Friday's Frenzy

Psalms 23 continued

Psalms 23 is a living chapter and often we over look it as just a nice read or to use a funeral but if you're like us we want to know and serve God in a true and sincere way and to love others as he calls us to love and care for others.

What ultimately matters is not money or physical comfort, but spiritual restoration. When our Shepherd provides physical blessings, the goal is spiritual refreshment and hope to go on. Being spiritually refreshed means to walk "in the paths of righteousness"(v.3). Notice that this is not something we can accomplish on our own. Like sheep, we are prone to go astray if left on our own. David recognizes, and we must recognize, that we need to be "guided" by the Shepherd, following Jesus if we are to walk the righteous path.

Now, before we unpack the transition verse--verse 4, we need to observe that, Psalm 23 begins with rest and comfort. Psalm 23 does not begin with activity. This is a reminder of how the Christian life is to be lived. We begin by resting in Christ and out of the restoration of our soul comes activity.

Many Christians, and many of our churches, have this backwards. Many Christians run around, busily doing ministry until they are too tired to continue. And only when they have no strength left do they stop and rest [burn out]. This misses the point that Christianity is primarily a relationship, not a religion. To have activity without a relationship misses the entire point.

Let me give you an illustration from our home. I like to cook and feed people and often fridays we invite our family and friends over for supper. I'll work like crazy to feed everyone that comes and never have time to talk and sit and visit with them sometimes till they are about to leave, but I did get them fed and watered.

But I missed the point of the dinner. The reason for the dinner was supposed to be our relationship. The meal was not supposed to be the point. A casserole would have been good enough.

This is the error many Christians make. We run around attending church meetings, executing programs, planning budgets, teaching the Bible and we forget the reason we are here in the first place.

We are here to enjoy our relationship with Jesus Christ. A sure sign that we have missed the point is when our activity in the church becomes a replacement for prayerful devotion to the One who called us here in the first place.

Jesus has called you first to worship, and secondly to work. We must never reverse this order. Psalm 23 is about being a follower of Jesus Christ and the blessings of being in a relationship with the Shepherd. And what is the primary blessing of the Shepherd? The primary blessing of the Shepherd is Himself.

You read about the green pastures and quiet waters and you might think they are the primary blessing of the Shepherd, but they're not. The green pastures and quiet waters eventually give way to "walk(ing) through the valley of the shadow of death"(v.4). The constant in this psalm is not the green pastures--they are temporary. The constant in this psalm is not the valley of the shadow of death--David says we eventually walk "through" it. The only constant in Psalm 23 is the presence of God, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me."

The blessing of the Shepherd is not an elimination of our problems. The blessing of the Shepherd is not an elimination of our enemies. The blessing of our Shepherd is a table for two prepared in the presence of our enemies(v.5). And the table, of course, is symbolic of our fellowship with Him.

In the midst of trials, our source of joy is our fellowship with the Shepherd--He prepares a table for us, He anoints our head with oil, our cup overflows(v.5).

Whether we are looking at the shepherding imagery, or the imagery of table fellowship, the main theme of Psalm 23 is plain to see: David is describing the joy of being in a personal relationship with God--a relationship that has no end, "Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever"(v.6).

The 23rd Psalm portrays life as a pilgrimage--it is a pilgrimage with God, to God--and our final destination is "the house of the Lord". Our final destination is unhindered fellowship with Jesus Christ. And it is our final destination that should define everything we do in the meantime.

Whether we are talking about Bible studies, building projects, or children's programs--these things are not the point. And any church program or project that does not move us toward an improved relationship with Jesus Christ is a misguided project and misses the point.

It is time for us to examine the purposes that are behind the church projects we undertake. It is time for us to prioritize passion over programs. We want a quality ministry, yes, but not at the expense of a quality relationship.

When we reach our final destination, when we get to the house of the Lord, there will be no more programs, but what will remain is passion. When we get to heaven there will be no more religion or denominations, but what will remain is our relationship with our Shepherd.

Don't miss the point of Psalm 23. Our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, calls us, not to ritual, but to a relationship. It is in the relationship that He gets the glory due to Him and we get the joy we so desperately seek, give Him a chance. Amen.

Miracle of the day was a gift from a family to support the building of the ranch project. They like to get together and support a ministry every Christmas, and this year they chose the Ranch to be the ministry. What a great way to celebrate the birth of Jesus. God is good, all the time!

SO TODAY WHY NOT GET FIRED UP AND GO FOR IT AND HELP US MAKE A DIFFERANCE BUILDING THE RANCH.