning his car carefully in the parking lot when he heard someone scratching his car with a nail. His beloved son was writing something with a nail on the other side of the car door. His son scratched the door of a car that cost almost $100,000 just to fix one door. Suddenly, the father's eyes were turned upside down. The father dragged his son into the garage and picked up a hammer. He hit his son's hand several times with a hammer. When he knocked his son's hand with a hammer and looked around, there was a lot of blood on the floor. The father belatedly came to his senses and took his son to the emergency room. The doctor kicked the father out of the emergency room because of the critical situation: eventually, he had to amputate the child’s wrist to save the child. After the operation, the father entered the hospital room and his son shook and cried and told him Daddy! I'm sorry! I won't do it again. Please don't hit me!” The man went crazy because of his sorrow, regret, and pain for his son. So he came home and shot himself in the head with a pistol. The next day, this tragic incident was in the newspaper, and the article said that the son wrote "I Love da" on the car door; the son seemed to be trying to write "I Love daddy." Ladies and gentlemen, our lack is just not filled with worldly affluence. Of course, a rich life will fill our deficiency for a while. This is how Solomon described these things: "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

Don't forget that Jesus is the only one who will fill the poverty of a corrupt life. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Do your eyes look only at your deficient environment? Then turn your eyes to Jesus who will fill the gap. Although our environment does not change, and our deficiency lies in our lives, when we fix our eyes on Jesus, those deficiencies will never bring us down. Because Jesus, we believe, is the same person yesterday, today, and forever. It's easier to say because the Jesus we believe in is the Jesus who is alive. Here's why David was able to say that he had no shortage in his life: He believed in God as a living God. I hope this confession of faith will be made by me and by you. Let's read today's bible verse out loud.

Ps 23:1 “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.”