The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
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.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
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.
THINK ABOUT IT! The Lord is MY shepherd. That's personal. How much simpler can it get? God tells us that He is in control & that we need not to worry.
Cattle must be driven from behind. A horse is led by a bit in its mouth. Sheep on the other hand are led. They cannot be driven as cattle, or ridden like horses but gently led by the shepherd. The shepherd calls the sheep and they go where he leads.
(I borrowed this from a friend thanks DeAnna!)
I shall not WANT. He didn't tell us that we wouldn't NEED. He provides for all of our needs & He even loves us enough to provide so many of our WANTS! We are a blessed people!
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. That sounds like a place that is peaceful & very beautiful. He wants to LEAD us.
He restoreth my soul. When we are weary, He will give us peace & rest.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake. FOR HIS NAME SAKE - that didn't say anything about making us famous or making any of us worthy of praise.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me. Did you catch that? THROUGH, not in, not around, not beside, but we must go through the storms to come out victorious on the other side. And besides, its only the "shadow"of death anyway. We don't actually have to deal with the worst of it. Remember, God is leading us so we are not alone!
Thy rod and thy staff comfort me. How many of us parents must spank, or at the very least, punish our children? We all do, but we show them our love after the discipline is over, right? God is the same way. He must correct us from time to time, but it is done in love.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. I have a hard time with this one, but I believe that God wants us to still be gracious even to people who don't always deserve it. After all, how often do we truly deserve His blessings on us?
Thou anointest my head with oil. This was common during Biblical history. I believe it signifies that we are chosen, sanctified, and pinpointed as being special to God.
My cup runneth over. Have you ever filled a glass too full? It spills over the top, doesn't it? That's how God operates. Sometimes He likes to give us more joy than we can contain within ourselves. Sometimes we don't really have a choice but to tell people of His glory or we will just burst. I just said this the other day at church. Our service was so full of the Holy Ghost, He could not be held back. I felt blessed beyond measure.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. That sounds like a promise to me. Even though we have our fair share of heartaches, we still have God's blessings. He bestows mercy on us every single day!
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER. There's another promise! We are His children. Most children live in their parent's home, don't they? But when they grow up, they move out. Even though we all love our children, we probably don't want them to live at home forever. God wants us FOREVER. You know, God created the Heavens & the Earth in 6 days, right? But He said that He was leaving here to prepare a place for us. For us! I can't comprehend forever, nor do I understand why He loves us so, but I do know that my mansion in glory is going to be more spectacular than anything anyone could ever imagine!
Take some time to spend with your shepherd today. He wants to lead you on to a better, brighter tomorrow.
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