Dear friends,
On 31st December some of us had the opportunity to participate in the watch night service held at Mr. Ebenezer's residence. We meditated on Psalm 23 and I wish to write the same here for the benefit of those who could not attend the service because of various circumstances and also as a reminder for the others who did attend.
We completed 2008 having gone through varying experiences.
So many questions arise in our hearts, like…
- What kind of year has it been for me?
- What kind of person am I becoming?
- What kind of leader am I developing into?
- Did I reach the goals I wanted to reach?
When we ask ourselves questions like these every year, we find that our lives become more focused.
We need to feel God's presence and Psalm 23 is full of the reality of God in our lives.
Psalmist David wrote this Psalm when he was the king of Israel. He was a busy man, responsible for everything that was happening in his kingdom. He had to conduct various meetings with his ministers and assign their roles in his ministry; had to hear grievances from his people, had to keep his eye on neighbouring countries in order to protect his people, etc etc. I leave the rest of his рооройி responsibilities for you to think over… You will agree with me that it must have a been a stressful job indeed. Apart from these he had to spend time with his own family members and was responsible for takingcare of their physical and emotional needs.
Amidst all this, he found time to recollect his earlier days when he was a shepherd tending his father's sheep. He knew how to provide food for the sheep; how to protect them from wild animals, natural calamities and he knew how to treat them in the time of sicknesses and so on. He knows the responsibilities of a shepherd and was good at it.
That is why in Psalm 23 he likened the Lord to a shepherd.
Psalm 23: Verses 1-3
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.
I remember a painting that used to be in my house. It depicted Jesus as a shepherd, holding a staff and tending to the sheep. It had the verse "God is my shepherd, I shall not be in want". I am sure, to all of us that picture is a familiar one. Whenever I start to read Psalm 23, that picture used to come to my mind. Now if you look at the way the Psalmist is writing here - he is picturing as he writes exactly what we are picturing when we hear it. In his mind, he knows God supplies his every need. He doesn't need to worry. He knows that true rest, renewal, peace, and strength come from God - and only from that source will his future path be clearly marked out and directed. And so he begins to calm his mind and release all the stress that comes with his position.
Even when he was the king of Israel he was a shepherd tending to his people, but in his thoughts he became a sheep in God, the shepherd's care. He put himself in the sheep's place under the loving care of the Shepherd.
David knew that sheep are completely dependent on the shepherd for everything - for guidance, protection, for food and for life. So he begins to say - "Here is what I know to be true: God - You are my Shepherd, and I will choose to mentally reflect on what that means for a while. I'll just be a sheep for a while. I'll let You lead me to a quiet pasture - with a gentle river nearby - and I'll just lie down here and think about You.
As a human being David did his job as a shepherd very well. He also realised how much more God was doing in the shepherd's role in his life. David experienced God's care and started to count all the blessings that he had received from him.
We must place our minds in God's Hand every once in a while. The mind needs some rest...and rest comes only with a knowledge of who God is and what He's done.
Verses 4 & 5
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.
We have to be thankful to Him for everything we received in the year 2008.
1 Thessalonians 5: 18 says "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus". Some times in our thoughts we are thankful, but we fail to express the
same in prayer. God expresses His love and expects the same from us.
We always thank Him for the benefits we receive, but how do we feel about the sorrows and other negative things happening in our life?
Philippians 4:6,7
6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
7. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
During times of misery in our life, we need to voice out our petitions to Him. This is very important. Equally important is being thankful for His faithfulness even during those dark hours, believing that He will show the way.
David experienced many difficulties in his life. In the 4th verse he speaks about death, darkness and a valley full of enemies. He experienced every kind of negative thing that we are experiencing
today. But amidst all that, he remembered how he, as a shepherd had protected his sheep by killing a lion and a bear (1 Samuel 17: 34 – 36). In that light, he was able to realise that God the shepherd] was with him [the sheep] protecting him all the time from all of his adversaries.
David spoke the first 3 verses from his mind, from the 4th verse onwards he starts to speak from his heart. He changed from God being `He' to God being `You'. Suddenly David isn't talking about what God is able to do because He is God; instead He talks about what God is
actually doing. He moves from the realm of his mind to his heart. As he reflected and rested on his knowledge of God, a realization came over him that led him to experience the presence of God in a very real way. God, You are close to me - You protect and comfort me.
Realisation leads us to experience the presence of God.
Faith isn't just based on the `head knowledge' that God is able to be God when we need Him to be. Faith is also based on the `heart knowledge' that God is who He says He is. He does help us, He does guide us, He does protect us and forgive us and love us and heal us right when we need Him.
You see, as a sheep - sometimes death and sickness are very real.
Valleys are deep and dark and full of enemies and that's when we need to know that the Shepherd is also real – this knowledge needs to be not only in our heads, but in our hearts. We have to feel Him close beside us.
In the Old Testament there was a man called Job and he was very dear to God. As you all know, in his life he faced many troubles… much more than we have experienced or even imagined. But even through all his troubles, he trusted God with all his heart and placed his faith
in Him. This is a separate subject we are going to meditate in our Bible study next month. But I'm just mentioning it here to stress the point that Job knew this in his heart, (not just his head) and that is how he was able to withstand his troubles by completely putting his trust in God.
Verse 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.
When David feels the presence of God, he feels rested mentally and spiritually. He has remembered how faithful God has been to him. After he spoke about death, valleys and such things, he started to experience God's presence. He experienced the renewal in his spirit
and in his mind.
When we are experiencing difficulties in our life, to divert our mind we may try to watch TV or go to parties or do other recreational activities; but these things can not help us to provide rest to our
minds. We all know this truth very well… well then, what can give us that real peace? Like David we need to meditate on His word and spend time with Him in prayer. That alone will give us real peace and give us pure hope. Then we can also say, "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever"
I wish to give you the following verses to meditate on and I hope that these will help us to remain close to God in the coming new year.
Isaiah 40: 28-31
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can understand.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:9
In His heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
The prayer-filled plans we make will give us hope and confidence in what we have to do. May God bless you in the New year in all your plans and give success in each and every area of your life. Amen
On 31st December some of us had the opportunity to participate in the watch night service held at Mr. Ebenezer's residence. We meditated on Psalm 23 and I wish to write the same here for the benefit of those who could not attend the service because of various circumstances and also as a reminder for the others who did attend.
We completed 2008 having gone through varying experiences.
So many questions arise in our hearts, like…
- What kind of year has it been for me?
- What kind of person am I becoming?
- What kind of leader am I developing into?
- Did I reach the goals I wanted to reach?
When we ask ourselves questions like these every year, we find that our lives become more focused.
We need to feel God's presence and Psalm 23 is full of the reality of God in our lives.
Psalmist David wrote this Psalm when he was the king of Israel. He was a busy man, responsible for everything that was happening in his kingdom. He had to conduct various meetings with his ministers and assign their roles in his ministry; had to hear grievances from his people, had to keep his eye on neighbouring countries in order to protect his people, etc etc. I leave the rest of his рооройி responsibilities for you to think over… You will agree with me that it must have a been a stressful job indeed. Apart from these he had to spend time with his own family members and was responsible for takingcare of their physical and emotional needs.
Amidst all this, he found time to recollect his earlier days when he was a shepherd tending his father's sheep. He knew how to provide food for the sheep; how to protect them from wild animals, natural calamities and he knew how to treat them in the time of sicknesses and so on. He knows the responsibilities of a shepherd and was good at it.
That is why in Psalm 23 he likened the Lord to a shepherd.
Psalm 23: Verses 1-3
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.
I remember a painting that used to be in my house. It depicted Jesus as a shepherd, holding a staff and tending to the sheep. It had the verse "God is my shepherd, I shall not be in want". I am sure, to all of us that picture is a familiar one. Whenever I start to read Psalm 23, that picture used to come to my mind. Now if you look at the way the Psalmist is writing here - he is picturing as he writes exactly what we are picturing when we hear it. In his mind, he knows God supplies his every need. He doesn't need to worry. He knows that true rest, renewal, peace, and strength come from God - and only from that source will his future path be clearly marked out and directed. And so he begins to calm his mind and release all the stress that comes with his position.
Even when he was the king of Israel he was a shepherd tending to his people, but in his thoughts he became a sheep in God, the shepherd's care. He put himself in the sheep's place under the loving care of the Shepherd.
David knew that sheep are completely dependent on the shepherd for everything - for guidance, protection, for food and for life. So he begins to say - "Here is what I know to be true: God - You are my Shepherd, and I will choose to mentally reflect on what that means for a while. I'll just be a sheep for a while. I'll let You lead me to a quiet pasture - with a gentle river nearby - and I'll just lie down here and think about You.
As a human being David did his job as a shepherd very well. He also realised how much more God was doing in the shepherd's role in his life. David experienced God's care and started to count all the blessings that he had received from him.
We must place our minds in God's Hand every once in a while. The mind needs some rest...and rest comes only with a knowledge of who God is and what He's done.
Verses 4 & 5
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.
We have to be thankful to Him for everything we received in the year 2008.
1 Thessalonians 5: 18 says "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus". Some times in our thoughts we are thankful, but we fail to express the
same in prayer. God expresses His love and expects the same from us.
We always thank Him for the benefits we receive, but how do we feel about the sorrows and other negative things happening in our life?
Philippians 4:6,7
6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
7. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
During times of misery in our life, we need to voice out our petitions to Him. This is very important. Equally important is being thankful for His faithfulness even during those dark hours, believing that He will show the way.
David experienced many difficulties in his life. In the 4th verse he speaks about death, darkness and a valley full of enemies. He experienced every kind of negative thing that we are experiencing
today. But amidst all that, he remembered how he, as a shepherd had protected his sheep by killing a lion and a bear (1 Samuel 17: 34 – 36). In that light, he was able to realise that God the shepherd] was with him [the sheep] protecting him all the time from all of his adversaries.
David spoke the first 3 verses from his mind, from the 4th verse onwards he starts to speak from his heart. He changed from God being `He' to God being `You'. Suddenly David isn't talking about what God is able to do because He is God; instead He talks about what God is
actually doing. He moves from the realm of his mind to his heart. As he reflected and rested on his knowledge of God, a realization came over him that led him to experience the presence of God in a very real way. God, You are close to me - You protect and comfort me.
Realisation leads us to experience the presence of God.
Faith isn't just based on the `head knowledge' that God is able to be God when we need Him to be. Faith is also based on the `heart knowledge' that God is who He says He is. He does help us, He does guide us, He does protect us and forgive us and love us and heal us right when we need Him.
You see, as a sheep - sometimes death and sickness are very real.
Valleys are deep and dark and full of enemies and that's when we need to know that the Shepherd is also real – this knowledge needs to be not only in our heads, but in our hearts. We have to feel Him close beside us.
In the Old Testament there was a man called Job and he was very dear to God. As you all know, in his life he faced many troubles… much more than we have experienced or even imagined. But even through all his troubles, he trusted God with all his heart and placed his faith
in Him. This is a separate subject we are going to meditate in our Bible study next month. But I'm just mentioning it here to stress the point that Job knew this in his heart, (not just his head) and that is how he was able to withstand his troubles by completely putting his trust in God.
Verse 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.
When David feels the presence of God, he feels rested mentally and spiritually. He has remembered how faithful God has been to him. After he spoke about death, valleys and such things, he started to experience God's presence. He experienced the renewal in his spirit
and in his mind.
When we are experiencing difficulties in our life, to divert our mind we may try to watch TV or go to parties or do other recreational activities; but these things can not help us to provide rest to our
minds. We all know this truth very well… well then, what can give us that real peace? Like David we need to meditate on His word and spend time with Him in prayer. That alone will give us real peace and give us pure hope. Then we can also say, "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever"
I wish to give you the following verses to meditate on and I hope that these will help us to remain close to God in the coming new year.
Isaiah 40: 28-31
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can understand.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:9
In His heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
The prayer-filled plans we make will give us hope and confidence in what we have to do. May God bless you in the New year in all your plans and give success in each and every area of your life. Amen
