Worship

Scripture

One of the most famous passages in all of Scripture is Psalm 23. I’ve often heard about how the valley of the shadow of death is merely a shadow. It can scare us, but at the end of the day it is harmless. We can focus on that and learn a lot about when we’re walking through a tough situation, but I love to focus on how the passage is structured. The first sentence in the passage says, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Everything else that goes after it is in function of God being our shepherd, and therefore us not lacking anything. 

Some of the evident roles God plays are:
God makes. 

God provides. 

God leads.

God refreshes. 

God guides. 

God protects.

God accompanies.
God comforts.
God prepares.

God anoints.

God follows. 

If we only focus on the valley, the passage will only speak to us when we’re in the valley. I have found this passage to be more all-encompassing. God is our shepherd, not just in the valley but in every single situation. God is with us every step of the way, His love and goodness follows you everywhere and everyday of your life. In the valley or in the mountaintop, God is there leading us, preparing us, guiding us. The shepherd is with His people in multiple situations and circumstances. The final exclamation, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” pushes us to think outside the four walls of the church and into our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is not that David will live inside of the temple, but that the presence of God will be with David everywhere he goes. 

This understanding of God with us and fulfilling our every need leads us, to exclaim “I lack nothing.”, to pursue holiness in every decision we make, to give our lives away in love towards our neighbor, to find comfort in moments of weakness, to be strengthened in our calling, to prepare the way for the presence of God, and much more than just comfort in the valley. That as God is with us, we are also with God. That as God lives in us, we live for Him. That as we carry Him, Hee carries us everywhere we go. We have become intertwined and ambassadors of His presence in every situation. 

Acts 7:48 “However the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands…”

Prayer

HONOR GOD

ASK GOD

What do you need to ask God today? What’s on your heart?

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