Psalm 23 Devotional

Psalm 23 Verse 0ne

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Personal! Personal! Personal! That’s what Christianity is.

John 10:4

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

God wants you close enough to guide you. God wants every part of your life wrapped up in His love.

Some of the terrain God takes us through is rough, but the end result, if we allow Him to guide us, teach us and shepherd us, is completeness.

Colossians 2:10

And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power

I shall not want:

If we learn to hunger and thirst after Christ we won’t need to hunger and thirst after other things.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Philippians 4:19

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.


Psalm 23 verse two

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

Green Pastures:

God knows the places and purposes that are just right for you; places and purposes that will bring fulfillment and joy. Christ Jesus, your shepherd, knows how to get you there. Develop an ear to hear and courage to follow, step by step, so you can enjoy the green pastures He has prepared for you.

Isaiah 50:4-5

The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

Still Waters:

Peace is a very valuable commodity. God can give it.

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Isaiah 26:3

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Isaiah 55:12

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.


Psalm 23 verse three

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

The shades of meaning in the word restore are:

Return to the way it should be

Refresh

Relieve

Fix

Pull in again

To give back something lost to the owner

To put back in place i.e.: a king to his position of authority

Thank God He has everything we need to restore us, refresh us and to pull us into the way of righteousness; the path of living right before God by grace.

We can be restored to our place of authority in Christ over all the schemes of the devil to perturb, perplex and destroy our walk with and position in Christ.

Psalm 51:12

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Isaiah 57:18

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners

Isaiah 38:16-20

O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live!

Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.

The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.

The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD.

The width and depth of our restoration is in direct proportion to our hunger for the righteousness of God and our crying out to Him. The word “cry” in the bible contains the following in its meaning.

To call out deeply and sometimes loudly

To earnestly pray, desiring and needing an answer

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Psalm 34:17

When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 56:9

Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.

Psalm 119:169

Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!

Once we have seen the restoring work of God’s righteousness in our own lives we can be used as an instrument of righteousness for His names sake to bring restoration to others.

Romans 6:13

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Galatians 6:1

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.


Psalm 23 verse four

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.

This whole world is under the shadow of death. Our sins and the devils influence have cast a shadow of spiritual death and darkness over everything; that’s why we need a savior. That’s why Christ is called the light of the world.

Ephesians 2:1-2

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience

John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

John 12:46

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

I have light to see, strength to endure and a life giving faith filled hope in God so no matter the valley, no matter the pull of temptation, no matter the war in my soul and no matter the snare, I don’t need to be stuck but rather I walk through. My sojourn through this world, although there are valleys (some longer than others), can be victorious.

1 Peter 2:11

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

1 Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Fear no evil, He is with you:

I’ve heard it said “oh that’s not real it’s just an imagined fear”. Well there’s no such thing as an imagined fear. The root of the fear may be based in shadows not reality, but the fear it produces is real. Cry out to God and allow Him to bring the light of life to those roots of fear in you. Keep cutting those roots with the word of God called the sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6:17.

Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Isaiah 35:4

Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you."

2 Timothy 1:7

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Your Rod, Your Staff, Your Comfort:

The shepherd’s rod is used to guide the flock by easy nudges or if needed for real stubborn sheep to actually take the legs out from under them in order to teach it not to wander into danger. The rod is also used to pull a sheep out from thicket or up out of pits. Another use of the shepherd’s rod is to ward off enemies of the sheep. If we allow our shepherd Jesus to use His rod, which are His word and the Holy Spirit, in our lives then it will bring us to a place of comfort.

The shepherd’s staff is like a walking stick. It’s used to balance and steady the step on rough terrain, up hills and down hills. The staff can be leaned on for stability. The staff is a picture of Jesus bringing balance, steadiness, stability and comfort in our walk with Him.


Psalm 23 Verse Five

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

As we walk this Christian walk we do have enemies trying to thwart, derail and confuse us. The devil has many ways to accomplish this, some are as follows:

Deception – Revelation 12:9

Robs – John 10:10

Hinders – 1 Thessalonians 2:18

Accuses – Revelation 12:10

Ensnares – 2 Timothy 2:26

Lies – John 8:44

Temps – Matthew 4:3

Plus we have other people’s and our own sinful nature to contend with.

But thank God we have a table. At this table is a generous feast of all God has prepared for us; life giving, freedom producing never ending truths. Free will always gives us a choice of what we will partake of, life and blessings or death and curses.

Deuteronomy 30:19

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live

2 Peter 1:3-4

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Yes God does want to shepherd you to a place of closeness with Him; a place of blessings.

Anointing a head with oil in those days was a sign of honor and favor. It was something done for a very distinguished guest. [Judges 9:9, Psalm 92:10, Luke 7:38, 46] It was done at festive occasions as an indication of prosperity and rejoicing. Here in verse 5 of Psalm 23 it states God anoints our heads with oil. It shows us what He thinks of us.

Yes God does want our cups (all of who we are) to run over, overflow and abound with this new life we now can enjoy with Jesus.

John 7:37-38

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

John 10:7-11

So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.


Psalm 23 Verse Six

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The mercy of God keeps the door open for the goodness of God in our lives.

The word mercy is very similar to the word grace. It means God’s compassion to us even when we deserve punishment. Mercy and grace gives us free access to the unfailing steadfast love of God to us. We can never do enough to earn it, it’s a free gift, we can only be smart enough to receive it.

Mercy, grace and goodness are things God is rich in and He is always ready to share with us in order to keep our walk with Him abounding in spiritual blessings.

Ephesians 2:4

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us

Ephesians 1:7

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

Romans 2:4 (English standard version)

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Romans 2:4 (contemporary English version)

You surely don't think much of God's wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don't you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?

God’s goodness to our souls can be experienced in valleys, mountaintops, ups and downs; anywhere, all the time; this we can be certain of without doubt.

Psalm 27:13

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!

Psalm 31:19

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

2 Corinthians 1:3 says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort

Our heavenly Father knows we need mercy everyday because it’s His mercy that enables us to draw close and stay close to Him.

Lamentations 3:22-25

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

In accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior we have been placed into an eternal position with Christ. We have been placed into the kingdom of God, a kingdom that will never go away, never be overthrown and never diminish; it lasts forever! Forever and ever! Eternal! These are mind boggling concepts, but it’s really real. God is real! Heaven is real! You living forever in heaven is real! This all made possible for us by the mercy, grace and goodness of God to us.

Hebrews 12:28

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe



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