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The Lord is My Shephered part 1

One thing I have learned over the years is that good friends are precious, but they can at times disappoint or let us
down. Sometimes that can lead to an unpleasant split, which we thought would never happen. I want to take us on
a journey through Psalm 23, probably on of the better-known psalms, and see how David discovered he had his faith
in a God who would never disappoint him.

This psalm wonderfully illustrates the close relationship he had with Jehovah God as a young man. I hear the cry of
so many young people finding it almost impossible to live for the Lord in today’s increasingly secularized society.
Things were not easy for David with the Philistines on Israel’s doorstep, and shepherding a flock of sheep that were
prone to having wild animals attacking them. In many ways this psalm is David’s testimony of the faithfulness of
God; He can be absolutely trusted, even when the going gets tough as it did when he confronted the arrogant
Goliath ... and everyone else in the Israelite army wanted to do a runner.

The courage, faith and boldness that helped David confront Goliath were developed out in the pasture as he took
care of his father’s sheep. So how important is it that we develop these qualities early in our Christian lives?
Obviously, the answer is very important.

This psalm is all about relationship. The sad situation is a lot of the Christian church is not experiencing the quality
and intimacy of relationship that David enjoyed as a young man. In verse 1, David opens up with a important term
“The Lord is my shepherd.” The word for Lord is the Hebrew word Yahweh. This is so important for us to understand
that the creator of the universe is our shepherd. It speaks of the very nature and character of the shepherd. We can
be confident that He has pure motives and awesome unlimited power.

This denotes that Jehovah is the very present God who stands outside of time, which speaks of the eternal nature of
God. He always was and always will be is what Jehovah is saying to Moses. The expression “I AM” is an unfinished
sentence as it does not have a subject. So to what was God referring when He coined this expression? As we read
our Bibles we discover that God is saying, “I AM” whatever you need. This of course has huge significance with
David’s declaration that Jehovah is his shepherd. It clearly points us to God who can meet our every need, and it is
through meeting that need, that we grow in our understanding of the nature and character of God.

Where there is a need ... there is God.

In the book of Exodus chapter 3, Moses is having an animated discussion with Jehovah in relation to how God was
going to use him in bringing about the deliverance of the nation of Israel. Moses is concerned that he hasn’t the
right credentials in place and asked God, who should I say, has sent me to Israel. In verse 14, we get God’s answer;
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”. He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me
to you.” The root word here for “I AM” is the same word used by David for Lord in Psalm 23. In the context of the
Lord being our shepherd, this word is pregnant with meaning. This denotes that Jehovah is the very present God
who stands outside.

Where there is sorrow, misery, unhappiness, suffering, confusion and oppression, the “I AM”, yearns to be able to
meet the need. Whatever the need provides the verb for our sentence. Is there an areas where you need
deliverance, then God says, “I am your deliverance.” Is there a lack of peace in your life? Then God says, “I am your
peace.” This can apply to whatever the need is, and that the God of the universe can deal with it. There is another
important thing to note in the context of Yahweh being our shepherd, and the intimacy of the relationship that we
can enjoy day by day. It is not merely that Jehovah supplies our needs, but that He Himself becomes the fulfilment
of that need. This in essence is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit works in us through the fulfilment
of a particular need, and causes us to exhibit the very person and character of God. Notice also that David states
that the Lord IS his shepherd, which points to the reality of the present continuous work of Jehovah as our
shepherd. God is not spasmodic in His care for us but is on the job seven days a week 24 hours a day. Notice also
that David clearly reminds us that if we are a Christian then we can say that the Lord is MY shepherd. This speaks
beautifully of a personal relationship that comes only from a divine origin. It is a relationship where we will not be
let down with or disappointed by, as we can be with human friendships. A relationship transforms and wonderfully
enriches. The question for you is; do you know this sort of relationship with the one true God, the great shepherd of
our lives?

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