OUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD
Hello. Happy new year to you as this is my first post this year. It's a fruitful year for us all.
PSALM 23 (NIV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
A shepherd is someone who guides a fleet of sheeps, A shepherd protects his sheep from adversaries, He guides his sheep on the right path, provides for his sheep and disciplines his sheep when necessary. The context shepherd is used here because in relation with the sheep, it gives a good understanding of the confidence we have in God. The shepherd makes provision for the sheep that the sheep only has to trust and follow(obey) him to enjoy this provision, The sheep knows the voice of the shepherd. When the shepherd does all of this, the sheep isn't in want. The shepherd also fights away predators and thieves to protect his sheep. A sheep is of major priority to the shepherd. The shepherd works and also guides his sheep to make his sheep productive. The shepherd sheep relationship in this scripture shows a very deep bond.
In regards to verse 2, green pasture signifies abundance, riches, flourishing, good health and growth. There is a term there i want you to note "he makes me to LIE down in green pastures". The shepherd makes the sheep to be at rest in abundance, in good health and the shepherd feeding the sheep with good pasture enables it to grow. There is a difference between being in rest and being in unrest. There was a point in my life, that when I had to write exams I would be so nervous during preparation till I got to exams hall, mostly due to the notion I got about my course and scare from lecturers. As a result of anxiety, I would forget what I read, I prepared so hard for this exams. It got to a point that I failed a course because I was anxious and forgot everything. But now, I would have an exam, even those that are announced late and I have few days to prepare, I'm usually in my most chilled mood as i prepare and then it's all good in the exams hall and my results thereafter. The first case is unrest and the second is me doing everything from a point of rest and trusting God. Verse 2b says "he leads me besides still waters". I see a lot of movies where people who are hurt, in pain and worry go to the beach for a sense of calm and quiet. The waves, the water, the cool breeze and the beautiful sunlight of the ocean is calming. What I'm getting at is God leads us in a path of stillness and peace and we ought to see i..
Accepting Christ into your life as a believer restores your soul, renews your mind and you are alive in the spirit in Christ, the journey is between you and God, He holds your hands to show you the path to follow, you become a new person and as a result God leads you in that path of righteousness. He renews you from the inside out.
1 John 4 vs 4 "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world". As Christians we've overcome the world, we don't have to do anything the world's way but we do it according to who we are, the righteousness of God, working in the spirit.
Verse 4 can be understood as well with the above scripture. John 6 vs 33 also reads "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
The advantage we have in Christ is that no matter the trails and temptations we face, walking through the valley of the shadow of death, we ought not to fear, because we are over comers. God is an aggressive shepherd willing to fight for his sheep. In fact, the scriptures above says we've already over come, we come out stronger and victorious. God doesn't want you hurt and even when you go through trials and you overcome victoriously, you also realize how much you've grown from it. God is always with us and we must have confidence in that, that's why when you are going through trails and you decide to trust God, you are at peace and things always fall in place. Fear is a tool that blinds us from seeing who we are and what we have and what God has done. You know if a sheep doesn't trust the shepherd, It's risky. For instance, a predator comes and the sheep decides to run from the shepherd's protection as result of fear and distrust in whom there's an assurance of safety to seek for its own safety that it won't find,. The sheep has been blinded by fear and can't think straight. The predator may take advantage of the situation because this sheep doesn't know what it has. God not only is he with you but he lives in you.
A rod used by a shepherd is more like to keep them in the right tract, discipline, correct the sheep and fight away predators but here the rod used in this context emphasizes more on correction and discipline. God's word is our rod of discipline and correction (2 Timothy 3 vs 16), and this discipline is comforting to us (Thy rod and thy staff they COMFORT me) because it's all done in love. God is the father of Spirits and he disciplines us in the spirit (Hebrews 12 vs 9), he will not inflict anything on our flesh as a form of discipline. A staff is a symbol of authority, it shows kingship and lordship. God is the King of kings and the lord of lords and as heirs, we share in this royalty.
In the midst of trails, God has made a way and that's the table he sets in the presence of our enemies ( trials, troubles, foes etc.)
Before we were formed, God already knew us and what he wanted us to be. We've been anointed before hand. In abundance of grace that this overflows and we have more than enough for any time or moment.
God's goodness and mercy follows us wherever we go, it doesn't get exhausted. His love embraces us all the time. And having received Christ, we have become his temple, he dwells in us, and this is eternal. He lives in us and we in him.
Hallelujah!
