The Lord is Our Shepherd
Psalm 23
Hi everybody, it’s Pastor Dave. Welcome to the My Daily Church podcast. It is Friday, January 15, 2021.
On January 6, the day of the breach of the Capitol, we were all in shock, weren’t we? We’re all kind of still in shock at not only what went on that day, the wildness that has come from it, and the crazy political civil war that we’re caught up in.
Well, that night, on January 6th, I taught a message on fear and anxiety at our Wednesday night Bible study, (which is live on our Calvary Chapel Nuevo Facebook page). To open that study, I prayed Psalm 23. It’s a classic Psalm, and it wasn’t really planned, it just felt like that what we really need. We need the Lord to be our Shepherd right now.
I prayed through the Psalm that night, and I want to encourage you to grab your Bible, open to Psalm 23, and really try to focus on the verses as I pray through it. Don’t just casually say, “Oh yeah, I know that. I’ve heard it a hundred times.” But really practice meditating on Psalm 23, on the verses, as I pray. You’re going to be able to tell when I’m moving from one verse to the next. I don’t really give the verse numbers, but you’ll know if you’re looking at your Bible when I’m moving.
And so, as I pray each verse, just try to focus on that verse and allow God’s Word to really speak to you. And maybe you’ll pray for our nation with me in this incredibly difficult time we’re in right now. Or maybe the Holy Spirit will bring up another circumstance or situation in your life. Either way, as I pray through Psalm 23, really try to apply it to your own life, including pausing the Podcast and praying yourself. Or maybe even jotting a note down in your Bible or your journal.
Open your Bible, turn it to Psalm 23, and join me as we cry out to God, trusting that he truly, genuinely is our Shepherd.
Lord, you (are our) Shepherd. You are our Shepherd, Lord. You are in charge; you are in control. Lord, you lead and guide us. You own us, Lord. You are our Shepherd because you own us. We are the sheep of your pasture. We trust you like a sheep trusts a Shepherd. We come when you say, “Come.” We go when you say, “Go.” When you open the sheep pen, we come in at night to be protected and Lord, you are the door. We recognize that, Lord, that you are our Shepherd – nothing else, not even a great nation or a once-great nation.
In you, Lord, (we) have all (we) need. In you (we) have all (we) need. Our circumstances don’t determine, Lord, whether we have all we need – who our Shepherd is determines whether we have all we need.
Lord, you let us, you make (us) lie down in green pastures, in green meadows. Lord, you force us to rest. Sometimes Lord, even with circumstances, even trying or breaking circumstances, even maybe like today, Lord, that you would bring us to the place where we know we just need to rest with you and rest in you. We just need to lie down in a peaceful place with you and remember that you’re our Shepherd, you are our Lord.
Lord, you – as our Shepherd – lead (us) beside peaceful streams, beside still waters. You take us to where we can be refreshed and restored and revived. Lord, it’s in you that we’re revived and refreshed.
There you renew (our) strength, verse 3 says. You renew our strength. It’s not a political situation for sure, it’s not a direction of our country that we may not have ever thought we’d see. This turn in this country, Lord, it’s not our strength. You are our strength. And you renew our strength as the circumstances around us change and we think maybe get worse, Lord, regardless, aside from our circumstances, you renew our strength.
You guide (us) along the rights paths, it’s actually in the way of righteousness. You guide (us) in the way of righteousness. You show us how to walk in a practical sense, rightly. You show us how to walk in practical righteousness, Lord. And that’s our desire, no matter what’s going on around us, no matter what we see, our desire is to walk rightly.
And Lord, you guide us to bring honor to (your) name. That’s what we want to do, Lord. We want to bring honor to your name. Above it all, whatever direction or ultimate place this country ends, Lord, we serve a higher God. We serve a higher purpose, Lord. And Lord, we pray for this great country and say still this country can be saved. But Lord, we pray our lives would honor your name more.
And Lord, even when (we) walk through the darkest valley… Lord, there are some that are feeling that sense of darkness right now in the midst of this. They’re sensing that this foundation of a previously Christian nation is being yanked out from under them, that the rule of law is going or gone. That the elite are ruling with massive amounts of money and for evil purposes, with evil plans, Lord. Maybe, Lord, this is our dark valley. Maybe at least for today.
But Lord, even when (we) walk through the darkest valley, (we) will not be afraid, because you are with (us). That’s the reason! You are with us, you are close by, you are right here with us.
And your rod and your staff protect and comfort (us), Lord. God, that rod is a symbol of your Word, of your authority, and the staff is a symbol of your closeness, your Spirit. And so, Lord, by your Word and by your Spirit, we’ll trust you, Lord, no matter what is going on around us, no matter what we see on various media, Lord. We’ll see past it, and through it and prayerfully past the manipulation of it. And we’ll look to you as our Shepherd and we’ll rest in you, and we’ll have peace in you, Lord. You protect and comfort (us,) Lord.
You prepare a feast for (us) in the presence of (our) enemies. Right in our most difficult situation, Lord, you prepare a feast for us. You prepare a place where we can commune with you, where we can share life with you. Where we can relate and inter-relate with you, Lord. Where we can sit with you. Dine with you, Lord. And though the world is burning around us, we can sit with you and commune with you Lord, and we thank you for that.
Lord, you honor (us) by anointing (our) heads with oil. The symbol of the Holy Spirit, Lord. No matter what our circumstances are, no matter what comes, Lord, you pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, like you say in Acts 1:8. And we need that power of the Holy Spirit to anoint us, Lord, to give us peace as a shepherd would anoint the head of a sheep with oil to keep the flies out of the sheep’s eyes in annoyance. We need the Holy Spirit to pour over our heads, that you would keep out the annoyance of the media and the craziness, Lord, and we can find peace with you.
And so, Lord, because of all that, we say (our) cup overflows with blessings. Lord, no matter what the circumstance is, no matter what we face, we say our cup overflows with blessings. Lord, because you’re our Shepherd because you’re with us because you’re providing for us because you’re renewing our strength, because you’re pouring out your Holy Spirit on us, because you’re leading and guiding us with your Word and with your Spirit even in the darkest valleys, because of all that, Lord, we say we are blessed among all people. And Lord, we have said, for generations that this nation is blessed and it’s been blessed because it has been one unified republic of states under your Name. And Lord, if that’s about to change, then Lord, we will still be blessed. Our cup will still run over with your blessings because you’re our Shepherd Lord.
So, we say surely your goodness and unfailing love (mercy) will follow (us) all the days of (our) lives. And Lord, we ultimately in the end when this is all done, and the cameras stop rolling, and there’s no more of this going on, (we,) Lord, will live in your house forever. We’ll live in the house of the Lord forever. We’ll abide with you, we’ll walk with you, we’ll live with you, we’ll serve you. Lord, eternal life is more that we can imagine, more than we can describe, and it’s promised – it’s more sure than any of the shaky ground or events we see.
And so, we look past it all, through it all, to you as our Shepherd and ultimately to our eternal home with you in heaven. That’s what we pray tonight, Lord. Make it real to us, in your name Jesus, amen.
On January 6, the day of the breach of the Capitol, we were all in shock, weren’t we? We’re all kind of still in shock at not only what went on that day, the wildness that has come from it, and the crazy political civil war that we’re caught up in.
Well, that night, on January 6th, I taught a message on fear and anxiety at our Wednesday night Bible study, (which is live on our Calvary Chapel Nuevo Facebook page). To open that study, I prayed Psalm 23. It’s a classic Psalm, and it wasn’t really planned, it just felt like that what we really need. We need the Lord to be our Shepherd right now.
I prayed through the Psalm that night, and I want to encourage you to grab your Bible, open to Psalm 23, and really try to focus on the verses as I pray through it. Don’t just casually say, “Oh yeah, I know that. I’ve heard it a hundred times.” But really practice meditating on Psalm 23, on the verses, as I pray. You’re going to be able to tell when I’m moving from one verse to the next. I don’t really give the verse numbers, but you’ll know if you’re looking at your Bible when I’m moving.
And so, as I pray each verse, just try to focus on that verse and allow God’s Word to really speak to you. And maybe you’ll pray for our nation with me in this incredibly difficult time we’re in right now. Or maybe the Holy Spirit will bring up another circumstance or situation in your life. Either way, as I pray through Psalm 23, really try to apply it to your own life, including pausing the Podcast and praying yourself. Or maybe even jotting a note down in your Bible or your journal.
Open your Bible, turn it to Psalm 23, and join me as we cry out to God, trusting that he truly, genuinely is our Shepherd.
Lord, you (are our) Shepherd. You are our Shepherd, Lord. You are in charge; you are in control. Lord, you lead and guide us. You own us, Lord. You are our Shepherd because you own us. We are the sheep of your pasture. We trust you like a sheep trusts a Shepherd. We come when you say, “Come.” We go when you say, “Go.” When you open the sheep pen, we come in at night to be protected and Lord, you are the door. We recognize that, Lord, that you are our Shepherd – nothing else, not even a great nation or a once-great nation.
In you, Lord, (we) have all (we) need. In you (we) have all (we) need. Our circumstances don’t determine, Lord, whether we have all we need – who our Shepherd is determines whether we have all we need.
Lord, you let us, you make (us) lie down in green pastures, in green meadows. Lord, you force us to rest. Sometimes Lord, even with circumstances, even trying or breaking circumstances, even maybe like today, Lord, that you would bring us to the place where we know we just need to rest with you and rest in you. We just need to lie down in a peaceful place with you and remember that you’re our Shepherd, you are our Lord.
Lord, you – as our Shepherd – lead (us) beside peaceful streams, beside still waters. You take us to where we can be refreshed and restored and revived. Lord, it’s in you that we’re revived and refreshed.
There you renew (our) strength, verse 3 says. You renew our strength. It’s not a political situation for sure, it’s not a direction of our country that we may not have ever thought we’d see. This turn in this country, Lord, it’s not our strength. You are our strength. And you renew our strength as the circumstances around us change and we think maybe get worse, Lord, regardless, aside from our circumstances, you renew our strength.
You guide (us) along the rights paths, it’s actually in the way of righteousness. You guide (us) in the way of righteousness. You show us how to walk in a practical sense, rightly. You show us how to walk in practical righteousness, Lord. And that’s our desire, no matter what’s going on around us, no matter what we see, our desire is to walk rightly.
And Lord, you guide us to bring honor to (your) name. That’s what we want to do, Lord. We want to bring honor to your name. Above it all, whatever direction or ultimate place this country ends, Lord, we serve a higher God. We serve a higher purpose, Lord. And Lord, we pray for this great country and say still this country can be saved. But Lord, we pray our lives would honor your name more.
And Lord, even when (we) walk through the darkest valley… Lord, there are some that are feeling that sense of darkness right now in the midst of this. They’re sensing that this foundation of a previously Christian nation is being yanked out from under them, that the rule of law is going or gone. That the elite are ruling with massive amounts of money and for evil purposes, with evil plans, Lord. Maybe, Lord, this is our dark valley. Maybe at least for today.
But Lord, even when (we) walk through the darkest valley, (we) will not be afraid, because you are with (us). That’s the reason! You are with us, you are close by, you are right here with us.
And your rod and your staff protect and comfort (us), Lord. God, that rod is a symbol of your Word, of your authority, and the staff is a symbol of your closeness, your Spirit. And so, Lord, by your Word and by your Spirit, we’ll trust you, Lord, no matter what is going on around us, no matter what we see on various media, Lord. We’ll see past it, and through it and prayerfully past the manipulation of it. And we’ll look to you as our Shepherd and we’ll rest in you, and we’ll have peace in you, Lord. You protect and comfort (us,) Lord.
You prepare a feast for (us) in the presence of (our) enemies. Right in our most difficult situation, Lord, you prepare a feast for us. You prepare a place where we can commune with you, where we can share life with you. Where we can relate and inter-relate with you, Lord. Where we can sit with you. Dine with you, Lord. And though the world is burning around us, we can sit with you and commune with you Lord, and we thank you for that.
Lord, you honor (us) by anointing (our) heads with oil. The symbol of the Holy Spirit, Lord. No matter what our circumstances are, no matter what comes, Lord, you pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, like you say in Acts 1:8. And we need that power of the Holy Spirit to anoint us, Lord, to give us peace as a shepherd would anoint the head of a sheep with oil to keep the flies out of the sheep’s eyes in annoyance. We need the Holy Spirit to pour over our heads, that you would keep out the annoyance of the media and the craziness, Lord, and we can find peace with you.
And so, Lord, because of all that, we say (our) cup overflows with blessings. Lord, no matter what the circumstance is, no matter what we face, we say our cup overflows with blessings. Lord, because you’re our Shepherd because you’re with us because you’re providing for us because you’re renewing our strength, because you’re pouring out your Holy Spirit on us, because you’re leading and guiding us with your Word and with your Spirit even in the darkest valleys, because of all that, Lord, we say we are blessed among all people. And Lord, we have said, for generations that this nation is blessed and it’s been blessed because it has been one unified republic of states under your Name. And Lord, if that’s about to change, then Lord, we will still be blessed. Our cup will still run over with your blessings because you’re our Shepherd Lord.
So, we say surely your goodness and unfailing love (mercy) will follow (us) all the days of (our) lives. And Lord, we ultimately in the end when this is all done, and the cameras stop rolling, and there’s no more of this going on, (we,) Lord, will live in your house forever. We’ll live in the house of the Lord forever. We’ll abide with you, we’ll walk with you, we’ll live with you, we’ll serve you. Lord, eternal life is more that we can imagine, more than we can describe, and it’s promised – it’s more sure than any of the shaky ground or events we see.
And so, we look past it all, through it all, to you as our Shepherd and ultimately to our eternal home with you in heaven. That’s what we pray tonight, Lord. Make it real to us, in your name Jesus, amen.