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...
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