Psalm 23

Monday Message for July 13, 2020.

Psalm 23:1 ESV: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Since we’re looking for signs of “hope” in the midst of the pandemic, Psalm 23 is an obvious choice. David, worship leader first and king second, was having a good day, perhaps a good month or a good year! It seem that there was always something going wrong in David’s life, but God always kept him safe, and David was grateful. As a worship leader, David authored hundreds of prayers and songs as tributes to God. Psalm 23 is one of them.

Psalm 23 is the best-known of all the psalms; it’s recited at most funerals. Psalm 23 begins with one bold statement, and then five more verses giving us detail pertaining to that initial statement.

It begins, “The Lord.” In the original language, this is God’s name. We all have names like Bob and Jim and Mary and Martha and Yahweh – get it? Actually all that’s written is an abbreviation of God’s name. Copyists did this out of fear that if they wrote the name incorrectly, they could die, and the tradition continues to this day – Some Jews always write “G-d,” never fully spelling out the name of the Lord.

So who is your leader, your mentor? Who do you respect, look up to? Who rescues you when it looks as if all is lost? David writes, “The LORD is my shepherd!” He’s watched others try a variety of spiritual leaders, and none of them seemed to work out. David has prospered by being perpetually faithful to the one true God.

This Psalm was David’s statement, but he intended it to be for the entire congregation. “Say it with me – The LORD is OUR shepherd!” In the midst of a bunch of false gods, the LORD keeps rising to the top. Jesus taught that we are to love the Lord and love our neighbors; this is loving the Lord.

Time after time the Lord has come through for David, and he wants us all to benefit from what he has learned. “With the LORD as my shepherd, I don’t need any other shepherds!”

I’ll continue with the rest of Psalm 23 this week in the Daily Messages, available on my personal Facebook page, the JesusInTheCityFellowship.org web site, or the Blogspot link, and I’d encourage you to check it out. Psalm 23 is awesome – don’t miss it!

Blessings as we begin this new week!

Pastor Norton

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406