Getting Job-ed
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23:1-3 ESV
How many times have you heard the 23rd Psalm memorialized in movies and culture that it just becomes so mundane and lifeless that it truly doesn’t affect our living? In this study, we’re going to break up Psalm 23 and look at each section of the chapter and then bring it all back together as a whole so that it truly can affect our lives, as the Bible really intended. This isn’t something to just be looked at during funerals or hospital stays, this is meant for every aspect of life.
I shall not want
We live in a culture that is never satisfied. Society, social media, the news, marketing schemes, and possibly even our churches (sad to say) promote this American ideology of the ‘American dream.’ I’ll post at the bottom a link to a famous sermon called ‘Don’t Waste Your Life’ by John Piper, it’s well worth the listen. We’re constantly being fed that we should want more, but that moon-crater-sized gap we’re trying to fill in our lives is only meant to be filled by one thing: God. That longing you’ve always had? That’s God. All good things in life are really just a shadow of who God is and what He is supposed to be for us. God is the only truly all-satisfying Being in the universe: better than family, jobs, health, life, retirement, etc. Those can easily replace God for who He intends to be in our lives.
He leads me…
We also have another problem in our society: we hate to be ruled. We think it’s about our freedoms, our rights. That’s actually not how God works, contrary to what many churches teach today also. God is God-Centered, meaning, His purpose is to uphold His glory (Isaiah 48:9-11) and proclaim His name (Exodus 33:19). For creation to see, love, and cherish God for who He is is fulfilling what mankind was created for. God is the King, we are within His kingdom, and God intends to rule that Kingdom perfectly.
We are sheep. We have no idea what is actually good and right. We need to be ruled, we need a shepherd to lead us where we should go and to what is best (green pastures and still waters). He restores our soul by giving us what we truly need: God Himself. God fills the hole in our life. Nothing else will ever satisfy, nor was it meant to.
For His name’s sake
Why does God reach down to people like us and take the time to shepherd this fickle flock of sheep? For His name’s sake. God intends to get the glory from this, and our being led by Him, is for our benefit. Look at Isaiah 48:9-11 CSB:
I will delay my anger for the sake of my name,
and I will restrain myself for your benefit and for my praise,
so that you will not be destroyed.
Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own,
for how can I be defiled?
I will not give my glory to another.
Why does God restrain Himself and shepherd us? For our benefit and His praise. We need this, we were created for this. This is how life is supposed to be. We need to bend and humble ourselves to say, “not my will, but your, be done (Luke 22:42 CSB).”
-Austin
Click ‘here‘ for the link to the sermon “Don’t Waste Your Life.”
