Friday, November 17, 2023
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Monday, September 19, 2022
PSALM 23 LEARNING HOW TO LIVE 2022
Remember, we see this as David's confession in Psalm 23.
What David had been doing was prophesying his future. Did
you know you can prophesy your future?
All of us can. As you speak over some time, you are
prophesying your future and establishing some things in your own Spirit daily. We are painting images on the
canvases of our hearts.
You ask, how do you
do that?
You take the tongue, which is the brush, dip it in the Word of God, which is the oil, and paint an image
of what your future will be on your heart. You are all continually painting
something onto your Spirit. Whether you think negatively or positively, you
choose.
Proverbs 23:7. 7 For as he thinks
in his heart, so is he.
So, we are continually spinning a cocoon,
continuously painting
pictures on the canvas of our hearts.
What
you genuinely paint
on your heart and meditate
on it,
you will have it.
David was an expert artist;
he learned to meditate on things and took
Psalm 23 and sang it. Meditated it.
Let us look at it in-depth
and let the Spirit of the living
God open your mind to receive.
The theme of God as a shepherd
was common in ancient Israel and
Mesopotamia.
·
For example, King Hamarubi, in his famous legal Code, was written, and you can find references in GODS WORD: Ezekiel
34:11-16, Matthew
25.31-40, 41-46
·
·
Publisher Encyclopedia
Britannica
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Jesus was well aware of both the Psalms and the Prophets, having
heard them recited as a child on his mother's
knees and as a young person at the feet of the rabbis. He,
too, repeated the 23rd Psalm, perhaps the best-loved, most comforting verse of the
entire Bible, even to this day.
Echoing the words of the Scriptures, we remember that he famously proclaimed, "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd." (John 10.11)
Sometimes we think
that the image of the Shepherd does not resonate in the 21st century since, by and large,
we are not a people who live close to the Land as did
our forebears.
We are looking at David as a shepherd
boy who became
King, and thru his lineage
came THE MESSIAH.
So, let us hear a word
of Truth from Ezekiel and Jesus on this topic of faithfulness, especially for those in leadership. First, be apprised that Shepherd's image and role were
universally applied to political leaders in the ancient world.
Even
the famous Code of Hammurabi, written by the King of the Babylonians almost
four thousand years ago, Hammurabi referred
to the ruler and subject as Shepherd & Sheep.
Hammurabi's Code
is the most complete
extant collection
of Babylonian laws, and it consists of Hammurabi's legal decisions that were collected toward the end of his reign. These 282 case laws include economic provisions (prices, tariffs, trade, and
commerce) as well
as family law (marriage and divorce), criminal
law (assault and theft), and civil law (slavery and debt).
Then 1200 years after the rule of Hammurabi, the prophet Ezekiel echoed what was commonly accepted
in antiquity, that the primary purview, the immediate exercise of Shepherd's
power, was for the protection of the people, the proverbial flock, especially
those weak and wandering members, the hungry and helpless ones, those caught in
the brambles or diminished by disease.
So, in Hammurabi's time,
as in Ezekiel's day, during the lifetime of Jesus himself, the King who
ruled as a faithful shepherd was the
ideal person to be "in charge" of people – politically, socially,
ethically, and morally.
The prophet's severe
condemnation of ancient Israel's unfaithful, corrupt, and selfish
"shepherds" was total disregard for the human race.
That essentially
describes the situation in Washington, DC. These evildoers are hellbent on
destroying the beautiful Land that God has given us. We have failed as a nation
in our duty to love and care for the Land and its people. Defending the murder
of innocent infants as a moral virtue.
Our society and
country will follow in the footsteps of our degraded culture until we learn to
live for God and exploit for his glory.
The prophet Ezekiel
was quite harsh on these tyrants for their callousness, injustice, and pride. You
haven't helped the weak, cared for the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back
the lost, or searched for the dead.
Instead of ruling
gently, you've reigned aggressively and ruthlessly, he lectured. He might have
even warned that "a dreadful fate awaits you. The eventual downfall of
false shepherds who lack compassion is inevitable.
That's naturally what
happened all through Israel's ancient past.
Compared to the
heartless shepherds of verses 1-10, the Good Shepherd in verses 11-16 provides a striking contrast. One day, the Good
Shepherd would leave on a mission to restore Faith in Israel.
In a solemn,
uncompromising "search and rescue" operation, looking for the most
defenseless members of society (the widow, the orphan, the destitute).
Ezekiel praises the
people's Faith that the Good Shepherd, this Shepherd with a Soul, would rescue
humanity.
Jesus acknowledged his
position as Faith leader, the savior of lost souls, the deliverer of captive
spirits, and the Shepherd of his people.
For those who shared
his concern for society's outcasts, he called on them to give their time,
energy, and resources to those who were without shelter, healthcare, or food.
Jesus marked the start of a new creation, a race of
people who would be defined by their selfless love for one another.
To clarify, what did
he say? I am the Good Shepherd, and my sheep
hear my voice and come running when I call. And I am the Good Shepherd. That's
where he got his now-iconic quote. (John 10.27)
Jesus, I believe, was
looking for disciples who would one day become shepherds in their own right,
leaders who would put the needs of others in their charge ahead of their own.
Leaders with a heart and soul, with eyes to see and
ears to hear. With this in mind, shepherding
has suddenly become significant in our so-very-modern world.
These are trying times,
probably more reminiscent of Ezekiel's and the prophets' eras than we'd prefer
to admit.
CHAPTER THREE
MODERN-DAY BREAKDOWN
Our media are rife with
stories about corrupt politicians who enrich themselves at the expense of the
poor, who have been indicted for illegal conduct, who have rigged the system in
their favor, and who have chosen to ignore the screams of the afflicted and
infected.
CONTINUE WITH PSALM 23 THE LADY SPEAKS
Our words are like a silkworm's cocoon; you know, you can say some things, it really does not make that much difference, but we continue to say some things over the length of our lives. Those words come up like a silk cocoon and bind us up.
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All the time, we are spinning a cocoon like a silkworm; you will have what you have been speaking, good or bad.
You say that is not fair.
Fair or not, it is a spiritual principle that you violate, and consequences are built
into the violation.
Like gravity, you violate the law of gravity, suffer consequences, and hit the ground with a big splatter. Now
gravity did not hate you, but you violated the LAW OF GRAVITY, and a consequence was built into the
violation.
There are spiritual laws God has in place; you violate
them, and the consequences are built in. You abuse your body; it will dilapidate on you. Speak negative, and you will have
negative.
We speak a few things, and we can break out of that, and
a few more weeks; after months,
we find we cannot break out what we have been
speaking.
The
Scripture says you are snared by the words of your mouth, and it does not
happen overnight; it occurs throughout time.
We are going to look
at Psalm 23 in a different light. We
will not look at it like a prayer they say at funerals, but we will look at it as David's confession, his mouth
confession of life in life as a King, And he became
a King.
Not just a King but the greatest one, Israel ever had. He was a shepherd boy who found out some things on the backside of
the desert, and it catapulted him into a KING!
What do you want in your life?
You can have it if you will follow these principles from
King David. All the time, we are spinning a cocoon-like silkworm; you will have what you have been speaking, good or bad. The Scripture
says you are snared by the words of your mouth,
and it does not happen overnight; it occurs throughout time.
ANSWERS THESE QUESTIONS:
PONDER THESE AND ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.
CAN YOU
RECALL THE WORDS YOU HAVE BEEN SPEAKING?
IS THERE ANYTHING
YOU CAN CHANGE
IN YOUR WORDS?
Immediately?
DO YOU NOT WANT YOUR LIFE TO WORK?
GOD CREATED YOUR LIFE TO WORK, BELIEVE
IT, AND CHANGE.
CHAPTER TWO
EPIPHANY NEEDS TO HAPPEN
David
did not have Mark 11:23 "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this
mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart
but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." NKJ
David did not have the New Testament but spent his early life on the
backside of the desert, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Getting to know God intimately. They that know their God shall do exploits.
Exploits mean
A deed or act; more significantly, a heroic act; a deed of renown;
a great or
noble achievement
As recorded
in Daniel 11:32-45 King James Version.
Three ideas are contained
in this verse.
There is the thought
of knowing God, being strong, and doing exploits. God's people are
characterized by
What they know,
What they are.
What they do.
Believers (Christians) differ from worldly and unconverted
People in these three respects – knowing, being, and doing.
Notice that these three characteristics of the child of God are
related, for only as we know God can we be strong.
And only as we are strong
Can we
Undertake exploits in the name of the Lord?
If we are not doing exploits for God, it is because we
are not strong; and if we are not strong, it is because we do not know God well
enough. Looking at King David's
life, we can take from Daniel in the
Bible as David most assuredly did, and we today can.
IT IS UP TO YOU TO LEARN AND DO.
This is the reason
David could come down and fight
Goliath when the men of Israel
could not.
An exploit
is:
" A heroic deed of achievement,"; an incredible and daring feat.
The Bible
contains
illustrations of men and women who did exploits
for God.
Think of Gideon and his 300 (Judges
7:19-23).
Samson (Judges 14:5-6);
Elijah on Carmel
(1 Kings 18:36-39).
And see God's picture gallery
of the heroes of Faith in
Hebrews 11
Think of the apostles
and the early Christians who
put their very lives
in peril to share Jesus, the Gospel, and the good news with mankind! Their lives for the name of the Lord (Acts 15:26) and turned
the world upside down (Acts 17:6)!
If we really know God and are thereby
made strong in Him, we also
shall do exploits, and we shall do them in two ways:
1.
By prayer. We shall find ourselves walking
in the footsteps of great men and women of God who, by prayer
alone," moved the arm that rules the world."
2.
By Witnessing. We shall find ourselves walking in the
footsteps of the early Christians, whose hearts were so full of
The love of Christ that their lips were constantly filled with the message of the Gospel as they went
from place to place, seeing the power and grace of
God.
