Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "psalm-23"
Bible Trilogy II – Part 1
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
Today we begin the second portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth.
The second portion of our Biblical Trilogy comes from Psalm 23 and has to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus, with His time in the tomb. Since the first portion came from Psalm 22 and the second portion comes from Psalm 23, I’ll give you five guesses from whence the third portion comes…
Anyway, back to the second portion. Psalm 23 makes reference to “the valley of the shadow of death”. The phrase furnishes an excellent depiction of Jesus, during the time His body was in the tomb. Jesus walked through the valley of the shadow of death and conquered death on our behalf.
Over the centuries many theories have erupted from the minds of men, which supposedly explain where Jesus was and what He was doing during the three days His body was in the tomb. One such theory, for instance, is what has taken the title “Apostles Creed”— though the true apostles of Christ never uttered it, and the Holy Spirit of a truth did not inspire it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Apostles Creed recites some quite true and good Bible concepts. But it is still man’s words, not the living and breathing Word of God. The creed can only affect man’s head, his intellect, not his heart. It can make the old sinner behave better, but it cannot effect a new creation or bring the new man to maturity.
In the Apostles Creed a reference is made to Jesus, claiming He “descended into hell”. Did He? What are you looking at me for? I asked you first! Okay, if you insist, I will give you my answer: what does the Bible say?
That’s right. It doesn’t. The Bible reveals to us that Jesus died on the cross as the once for all sin offering on behalf of all mankind. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb for three days, after which time Jesus rose out of death.
When we finite creatures known as human beings theorize what happens in eternity, the best we have to offer is guess work. We really haven’t a clue as to whether what we assert is the truth or not. How can we? We can’t. The truth is from eternity and we’re not.
All we can really know about eternal truths is what the God of eternity reveals to us. Even that truth is limited, but not by God’s truth, mind you. It is limited by our limited capacity as finite creatures to grasp the unlimited revelation of the Word of God.
I see the shadows forming and the sun setting. Let’s pause for today and spend some time with Jesus. We will continue this study on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Today we begin the second portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth.
The second portion of our Biblical Trilogy comes from Psalm 23 and has to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus, with His time in the tomb. Since the first portion came from Psalm 22 and the second portion comes from Psalm 23, I’ll give you five guesses from whence the third portion comes…
Anyway, back to the second portion. Psalm 23 makes reference to “the valley of the shadow of death”. The phrase furnishes an excellent depiction of Jesus, during the time His body was in the tomb. Jesus walked through the valley of the shadow of death and conquered death on our behalf.
Over the centuries many theories have erupted from the minds of men, which supposedly explain where Jesus was and what He was doing during the three days His body was in the tomb. One such theory, for instance, is what has taken the title “Apostles Creed”— though the true apostles of Christ never uttered it, and the Holy Spirit of a truth did not inspire it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Apostles Creed recites some quite true and good Bible concepts. But it is still man’s words, not the living and breathing Word of God. The creed can only affect man’s head, his intellect, not his heart. It can make the old sinner behave better, but it cannot effect a new creation or bring the new man to maturity.
In the Apostles Creed a reference is made to Jesus, claiming He “descended into hell”. Did He? What are you looking at me for? I asked you first! Okay, if you insist, I will give you my answer: what does the Bible say?
That’s right. It doesn’t. The Bible reveals to us that Jesus died on the cross as the once for all sin offering on behalf of all mankind. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb for three days, after which time Jesus rose out of death.
When we finite creatures known as human beings theorize what happens in eternity, the best we have to offer is guess work. We really haven’t a clue as to whether what we assert is the truth or not. How can we? We can’t. The truth is from eternity and we’re not.
All we can really know about eternal truths is what the God of eternity reveals to us. Even that truth is limited, but not by God’s truth, mind you. It is limited by our limited capacity as finite creatures to grasp the unlimited revelation of the Word of God.
I see the shadows forming and the sun setting. Let’s pause for today and spend some time with Jesus. We will continue this study on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bible Trilogy II – Part 2
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
What transpired during the three days Jesus’ body was in the tomb is not revealed to us in the Bible. Ergo, we are unable to know! Assertions about Jesus descending into hell and suchlike guess work should be kept at arm’s length by the dutiful saint. We choose to stick with “Thus saith the Lord” for our information.
As to whether or not Jesus descended into hell, we’ll leave it to the systematic theology buffs to waste away their time on this earth debating such mysteries. For our part we will stick with Isaiah in saying, “To the Law and the prophets. If they speak not according to them, their words are worthless.” (Pardon my paraphrase.)
But let’s return to Psalm 23, where a green pasture and still waters await us. Oh, and the Lord has prepared a table for us there too. The meal He provides is even better than we can imagine. The servings He gives us are reminiscent of Joseph’s serving to Benjamin in Egypt. Each of us will discover readily enough that our cup runneth over. We will enjoy ourselves much better than we would hanging out in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t you think?
Psalm 23 has been taught from many and various different aspects. I want to draw our attention to an aspect not often given the focus by preachers and teachers. I hope you are ready to traverse the psalm with me. A salubrious trek we shall find it to be.
Two main characters form the cast of Psalm 23. There is the Lord and then there is David. David is the author of the psalm, but all of God’s people can and should make it their own.
In Psalm 23 the Lord is the star. The two words “the Lord” are the actual name of God. The word “God” depicts the Creator, He who is high above man in heaven, distant and removed from the earth, impersonal and intimidating. When His name “the Lord” is used, however, it depicts Him on a personal level with man, friendly and affording us a personal relationship.
David/man is the costar of Psalm 23. In fact the costar is just along for the ride. That is the extent of his role in the psalm. He serves the same function a dumb sheep serves in the pasture with the shepherd. He follows and behaves himself, while the shepherd provides for him and protects him so he doesn’t do himself wrong or starve to death.
We can gather this much directly from the psalm by means of a simple observation. Look over the six short verses and determine:
• how many times the Lord is mentioned
• how many times David/man is mentioned
The Lord is mentioned 12 times. There’s only 6 verses! Think He’s the star? The pertinent twelve words are “the Lord”, “He”, “His”, “You”, and “Your” (NASB).
David/man is mentioned 16 times, but at every mention the Lord is either providing for him or protecting him. This makes the Lord the star and David/man the costar. The pertinent sixteen words are “my”, “I”, and “me”.
I have to say, Psalm 23 is hard to set aside! It is chock-full of delectable morsels, each of which fits the old commercial, “bet you can’t eat just one!” But the hour is late, so we will have to pause now. Not to worry. We will finish the meal tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
What transpired during the three days Jesus’ body was in the tomb is not revealed to us in the Bible. Ergo, we are unable to know! Assertions about Jesus descending into hell and suchlike guess work should be kept at arm’s length by the dutiful saint. We choose to stick with “Thus saith the Lord” for our information.
As to whether or not Jesus descended into hell, we’ll leave it to the systematic theology buffs to waste away their time on this earth debating such mysteries. For our part we will stick with Isaiah in saying, “To the Law and the prophets. If they speak not according to them, their words are worthless.” (Pardon my paraphrase.)
But let’s return to Psalm 23, where a green pasture and still waters await us. Oh, and the Lord has prepared a table for us there too. The meal He provides is even better than we can imagine. The servings He gives us are reminiscent of Joseph’s serving to Benjamin in Egypt. Each of us will discover readily enough that our cup runneth over. We will enjoy ourselves much better than we would hanging out in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t you think?
Psalm 23 has been taught from many and various different aspects. I want to draw our attention to an aspect not often given the focus by preachers and teachers. I hope you are ready to traverse the psalm with me. A salubrious trek we shall find it to be.
Two main characters form the cast of Psalm 23. There is the Lord and then there is David. David is the author of the psalm, but all of God’s people can and should make it their own.
In Psalm 23 the Lord is the star. The two words “the Lord” are the actual name of God. The word “God” depicts the Creator, He who is high above man in heaven, distant and removed from the earth, impersonal and intimidating. When His name “the Lord” is used, however, it depicts Him on a personal level with man, friendly and affording us a personal relationship.
David/man is the costar of Psalm 23. In fact the costar is just along for the ride. That is the extent of his role in the psalm. He serves the same function a dumb sheep serves in the pasture with the shepherd. He follows and behaves himself, while the shepherd provides for him and protects him so he doesn’t do himself wrong or starve to death.
We can gather this much directly from the psalm by means of a simple observation. Look over the six short verses and determine:
• how many times the Lord is mentioned
• how many times David/man is mentioned
The Lord is mentioned 12 times. There’s only 6 verses! Think He’s the star? The pertinent twelve words are “the Lord”, “He”, “His”, “You”, and “Your” (NASB).
David/man is mentioned 16 times, but at every mention the Lord is either providing for him or protecting him. This makes the Lord the star and David/man the costar. The pertinent sixteen words are “my”, “I”, and “me”.
I have to say, Psalm 23 is hard to set aside! It is chock-full of delectable morsels, each of which fits the old commercial, “bet you can’t eat just one!” But the hour is late, so we will have to pause now. Not to worry. We will finish the meal tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bible Trilogy II – Part 3
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
Psalm 23 is about the Lord in His relationship with His kids. The role played by the Lord in this psalm is that of the Shepherd, and His kids are the sheep. That is the immediate application of the psalm to David in particular and man in general.
However, there is also the prophetic application. The Holy Spirit inspired David to write this psalm, just as He inspired David to write Psalms 22 and 24. For each of these psalms the Spirit’s inspiration led David—whether consciously or not, we cannot know—but the Spirit led David to reveal truths about the future Messiah.
Just as Psalm 22 revealed the Messiah’s future crucifixion, so does Psalm 23 reveal the Messiah’s time in death. During the three days when Jesus’ body was in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, Jesus was under the care and protection of the Lord His God. Jesus functioned as the sheep, while the Lord His God was His Shepherd.
“Huh?” I hear a flummoxed saint groan. “How could Jesus be one of the sheep? He’s the Shepherd! Get with the program, teacher!”
Oh, but you are overlooking one of the mysteries of Scripture, dear brother in Christ. Jesus willingly laid aside His prerogatives as God, when He took upon true humanity (cf., Philippians 2:5-8). He became one of us and lived accordingly. He walked in obedience to the Word of God under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In this way He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf, and then He went to the cross and died on our behalf. His life wasn’t on His behalf, nor was His death. His life fulfilled all righteousness, something we could not do because we are sinners and sinners are not righteous! His death then paid the penalty for our sins, so we wouldn’t have to die to pay that penalty.
Jesus functioned as one of the sheep on our behalf. His life was for us. He lived as we are supposed to live, viz., as the Lord’s sheep. We are to follow Him, eat the food He serves us, and depend on Him for our safety from the flesh, the world and the devil. In death He walked securely with the Lord His God as the Shepherd, even as we are to do when the time comes for each of us.
All is of grace, not of works. Jesus fulfilled all for us, and He freely gives us what He Himself worked for and earned. It costs us nothing, you see, but it cost Him dearly. Grace is free to us because He did the work, paid the price, and earned it for us.
Does the truths we learned from Psalm 23 stir your heart? Do you now love the Lord Jesus even more? Do you want to follow Him and look to Him for everything in life and death?
Lord Jesus, I love you. Thank you for your inexplicable and unfathomable love for me.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Psalm 23 is about the Lord in His relationship with His kids. The role played by the Lord in this psalm is that of the Shepherd, and His kids are the sheep. That is the immediate application of the psalm to David in particular and man in general.
However, there is also the prophetic application. The Holy Spirit inspired David to write this psalm, just as He inspired David to write Psalms 22 and 24. For each of these psalms the Spirit’s inspiration led David—whether consciously or not, we cannot know—but the Spirit led David to reveal truths about the future Messiah.
Just as Psalm 22 revealed the Messiah’s future crucifixion, so does Psalm 23 reveal the Messiah’s time in death. During the three days when Jesus’ body was in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, Jesus was under the care and protection of the Lord His God. Jesus functioned as the sheep, while the Lord His God was His Shepherd.
“Huh?” I hear a flummoxed saint groan. “How could Jesus be one of the sheep? He’s the Shepherd! Get with the program, teacher!”
Oh, but you are overlooking one of the mysteries of Scripture, dear brother in Christ. Jesus willingly laid aside His prerogatives as God, when He took upon true humanity (cf., Philippians 2:5-8). He became one of us and lived accordingly. He walked in obedience to the Word of God under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In this way He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf, and then He went to the cross and died on our behalf. His life wasn’t on His behalf, nor was His death. His life fulfilled all righteousness, something we could not do because we are sinners and sinners are not righteous! His death then paid the penalty for our sins, so we wouldn’t have to die to pay that penalty.
Jesus functioned as one of the sheep on our behalf. His life was for us. He lived as we are supposed to live, viz., as the Lord’s sheep. We are to follow Him, eat the food He serves us, and depend on Him for our safety from the flesh, the world and the devil. In death He walked securely with the Lord His God as the Shepherd, even as we are to do when the time comes for each of us.
All is of grace, not of works. Jesus fulfilled all for us, and He freely gives us what He Himself worked for and earned. It costs us nothing, you see, but it cost Him dearly. Grace is free to us because He did the work, paid the price, and earned it for us.
Does the truths we learned from Psalm 23 stir your heart? Do you now love the Lord Jesus even more? Do you want to follow Him and look to Him for everything in life and death?
Lord Jesus, I love you. Thank you for your inexplicable and unfathomable love for me.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bible Trilogy II – Part 1
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
Today we begin the second portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth.
The second portion of our Biblical Trilogy comes from Psalm 23 and has to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus, His time in the tomb. Since the first portion came from Psalm 22 and the second portion comes from Psalm 23, I’ll give you five guesses whence the third portion comes…
Anyway, back to the second portion. Psalm 23 makes reference to “the valley of the shadow of death”. The phrase furnishes an excellent depiction of Jesus, during the time His body was in the tomb. Jesus walked through the valley of the shadow of death and conquered death on our behalf.
Over the centuries many theories have erupted from the minds of men, which supposedly explain where Jesus was and what He was doing during the three days His body was in the tomb. One such theory, for instance, is what has taken the title “Apostles Creed”— though the true apostles of Christ never uttered it, and the Holy Spirit of a truth did not inspire it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Apostles Creed recites some quite true and good Bible concepts. But it is still man’s words, not the living and breathing Word of God. The creed can only affect man’s head, his intellect, not his heart. It can make the old sinner behave better, but it cannot effect a new creation or bring the new man to maturity.
In the Apostles Creed a reference is made to Jesus, claiming He “descended into hell”. Did He? What are you looking at me for? I asked you first! Okay, if you insist, I will give you my answer. What does the Bible say?
That’s right. It doesn’t. The Bible reveals to us that Jesus died on the cross as the once for all sin offering on behalf of all mankind. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb for three days, after which time Jesus rose out of death.
When we finite creatures known as human beings theorize what happens in eternity, the best we have to offer is guess work. We really haven’t a clue as to whether what we assert is the truth or not. How can we? We can’t. The truth is from eternity and we’re not.
All we can really know about eternal truths is what the God of eternity reveals to us. Even that truth is limited, but not by God’s truth, mind you. It is limited by our limited capacity as finite creatures to grasp the unlimited revelation of the Word of God.
I see the shadows forming and the sun setting. Let’s pause for today and spend some time with Jesus. We will continue this study on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Today we begin the second portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth.
The second portion of our Biblical Trilogy comes from Psalm 23 and has to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus, His time in the tomb. Since the first portion came from Psalm 22 and the second portion comes from Psalm 23, I’ll give you five guesses whence the third portion comes…
Anyway, back to the second portion. Psalm 23 makes reference to “the valley of the shadow of death”. The phrase furnishes an excellent depiction of Jesus, during the time His body was in the tomb. Jesus walked through the valley of the shadow of death and conquered death on our behalf.
Over the centuries many theories have erupted from the minds of men, which supposedly explain where Jesus was and what He was doing during the three days His body was in the tomb. One such theory, for instance, is what has taken the title “Apostles Creed”— though the true apostles of Christ never uttered it, and the Holy Spirit of a truth did not inspire it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Apostles Creed recites some quite true and good Bible concepts. But it is still man’s words, not the living and breathing Word of God. The creed can only affect man’s head, his intellect, not his heart. It can make the old sinner behave better, but it cannot effect a new creation or bring the new man to maturity.
In the Apostles Creed a reference is made to Jesus, claiming He “descended into hell”. Did He? What are you looking at me for? I asked you first! Okay, if you insist, I will give you my answer. What does the Bible say?
That’s right. It doesn’t. The Bible reveals to us that Jesus died on the cross as the once for all sin offering on behalf of all mankind. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb for three days, after which time Jesus rose out of death.
When we finite creatures known as human beings theorize what happens in eternity, the best we have to offer is guess work. We really haven’t a clue as to whether what we assert is the truth or not. How can we? We can’t. The truth is from eternity and we’re not.
All we can really know about eternal truths is what the God of eternity reveals to us. Even that truth is limited, but not by God’s truth, mind you. It is limited by our limited capacity as finite creatures to grasp the unlimited revelation of the Word of God.
I see the shadows forming and the sun setting. Let’s pause for today and spend some time with Jesus. We will continue this study on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bible Trilogy II – Part 2
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
What transpired during the three days Jesus’ body was in the tomb is not revealed to us in the Bible. Ergo, we are unable to know! Assertions about Jesus descending into hell and suchlike guess work should be kept at arm’s length by the dutiful saint. We choose to stick with “Thus saith the Lord” for our information.
As to whether or not Jesus descended into hell, we’ll leave it to the systematic theology buffs to waste away their time on this earth debating such mysteries. For our part we will stick with Isaiah in saying, “To the Law and the prophets. If they speak not according to them, their words are worthless.” (Pardon my paraphrase.)
But let’s return to Psalm 23, where a green pasture and still waters await us. Oh, and the Lord has prepared a table for us there too. The meal He provides is even better than we can imagine. The servings He gives us are reminiscent of Joseph’s serving to Benjamin in Egypt. Each of us will discover readily enough that our cup runneth over. We will enjoy ourselves much better than we would hanging out in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t you think?
Psalm 23 has been taught from many and various different aspects. I want to draw our attention to an aspect not often given the focus by preachers and teachers. I hope you are ready to traverse the psalm with me. A salubrious trek we shall find it to be.
Two main characters form the cast of Psalm 23. There is the Lord and then there is David. David is the author of the psalm, but all of God’s people can and should make it their own.
In Psalm 23 the Lord is the star. The two words “the Lord” are the actual name of God. The word “God” depicts the Creator, He who is high above man in heaven, distant and removed from the earth, impersonal and intimidating. When His name “the Lord” is used, however, it depicts Him on a personal level with man, friendly and affording us a personal relationship.
David/man is the costar of Psalm 23. In fact the costar is just along for the ride. That is the extent of his role in the psalm. He serves the same function a dumb sheep serves in the pasture with the shepherd. He follows and behaves himself, while the shepherd provides for him and protects him so he doesn’t do himself wrong or starve to death.
We can gather this much directly from the psalm by means of a simple observation. Look over the six short verses and determine:
• how many times the Lord is mentioned
• how many times David/man is mentioned
The Lord is mentioned 12 times. There’s only 6 verses! Think He’s the star? The pertinent twelve words are “the Lord”, “He”, “His”, “You”, and “Your” (NASB).
David/man is mentioned 16 times, but at every mention the Lord is either providing for him or protecting him. This makes the Lord the star and David/man the costar. The pertinent sixteen words are “my”, “I”, and “me”.
I have to say, Psalm 23 is hard to set aside! It is chock-full of delectable morsels, each of which fits the old commercial, “Bet you can’t eat just one!” But the hour is late, so we will have to pause now. Not to worry. We will finish the meal tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
What transpired during the three days Jesus’ body was in the tomb is not revealed to us in the Bible. Ergo, we are unable to know! Assertions about Jesus descending into hell and suchlike guess work should be kept at arm’s length by the dutiful saint. We choose to stick with “Thus saith the Lord” for our information.
As to whether or not Jesus descended into hell, we’ll leave it to the systematic theology buffs to waste away their time on this earth debating such mysteries. For our part we will stick with Isaiah in saying, “To the Law and the prophets. If they speak not according to them, their words are worthless.” (Pardon my paraphrase.)
But let’s return to Psalm 23, where a green pasture and still waters await us. Oh, and the Lord has prepared a table for us there too. The meal He provides is even better than we can imagine. The servings He gives us are reminiscent of Joseph’s serving to Benjamin in Egypt. Each of us will discover readily enough that our cup runneth over. We will enjoy ourselves much better than we would hanging out in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t you think?
Psalm 23 has been taught from many and various different aspects. I want to draw our attention to an aspect not often given the focus by preachers and teachers. I hope you are ready to traverse the psalm with me. A salubrious trek we shall find it to be.
Two main characters form the cast of Psalm 23. There is the Lord and then there is David. David is the author of the psalm, but all of God’s people can and should make it their own.
In Psalm 23 the Lord is the star. The two words “the Lord” are the actual name of God. The word “God” depicts the Creator, He who is high above man in heaven, distant and removed from the earth, impersonal and intimidating. When His name “the Lord” is used, however, it depicts Him on a personal level with man, friendly and affording us a personal relationship.
David/man is the costar of Psalm 23. In fact the costar is just along for the ride. That is the extent of his role in the psalm. He serves the same function a dumb sheep serves in the pasture with the shepherd. He follows and behaves himself, while the shepherd provides for him and protects him so he doesn’t do himself wrong or starve to death.
We can gather this much directly from the psalm by means of a simple observation. Look over the six short verses and determine:
• how many times the Lord is mentioned
• how many times David/man is mentioned
The Lord is mentioned 12 times. There’s only 6 verses! Think He’s the star? The pertinent twelve words are “the Lord”, “He”, “His”, “You”, and “Your” (NASB).
David/man is mentioned 16 times, but at every mention the Lord is either providing for him or protecting him. This makes the Lord the star and David/man the costar. The pertinent sixteen words are “my”, “I”, and “me”.
I have to say, Psalm 23 is hard to set aside! It is chock-full of delectable morsels, each of which fits the old commercial, “Bet you can’t eat just one!” But the hour is late, so we will have to pause now. Not to worry. We will finish the meal tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bible Trilogy II – Part 3
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
Psalm 23 is about the Lord in His relationship with His kids. The role played by the Lord in this psalm is that of the Shepherd, and His kids are the sheep. That is the immediate application of the psalm to David in particular and man in general.
However, there is also the prophetic application. The Holy Spirit inspired David to write this psalm, just as He inspired David to write Psalms 22 and 24. For each of these psalms the Spirit’s inspiration led David—whether consciously or not, we cannot know—but the Spirit led David to reveal truths about the future Messiah.
Just as Psalm 22 revealed the Messiah’s future crucifixion, so does Psalm 23 reveal the Messiah’s time in death. During the three days when Jesus’ body was in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, Jesus was under the care and protection of the Lord His God. Jesus functioned as the sheep, while the Lord His God was His Shepherd.
“Huh?” I hear a flummoxed saint groan. “How could Jesus be one of the sheep? He’s the Shepherd! Get with the program, teacher!”
Oh, but you are overlooking one of the mysteries of Scripture, dear brother in Christ. Jesus willingly laid aside His prerogatives as God, when He took upon true humanity (cf., Philippians 2:5-8). He became one of us and lived accordingly. He walked in obedience to the Word of God under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In this way He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf, and then He went to the cross and died on our behalf. His life wasn’t on His behalf, nor was His death. His life fulfilled all righteousness, something we could not do because we are sinners and sinners are not righteous! His death then paid the penalty for our sins, so we wouldn’t have to die to pay that penalty.
Jesus functioned as one of the sheep on our behalf. His life was for us. He lived as we are supposed to live, viz., as the Lord’s sheep. We are to follow Him, eat the food He serves us, and depend on Him for our safety from the flesh, the world and the devil. In death He walked securely with the Lord His God as His Shepherd, even as we are to do when the time comes for each of us.
All is of grace, not of works. Jesus fulfilled all for us, and He freely gives us what He Himself worked for and earned. It costs us nothing, you see, but it cost Him dearly. Grace is free to us because He did the work, paid the price, and earned it for us.
Does the truths we learned from Psalm 23 stir your heart? Do you now love the Lord Jesus even more? Do you want to follow Him and look to Him for everything in life and death?
Lord Jesus, I love you. Thank you for your inexplicable and unfathomable love for me.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Psalm 23 is about the Lord in His relationship with His kids. The role played by the Lord in this psalm is that of the Shepherd, and His kids are the sheep. That is the immediate application of the psalm to David in particular and man in general.
However, there is also the prophetic application. The Holy Spirit inspired David to write this psalm, just as He inspired David to write Psalms 22 and 24. For each of these psalms the Spirit’s inspiration led David—whether consciously or not, we cannot know—but the Spirit led David to reveal truths about the future Messiah.
Just as Psalm 22 revealed the Messiah’s future crucifixion, so does Psalm 23 reveal the Messiah’s time in death. During the three days when Jesus’ body was in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, Jesus was under the care and protection of the Lord His God. Jesus functioned as the sheep, while the Lord His God was His Shepherd.
“Huh?” I hear a flummoxed saint groan. “How could Jesus be one of the sheep? He’s the Shepherd! Get with the program, teacher!”
Oh, but you are overlooking one of the mysteries of Scripture, dear brother in Christ. Jesus willingly laid aside His prerogatives as God, when He took upon true humanity (cf., Philippians 2:5-8). He became one of us and lived accordingly. He walked in obedience to the Word of God under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In this way He fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf, and then He went to the cross and died on our behalf. His life wasn’t on His behalf, nor was His death. His life fulfilled all righteousness, something we could not do because we are sinners and sinners are not righteous! His death then paid the penalty for our sins, so we wouldn’t have to die to pay that penalty.
Jesus functioned as one of the sheep on our behalf. His life was for us. He lived as we are supposed to live, viz., as the Lord’s sheep. We are to follow Him, eat the food He serves us, and depend on Him for our safety from the flesh, the world and the devil. In death He walked securely with the Lord His God as His Shepherd, even as we are to do when the time comes for each of us.
All is of grace, not of works. Jesus fulfilled all for us, and He freely gives us what He Himself worked for and earned. It costs us nothing, you see, but it cost Him dearly. Grace is free to us because He did the work, paid the price, and earned it for us.
Does the truths we learned from Psalm 23 stir your heart? Do you now love the Lord Jesus even more? Do you want to follow Him and look to Him for everything in life and death?
Lord Jesus, I love you. Thank you for your inexplicable and unfathomable love for me.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bible Trilogy II – Part 1
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
Today we begin the second portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth.
The second portion of our Biblical Trilogy comes from Psalm 23 and has to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus, His time in the tomb. Since the first portion came from Psalm 22 and the second portion comes from Psalm 23, I’ll give you five guesses whence the third portion comes…
Anyway, back to the second portion. Psalm 23 makes reference to “the valley of the shadow of death”. The phrase furnishes an excellent depiction of Jesus, during the time His body was in the tomb. Jesus walked through the valley of the shadow of death and conquered death on our behalf.
Over the centuries many theories have erupted from the minds of men, which supposedly explain where Jesus was and what He was doing during the three days His body was in the tomb. One such theory, for instance, is what has taken the title “Apostles Creed”— though the true apostles of Christ never uttered it, and the Holy Spirit of a truth did not inspire it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Apostles Creed recites some quite true and good Bible concepts. But it is still man’s words, not the living and breathing Word of God. The creed can only affect man’s head, his intellect, not his heart. It can make the old sinner behave better, but it cannot effect a new creation or bring the new man to maturity.
In the Apostles Creed a reference is made to Jesus, claiming He “descended into hell”. Did He? What are you looking at me for? I asked you first! Okay, if you insist, I will give you my answer. What does the Bible say?
That’s right. It doesn’t. The Bible reveals to us that Jesus died on the cross as the once for all sin offering on behalf of all mankind. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb for three days, after which time Jesus rose out of death.
When we finite creatures known as human beings theorize what happens in eternity, the best we have to offer is guess work. We really haven’t a clue as to whether what we assert is the truth or not. How can we? We can’t. The truth is from eternity and we’re not.
All we can really know about eternal truths is what the God of eternity reveals to us. Even that truth is limited, but not by God’s truth, mind you. It is limited by our limited capacity as finite creatures to grasp the unlimited revelation of the Word of God.
I see the shadows forming and the sun setting. Let’s pause for today and spend some time with Jesus. We will continue this study on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Today we begin the second portion of our Bible Trilogy. The first portion came from Psalm 22 and had to do with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.
We noted in the first portion that three events marked the Gospel:
1. Jesus’ crucifixion
2. Jesus’ burial
3. Jesus’ resurrection
We direct you to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 for Biblical affirmation of this truth.
The second portion of our Biblical Trilogy comes from Psalm 23 and has to do with the burial of the Lord Jesus, His time in the tomb. Since the first portion came from Psalm 22 and the second portion comes from Psalm 23, I’ll give you five guesses whence the third portion comes…
Anyway, back to the second portion. Psalm 23 makes reference to “the valley of the shadow of death”. The phrase furnishes an excellent depiction of Jesus, during the time His body was in the tomb. Jesus walked through the valley of the shadow of death and conquered death on our behalf.
Over the centuries many theories have erupted from the minds of men, which supposedly explain where Jesus was and what He was doing during the three days His body was in the tomb. One such theory, for instance, is what has taken the title “Apostles Creed”— though the true apostles of Christ never uttered it, and the Holy Spirit of a truth did not inspire it.
Don’t get me wrong. The Apostles Creed recites some quite true and good Bible concepts. But it is still man’s words, not the living and breathing Word of God. The creed can only affect man’s head, his intellect, not his heart. It can make the old sinner behave better, but it cannot effect a new creation or bring the new man to maturity.
In the Apostles Creed a reference is made to Jesus, claiming He “descended into hell”. Did He? What are you looking at me for? I asked you first! Okay, if you insist, I will give you my answer. What does the Bible say?
That’s right. It doesn’t. The Bible reveals to us that Jesus died on the cross as the once for all sin offering on behalf of all mankind. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb for three days, after which time Jesus rose out of death.
When we finite creatures known as human beings theorize what happens in eternity, the best we have to offer is guess work. We really haven’t a clue as to whether what we assert is the truth or not. How can we? We can’t. The truth is from eternity and we’re not.
All we can really know about eternal truths is what the God of eternity reveals to us. Even that truth is limited, but not by God’s truth, mind you. It is limited by our limited capacity as finite creatures to grasp the unlimited revelation of the Word of God.
I see the shadows forming and the sun setting. Let’s pause for today and spend some time with Jesus. We will continue this study on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bible Trilogy II – Part 2
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want [Psalm 23:1].
What transpired during the three days Jesus’ body was in the tomb is not revealed to us in the Bible. Ergo, we are unable to know! Assertions about Jesus descending into hell and suchlike guess work should be kept at arm’s length by the dutiful saint. We choose to stick with “Thus saith the Lord” for our information.
As to whether or not Jesus descended into hell, we’ll leave it to the systematic theology buffs to waste away their time on this earth debating such mysteries. For our part we will stick with Isaiah in saying, “To the Law and the prophets. If they speak not according to them, their words are worthless.” (Pardon my paraphrase.)
But let’s return to Psalm 23, where a green pasture and still waters await us. Oh, and the Lord has prepared a table for us there too. The meal He provides is even better than we can imagine. The servings He gives us are reminiscent of Joseph’s serving to Benjamin in Egypt. Each of us will discover readily enough that our cup runneth over. We will enjoy ourselves much better than we would hanging out in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t you think?
Psalm 23 has been taught from many and various different aspects. I want to draw our attention to an aspect not often given the focus by preachers and teachers. I hope you are ready to traverse the psalm with me. A salubrious trek we shall find it to be.
Two main characters form the cast of Psalm 23. There is the Lord and then there is David. David is the author of the psalm, but all of God’s people can and should make it their own.
In Psalm 23 the Lord is the star. The two words “the Lord” are the actual name of God. The word “God” depicts the Creator, He who is high above man in heaven, distant and removed from the earth, impersonal and intimidating. When His name “the Lord” is used, however, it depicts Him on a personal level with man, friendly and affording us a personal relationship.
David/man is the costar of Psalm 23. In fact the costar is just along for the ride. That is the extent of his role in the psalm. He serves the same function a dumb sheep serves in the pasture with the shepherd. He follows and behaves himself, while the shepherd provides for him and protects him so he doesn’t do himself wrong or starve to death.
We can gather this much directly from the psalm by means of a simple observation. Look over the six short verses and determine:
• how many times the Lord is mentioned
• how many times David/man is mentioned
The Lord is mentioned 12 times. There’s only 6 verses! Think He’s the star? The pertinent twelve words are “the Lord”, “He”, “His”, “You”, and “Your” (NASB).
David/man is mentioned 16 times, but at every mention the Lord is either providing for him or protecting him. This makes the Lord the star and David/man the costar. The pertinent sixteen words are “my”, “I”, and “me”.
I have to say, Psalm 23 is hard to set aside! It is chock-full of delectable morsels, each of which fits the old commercial, “Bet you can’t eat just one!” But the hour is late, so we will have to pause now. Not to worry. We will finish the meal tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
What transpired during the three days Jesus’ body was in the tomb is not revealed to us in the Bible. Ergo, we are unable to know! Assertions about Jesus descending into hell and suchlike guess work should be kept at arm’s length by the dutiful saint. We choose to stick with “Thus saith the Lord” for our information.
As to whether or not Jesus descended into hell, we’ll leave it to the systematic theology buffs to waste away their time on this earth debating such mysteries. For our part we will stick with Isaiah in saying, “To the Law and the prophets. If they speak not according to them, their words are worthless.” (Pardon my paraphrase.)
But let’s return to Psalm 23, where a green pasture and still waters await us. Oh, and the Lord has prepared a table for us there too. The meal He provides is even better than we can imagine. The servings He gives us are reminiscent of Joseph’s serving to Benjamin in Egypt. Each of us will discover readily enough that our cup runneth over. We will enjoy ourselves much better than we would hanging out in the valley of the shadow of death, don’t you think?
Psalm 23 has been taught from many and various different aspects. I want to draw our attention to an aspect not often given the focus by preachers and teachers. I hope you are ready to traverse the psalm with me. A salubrious trek we shall find it to be.
Two main characters form the cast of Psalm 23. There is the Lord and then there is David. David is the author of the psalm, but all of God’s people can and should make it their own.
In Psalm 23 the Lord is the star. The two words “the Lord” are the actual name of God. The word “God” depicts the Creator, He who is high above man in heaven, distant and removed from the earth, impersonal and intimidating. When His name “the Lord” is used, however, it depicts Him on a personal level with man, friendly and affording us a personal relationship.
David/man is the costar of Psalm 23. In fact the costar is just along for the ride. That is the extent of his role in the psalm. He serves the same function a dumb sheep serves in the pasture with the shepherd. He follows and behaves himself, while the shepherd provides for him and protects him so he doesn’t do himself wrong or starve to death.
We can gather this much directly from the psalm by means of a simple observation. Look over the six short verses and determine:
• how many times the Lord is mentioned
• how many times David/man is mentioned
The Lord is mentioned 12 times. There’s only 6 verses! Think He’s the star? The pertinent twelve words are “the Lord”, “He”, “His”, “You”, and “Your” (NASB).
David/man is mentioned 16 times, but at every mention the Lord is either providing for him or protecting him. This makes the Lord the star and David/man the costar. The pertinent sixteen words are “my”, “I”, and “me”.
I have to say, Psalm 23 is hard to set aside! It is chock-full of delectable morsels, each of which fits the old commercial, “Bet you can’t eat just one!” But the hour is late, so we will have to pause now. Not to worry. We will finish the meal tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
