I will rise

This song struck me today

Encouragement: The Lord is my Shepherd

Today I bring you words and thoughts of encouragement from Psalm 23

23:1 A psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
2 He takes me to lush pastures,
he leads me to refreshing water.
3 He restores my strength.
He leads me down the right paths
for the sake of his reputation.
4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.
5 You prepare a feast before me
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh my head with oil;
my cup is completely full.
6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days,
and I will live in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life.

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Ps 23:1-6). Biblical Studies Press.

I do believe that Psalm 23 is one of the most used, most liked and most encouraging of all the Psalms.

It starts with the picture that The Lord is our Shepherd. I have often tried to imagine how you could project this image to today's world, where most of have never touched a sheep. We may not know about sheep, but we all have heard it said that shepherd's look after their flocks both for food and safety. In the Shepherd's care the next line says it all. "I lack nothing."

"I lack nothing." This message applies to us.
Do we have everything we want, No.
Do we have everything we need maybe.
But it does say we lack nothing.
We need to be careful that we do not mistake wants for needs.

The next section I find very interesting.
"He takes me to lush pastures,
he leads me to refreshing water.
He restores my strength.
He leads me down the right paths
for the sake of His reputation."
Note that the Shepherd (God) does all this for the sake of His reputation. There is no mention that we are important or of consideration. When we view this from our "me me" cultural view this can be disturbing, but when we view it with the minds eye of just being part of Gods story we can feel the blessing poured out on us to overflowing.

"Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me; "
We are on a journey through our lives and it will not all be easy. We will come to points where we must walk through the darkest valley, be it health issues, someone dieing, someone just disappearing from your sight. These words give us courage and confidence to walk through for He is with us.

I also like to draw your attention to the fact that it says we are to "go through the valley". We are not to camp out in the valley crying a river of tears and moaning of the injustice we face.

"You prepare a feast before me
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh my head with oil;
my cup is completely full."
When we are walking under the care of the Shepherd we are well cared for. The challenge is to go through our valleys and to keep our eye open to the blessing that the Lord has arranged for us. Sometimes our overflowing cup is right in front of us but we refuse to see it or drink from it.

In the Shepherds care we have a promise then be can claimed, the promise "Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days, and I will live in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life."

God does pursue us and He loves His creation. So let us follow the Shepherd as we come to know his voice more and more each day.

Remember if you have even the slightest interest in God, no matter how tiny, then know that He is pursuing you and has a place for you in His story that He may lead you down the right paths for the sake of His reputation.

Folks it is all about Him.

Praise God

Amen

Music Encouragement: The Lord is My Shepherd - Keith Green

Encouragement So I will put my hope in Him.

From Lamentation to Encouragement Part 3 Lamentations 3:17-26

17 I am deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is.
18 So I said, “My endurance has expired;
I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord.”
19 Remember my impoverished and homeless condition,
which is a bitter poison.
20 I continually think about this,
and I am depressed.
21 But this I call to mind;
therefore I have hope:
22 The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases;
his compassions never end.
23 They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!
24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself,
so I will put my hope in him.
25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him,
to the one who seeks him.
26 It is good to wait patiently
for deliverance from the Lord.

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (La 3:17-26). Biblical Studies Press.

Even in the down spiralling words of the book of Lamentations, hope and encouragement can be found. I choose to do this encouragement in three days so we could all go down to the depths that the exile brought to Israel. To really feel the pain and helplessness, the weeping and the knots in the stomach.

I have felt the pain and challenge of having what has been so important to me over the last while seemingly slip away. Like the message from our text, when we get to that state there seeming to be nothing to look forward to. Our strength gone, we question all that we have done in Gods name to His glory. All that seemed so good now all for nothing.

What we failed to see in our struggle is that we moved from doing things in God's strength and somewhere along the way we started to do things in our own strength. We can only turn things back to God, so that God can change the direction to set things back on course. Then once again the glory will all be His.

Amen

Music Encouragement Passion 2007 - Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

............. Part 3 of 3 .............

Lamentation: My stomach is in knots!

Lamentations 1:20-21

20 Look, O Lord! I am distressed;
my stomach is in knots!
My heart is pounding inside me.
Yes, I was terribly rebellious!
Out in the street the sword bereaves a mother of her children;
Inside the house death is present.
21 They have heard that I groan,
yet there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have brought it about.

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (La 1:20-21). Biblical Studies Press.

It is all up to God. I let Him speak !

Amen

............. Part 2 of 3 - Stay tuned .............

Lamentation: My eyes flow with tears.

Lamentations 1:11-16

All her people groaned
as they searched for a morsel of bread.
They exchanged their valuables
for just enough food
to stay alive.
“Look, O Lord! Consider
that I have become worthless!”
12 Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by on the road?
Look and see!
Is there any pain like mine?
The Lord has afflicted me,
he has inflicted it on me
when he burned with anger.
13 He sent down fire
into my bones, and it overcame them.
He spread out a trapper’s net for my feet;
he made me turn back.
He has made me desolate;
I am faint all day long.
14 My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke;
they are fastened together by his hand.
He has placed his yoke on my neck;
he has sapped my strength.
The Lord has handed me over
to those whom I cannot resist.
15 He rounded up all my mighty ones;
The Lord did this in my midst.
He summoned an assembly against me
to shatter my young men.
The Lord has stomped like grapes
the virgin daughter, Judah.
16 I weep because of these things;
my eyes flow with tears.
For there is no one in sight who can comfort me
or encourage me.

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (La 1:11-16). Biblical Studies Press.

It is all up to God. I let Him speak !

Amen

............. Part 1 of 3 - Stay tuned .............