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

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·         Publisher Encyclopedia Britannica

 

 

 

 

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.