Psalm 23 (David speaking)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 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.
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.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over
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.
There are three things that occurred in this portion of scripture. Three prominent keys:
First thing that happened, David considered God:
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Before David addressed God, he considered God. Before he addressed God of his problems or needs, he considered God's goodness.
When was the last time, before you prayed and told Him about your problems or worries, you sat down and considered God's goodness, looking at God's heart versus looking at the situation?
There's nothing that strengthens your faith in terms of your communication with God than you considering God beforehand.
* green pastures for sheep - means a place of abundance; lofty place
* lie down - there's a place of rest that God will lead you to
* still waters - Peace; He leads me by peace
Sometimes we want to know if we make decisions and the first thing we know is do we have peace or do we not. It is important for us to have a good opinion of God because if we don't, the enemy can ruffle your waters. God will lead you into this situation that you won't have any confidence in because you are full of fear and you don't really believe that God is that good. So your fear can cause the waters to ruffle and it won't be God. And there are some people who walked out of situations being afraid that God is leading them into.
The reason why David was able to hearken unto the peace was because, he was considering nothing else. And this is the benefit when you consider God. When was the last time you really consider God? People consider their problems and they talk to God, but they don't consider God historically.
This is one of the keys David used. He constantly considered God, and it allowed David to look at God above every situation. The only thing that mattered to David was whether or not God was signed off on the matter, and if he knew God signed off on it, you couldn't stop David from doing anything there. There was no one who could fill his heart with fear because he had a life practicing considering God.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Why? Because He's my provider, He causes me to lie down in green pastures which means my Shepherd is always taking the sheep to somewhere green, somewhere abundant. Many people don't have that hope about God, that God wants to take you somewhere good, that God is a good God who wants to take you someplace good. They don't have that hope, they may have the want, but they don't have that understanding about God.
I serve a good Shepherd who's always leading me to an abundant place.
3 He restoreth my soul
Sometimes things happen, situations or life gets so heavy. These things may have us to wear down, break down our soul, can cause our soul to shrink and faint on the inside of us. But the Lord restores our soul.
When you begin to see God in a right way, when you begin to esteem God rightly, when you begin to rightly discern who He is, things happen for you. So regardless of the life events, the things that people have done, the ill will of others, the wickedness of others, regardless of the situation, God restores my soul.
Sometimes, the greatest offender to our lives is our own selves. It's one thing if they did it, then it's easy to blame- "If it wasn't for them, I'll be alright..." But what about when you are the cause? Out of that disobedience and rebellion, and going your own way, you reap the whirlwind called consequence. Jesus is still the one that restores your soul. But it's difficult if you don't know Him. Some people lived in condemnation way too long. They've tried to prune themselves, they try to do all these things that only the Physician could do, that only the Master of the vineyard could do. David said, "He restores my soul." When you don't know that about God, you won't allow Him to restore your soul, you won't allow Him to pick you up out of the mire, out of the pigpen that our own lust and foolishness, rebellion and disobedience have carried us away into. And when sin has had its full reward, it left us in a place of desolation. And we're like, "How can I come back to God now? I messed up. I got too far. Can God forgive me now?" And in that place, there is a sense that we're not worthy of the forgiveness that God so eagerly wants to pour out on you, that we can't reconcile receiving what we clearly know we don't deserve. But David said, "He restores my soul."
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
After He restores my soul, He'll lead me in paths of righteousness for His namesake. Not because of who I am but because of who He is for His namesake, to bring glory and honor to His own name.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
The valley of shadow of death, the valley of difficulty, the valley of whether the enemy has come against me like a flood, David said something amazing, "I will fear no evil."
It robbed God's people of a right understanding of God when we have so many ministries that magnify the enemy. So many people walking around in fear and torment. What do you know about God? Do you think that just now the enemy was after you, he was after you since you're in your mother's womb. And if you think that all of a sudden that the enemy's after you, then you're crazy. Reality of it is, the enemy is only as effective as you are willing to give him credit for. There's nothing that brings the enemy to your doorstep like fear does. But David said this, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil." Not some evil, he said "I'm gonna fear NONE."
Be aware of the enemy's tactics, be wise, be sober minded but don't be afraid. Why?
Why will I fear none of that stuff? David said, "Because You are with me."
From considering God, now David's transitioning to speaking to God:
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me
Magnifying the enemy won't get him out of your life, but magnifying Jesus will.
The enemy's always been busy, always been after you. This is not a new adventure for the enemy. He's always down with the kill, with the steal, and the murder. That's always been his purpose- to kill, steal and destroy. But there's limitations to him, it says, he'll devour whom he can. But David said, "I will fear no evil." NONE. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. Why? Because God is with me.
God is with you but you don't understand who He is, so He doesn't benefit you.
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
The rod is for correction for me. The Lord will correct who He loves. What I love about You is, the reason why I find comfort, Your rod and Your staff they comfort me, because I know that You always have my best interests at heart. And if I'm walking in a way of destruction, Your rod will correct me, get me back in alignment so that I can arrive at my purpose destination, because You only want the best for me.
But they've taught you to fear God's correction, God's wrath, and it made you think that God is mean and cruel when actually it's a point of love. David said, that brings me comfort, You don't want me in the hands of the enemy, that you don't want me to be led astray.
Your staff is used to pull me out of harm's way. So even if the enemy has devised the plan against me, You use Your staff to pull me out of harm's way, and then You'll use that same staff to beat my enemies into dust. So I'm comforted by Your rod and Your staff.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies
Been saying, "Why so long Lord?" The Lord is cooking. Let Him set the table. Let the Lord cook. You've been a little too discouraged about your situation. If you consider God, you would know that He prepares the table in the presence of your enemies. Some of you, the crowd ain't big enough yet, all your haters ain't gathered around yet to see you eat. Because God will set a table. 'He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies' - it means, that He will bring me into a place of dining, of eating, of abundance, of provisions, right in the midst of all those who spoke abut you, who talked about you, who had all these things to say about you, all those who wish your downfall. The Lord will cause you to eat because He is good.
If we have the right perspective of God, sometimes what'll happen is, when we see the haters come out, what we should say is, "Wow, it must be time to eat. Because I sure do got a whole lot of people hating around me so it must be time to eat. I got too many enemies gathered around, it must be time to eat."
David transitioned from considering God, to talking to God. What's empowering his communication to God? Situations and circumstances can't always empower your communication with God. You want to have an effective prayer, consider God first.
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over
What God is doing inside of us, it runs over because we serve a God of abundance. He didn't give us just enough. He gave us too much. He gave us too much of Himself.
Some are looking for a deeper, stronger, a more intimate relationship with Jesus, and you've been wondering how to get there and the Lord says, "I got so much to fill you up with. I got too much to give you. That it's gonna cause you to overflow that you don't really know what to do with yourself." But your perspective has betrayed you, your perspective has been erroneous about Me, so when you come to Me, all you say is, "This is what they do Lord. This is what's happening Lord. This is what I need." It's the same old song. But when was the last time you considered God before you prayed, when you considered something good about Him?
You got to build up yourself on the inside. Why? Because the enemy is doing contrariwise to you.
Now, David is transitioning again. This is the third transition.
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.
3 keys:
1. David considered God
2. David spoke to God
3. He declared his blessings
Notice how before you go to God, you don't consider Him, you consider your problems, not that you can't make your petitions known unto Him. The enemy works to get you to consider the problem or what the enemy is doing because in your consideration, your heart becomes stirred one way or another. It's going to either stirred to your problems or stirred to God. I'd rather have my heart stirred about God and His goodness, and His ability to provide, to protect, to keep, to overcome the situation that I'm in. So by the time I start speaking to God about the situation, I'm already fully persuaded. Because I've considered Him from a historical perspective, from a personal perspective, which means just what He's done in my life. And if you feel like God ain't good enough in your life, then consider Him from a written perspective, from a historical perspective, in what He declares in His Word.
"Lord, You provide for me, You've always been a provider, You are a good God, You are an amazing God, You do have good plans for me." Now, I'm talking to God after I've considered Him, how amazing He is. "Lord You anoint my head with oil. You put the calling in my life Lord. You blessed me to be a blessing Lord. Now there's nothing else that matters but You Jesus."
Look at this outrageous statement that David made, after he considered God, spoke to God, and then he made a declaration, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all days of my life." When was the last time any of us had the audacity to say?
There's so many people that have an expectation, expectation of evil following you, of things not working out. But that's not what happens when you consider God, speak to God. This is what David said, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Your life is only as different as your ability to believe God and your ability to see God.
Don't consider the problem, don't consider the situation. Consider the One. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Consider God before you speak to Him and after you consider Him about how amazing He is, how good He is, how awesome He is, then talk to Him. Because as you consider Him, your heart is going to enlarge and the Holy Spirit is going to open up more of Him to you. The Holy Spirit is going to move on you in such a way and begin to unveil God to where you are standing like a champion, like a king and a priest before God, standing victorious in that place of fellowship with God, as Him being your anchor, as Him being your strength, as Him being your possibility, as Him being your banner, your reward, your power, your supply, as Him being all and all. You're standing in that place knowing that this is true, and when you know that this is true, you will be able to do like David did, after you spoke to God, you'll be able to come out and say, "Wow, that's who's with me. That's what You all about Jesus. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." AMEN.
No comments:
Post a Comment